DELISH! Pressure Cooked Upside-down Apple and Ricotta Cake

pressure cooker upside-down cake
Ready to love your pressure cooker even more? Now you can make dessert out of almost any fruit that is past its prime… dangerously quickly!


I had been searching everywhere to find a cheese and egg-centric apple cake that I had been served many times by fellow harried mommies in Austria over tea while our toddler children joined forces to destroy the house. Even my copy of Die Gute Kueche was no help.But I always thought that this not-quite-cake and not-quite-pudding texture would be a perfect candidate for the pressure cooker.

Between desperate online searches, I remembered Veronika telling me that she used ricotta instead of their local cheese. I’m not a big fan of raisins, so I left them out – but Veronika’s always had them and plenty of walnuts, too.

Not part of Austrian tradition, is turning this dessert up-side down – but I really like the drama (plus, you have to do it anyway to get it out of the bowl).  The original likely didn’t use olive oil – but using olive oil in place of butter is something I really enjoy doing in my recipes (use the good stuff).

So here’s my best guess as to how to make this delicious sweet that I ate often and gladly while living in Graz. Austrian mommies: please leave your recipes in the comments – and now you know that you can make this cake in the pressure cooker!

Pressure Cooker Accessories Pr. Cook Time Pr. Level Open
6 L or larger   steamer basket, heat-proof bowl    15 min.    High(2)  Natural
Pressure Cooked Apple and Ricotta Cake
Author: 
Recipe type: pressure cooker recipe
Cuisine: Austrian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 8
 

This recipe only has a “hint” of cinnamon, if you really like the flavor it brings to the party, double it. Other great additions to this cake are ¼ cup of crushed walnuts and soaked raisins. Substitute apples with pears, mandarins, nectarines, peaches or apricots.
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 cups water
  • 2 apples, 1 sliced 1 diced
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ¼ cup raw sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or the seeds of one vanilla bean)
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Prepare pressure cooker by adding water to the base, plus steamer basket and set aside.
  2. Slice one apple and dice the other and cover with lemon juice.
  3. Prepare a shallow and wide 4-cup capacity heat-proof bowl by adding a disk of wax paper at the bottom and oiling and dusting the interior with flour.
  4. Sprinkle the base of the bowl with raw sugar and arrange the sliced apples artistically.
  5. In a small mixing bowl, mix the egg, ricotta, sugar, olive oil and vanilla using a fork. Then, sprinkle the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and baking soda in the mixing bowl using a flour sifter, or fine mesh strainer.
  6. Blend well with a fork and then stir-in the apple dices. Pour into prepared bowl and lower into the pressure cooker, uncovered.
  7. Close and lock the lid of the pressure cooker. Turn the heat up to high and when the cooker reaches pressure, lower to the heat to the minimum required by the cooker to maintain pressure. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes at high pressure.
  8. When time is up, open the pressure cooker with the Natural release method – move the cooker off the burner and wait for the pressure to come down on its own (about 10 minutes). For electric pressure cookers, disengage the “keep warm” mode or unplug the cooker and begin counting 10 minutes of natural open time. Then, release the rest of the pressure using the valve.
  9. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle – if it comes out dirty lower back into the pressure and cook for a few more minutes.
  10. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate. Serve warm or chilled.