How to Bake Paneer Pound Cake
Yields: one 9’’ cake
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins
Ingredients needed to make Paneer Pound Cake:
- ¾ cup fresh paneer or ricotta, drained
- ¾ cup cake flour
- 60 gm unsalted butter, diced
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp lemon juice
For the ricotta:
- 1 litre milk
- 2 ts fresh lemon juice
Cooking instructions for Paneer Pound Cake:
- To make the ricotta, pour a litre of milk into a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and bring the milk down to a simmer.
- Stir in a splash of lemon juice and cook for several minutes, while stirring regularly, until the milk curdles completely.
- Remove from heat and set aside for about 15 minutes to cool slightly.
- Spread a piece of cheesecloth into fine mesh strainer and tip the curdled milk into it.
- Set aside for about 20 minutes to allow the liquid to drain out completely.
- Wash the drained ricotta or paneer under the running water twice and set aside to allow the excess water to drain out.
- To make the cake, warm up your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Stir the baking powder into the flour until mixed well and sieve the mixture into a large bowl; set aside.
- Dump the prepared ricotta into a food processor and pulse it into a smooth paste.
- Transfer it into a bowl and throw in the butter cubes.
- Beat them together, with the help of a hand mixer, until they form a smooth, uniform mixture.
- Stir in the sugar and continue to whisk the mixture until it turns lighter and fluffs up nicely.
- Crack the egg into it, followed by a splash of vanilla extract and continue to beat the mixture until well combined.
- Fold the dry mixture into it gradually until it’s fully incorporated to form a smooth batter.
- Beat the batter at moderately high speed for several minutes and stir in a splash of lemon juice.
- Grease a 9’’ cake pan with small knob of butter and dust it with flour; tap out any excess.
- Tip the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake in the hot oven for half an hour or until it is baked through.
- Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool it down slightly.
- Remove from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Slice and serve at room temperature.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
