Summer’s pause button

and a recipe for a strawberry ricotta cake that’s a seasonal treat

And so, the longest day of the year approaches.

In the midst of one of the gloomiest Junes of recent note, summer officially arrives this week. Summer solstice heralds in the beginning of the shortening of days, and with it, a sense that time is running even faster.

Yet Mother Nature, ever-wise, is actually pressing a pause button on time, if we but pay attention.

The word solstice has its roots in two Latin words: sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still). Although we think of the sun as beginning to shift gears come mid-June, the sun's position at high noon doesn’t change much in the days leading up to the solstice and for a few days afterwards. Once we’re into July the sun’s path continues to rise and fall with the earth’s axis tilt.

In this moment of respite, I imagine the sun and the earth and moon taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. I’m trying to do the same, shifting rhythms, seeing things through a summer lens that lasts just a moment.

Counting down the days

If you follow me over on Instagram, you’ll know that we’re counting down the days until we officially leave our home and embark on a new beginning in a condo. And, as I’ve written about, we’re not quite here, haven’t quite left there. Belongings are in two places and it can take a minute to figure out where things are at.

It can also make for some unexpected moments. Take the making of this strawberry ricotta cake. I knew I had all of the ingredients at our old house, save the 9-inch spring form pan. It took but a moment to retrieve the pan from the condo and head “home” to make the cake.

But wait a minute. The stand mixer: at the condo. The handheld mixer: also at the condo. The sheer effort to make this cake with a whisk and prayer didn’t seem doable. In the normal course, I may have abandoned ship at that point.

But wait a minute. Stop. Think. Would a blender do?

I am here to tell you that making a cake in a blender is indeed possible. Not recommended, but possible. Call the inspiration a ray delivered from the pre-solstice sun. A moment to pause and think about possibilities.

After all, the days will inevitably shrink and time will once again resemble grains of sand in an hourglass. Still, we can tilt our faces to the sun, that warm and radiant sun, even if the minutes shorten.

Strawberry ricotta cake, twice removed

Elizabeth Minchilli, by way of Ina Garten

yields 8 slices

Following Elizabeth Minchilli, who writes here at Substack, is like living in Italy vicariously. She recently reposted this recipe for a wonderful strawberry ricotta cake recipe she developed a few years ago. The original idea came from a fig cake that Minchilli had at Masseria Potenti in Puglia.

Fast forward, and Minchilli found new inspiration from Ina Garten, who uses ricotta in her fruit-topped cake. A cake twice removed. Using strawberries makes this the perfect summer solstice treat to have with a cup of coffee, stare dreamily into the sun, and start counting moments, not minutes.

Ingredients

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1¼ sticks/ 140 gr unsalted butter, at room temp

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup fresh whole milk ricotta

2 tablespoons whole fat plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

grated lemon zest (from one lemon)

12-14 large strawberries, stem removed and cut in half

2 tablespoons coarse white sugar

1. Heat oven to 350F/ 180C. Butter and flour a 9-inch spring form pan.

2. Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

3. Using a stand or handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Add the ricotta and the yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest and mix well.

5. With the mixer turned to low speed, fold the flour mixture into the batter until just combined and no steaks of flour remain.

6. Pour the batter into the cake tin, and level it out with a spatula. Place the strawberries on top of the batter, cut side up, pressing them in a bit. Sprinkle the cake with the sugar and bake for 40 minutes, or until the cake springs back and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

7. Let cool for 20 minutes and remove from pan. While you can serve the cake with whipped cream or creme fraiche, to my mind, a lovely cup of coffee is the best accompaniment.