Almond & Ricotta Cake with Valentine Fodor of Vege Mamma
Recipe by Valentine Fodor
Images & video by Joe Brennan
Valentine Fodor started the much loved Vege Mamma website to share her love for healthy and delicious food just over three years ago. Since then we’ve been following her colourful and often comedic journey in the kitchen via her instagram account and salivating over the array of bountiful dishes consistently coming out of her oven. We visited Valentine at her family home in Queens Park, Sydney to get the play-by-play as she prepared her signature Almond & Ricotta Cake with Whipped Maple Cream.
“My approach to cooking is definitely health focused. I’ve always believed that we feel our best when we eat healthy, nutrient dense food. I create most of my recipes around a plant based style as I don’t enjoy cooking meat and don't feel the best when I eat it either… so that is how Vege Mamma came to life.”
I create most of my recipes around a plant based style as I don’t enjoy cooking meat and don't feel the best when I eat it either.
“Coming from a French background, my dad is always in the kitchen cooking up amazing food. He’s always influenced me and supported my passion for cooking. When I was younger, I also worked in a bakery as a pastry chef which sparked my love for baking. I think my earliest memory of preparing food is baking in primary school. My favourite part was decorating. I loved all of the sparkles and the limitless ways I could make something cute and then eat it after.”
“The thing I love most about cooking is just being in my own space, doing my thing. Life can get a little stressful so I find it very relaxing and calming. It's my meditation. I love to put on my favourite playlists, maybe a bit of Jackson Browne, Blood Orange or I do love a bit of Trap... I also love seeing my friends and family happy when they enjoy my food.”
The thing I love most about cooking is just being in my own space, doing my thing.
The Recipe:
Almond & Ricotta Cake with a Whipped Maple Cream
My signiture Almond & Ricotta Cake with a Whipped Maple Cream is just so delicate, light, moist and delicious. It is a gluten free, refined sugar free cake so you feel good when you eat it.
Ingredients:
Cake
2 cups of almond meal
120 grams of butter (softened at room temp)
3 eggs
1 cup coconut or rapadura sugar
375g ricotta
1 teaspoon almond essence
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Whipped maple cream
1 cup plain whipped cream
¼ cup maple syrup
1 lemon juiced
Decoration
Editable flowers, I used rose petals
Pistachios
Icing sugar to dust
Method:
Line an 8 inch cake tin with baking paper and preheat the oven to 180 degrees. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together softened butter, sugar & ricotta.
Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition (I like to whisk the eggs by hand as the mixture can split). Add in the almond essence.
In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients making sure everything is evenly incorporated. Slowly mix the dry ingredients with the wet and fold mixture together. Do not overmix this! You want a smooth moist cake, not a dry one!
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 mins until the surface is golden brown or until a skewer/knife comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Let the cake cool for around 1 hour.
For the icing, whisk together the whipped cream, maple syrup and lemon. Decorate your cake once cooled and top with rose petals, pistachios & dust with icing sugar.
Enjoy! :)
Valentine wears our IN BED 100% linen apron in pine and uses our table cloth in stone, napkin set in natural and khaki, as well as our tea towel in pine.