Molly Baz is a chef, former food editor at Bon Appétit and online-video host whose first cookbook, 2021’s “Cook This Book,” rocketed up The New York Times’ bestseller list. She’s following that debut with another cookbook, “More Is More: Get Loose in the Kitchen” (publishing Oct. 10 from Clarkson Potter) that emphasizes her love of bold, bracing flavors — more garlic and herbs, more vinegar, more mortadella, more… well, basically everything.
Among 100 recipes for flavor bombs with names like The One & Only Hoagie and Crispy, Crunchy Brocc & Grains with So. Much. Mint., the cookbook provides this formula for a Pumpkin-Cannoli Cheesecake Cake.
“I like to think this version of the pervasive pumpkin bread is a major upgrade — it’s topped with a creamy ricotta cheesecake layer that tastes like the filling of a great Italian cannoli,” Baz writes. “My pumpkin cake (it’s a cake, let’s just admit it) doubles down on ginger — there’s both freshly grated ginger in the batter and crystallized ginger in the cheesecake filling, because why settle for just one expression of fall’s quintessential ingredient when you can have two?!”
Pumpkin-Cannoli Cheesecake Cake
Makes one 9-inch cake
INGREDIENTS
1 cup vegetable oil, plus more for the pan
1¼ cups raw, shelled pistachios (6 ounces)
1½ ounces crystallized ginger
1 orange
1 pound fresh whole-milk ricotta cheese
4 large eggs, divided use
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided use
2½ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided use
2 tablespoons vanilla extract, divided use
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided use
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
DIRECTIONS
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with vegetable oil. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper cut to fit, if you’d like to more easily transfer the baked cake to a plate or cake stand to serve. Grease the parchment.
Make the cannoli cheesecake topping: Coarsely chop 1¼ cups raw, shelled pistachios. Set aside 2 handfuls for sprinkling later on. Transfer the remaining pistachios to a large bowl.
Finely chop 1½ ounces crystallized ginger (you should have 1/4 cup). Using a vegetable peeler, remove the zest of 1 orange in strips. Thinly slice them lengthwise. Now thinly slice the strips crosswise to finely chop.
Add the orange zest and crystallized ginger to the pistachios, along with 1 pound ricotta cheese, 2 large eggs, ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon salt. Whisk vigorously until smooth. Set the ricotta mixture aside for now.
Make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 2½ cups all-purpose flour, cinnamon, cardamom, baking powder, the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, freshly grated nutmeg and baking soda.
Finely grate enough of the 2-inch piece of fresh ginger to measure 1 heaping tablespoon. Add that to a large bowl, along with the remaining 2 large eggs, remaining 1½ cups sugar, the pumpkin puree and remaining 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Add 1 cup vegetable oil and whisk until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in 2 batches, stirring just until no floury bits remain.
Assemble and bake: Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Add the ricotta mixture on top and spread it to the edges in an even layer. Scatter the reserved pistachios over the top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake layer comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the springform pan to loosen it. Release the cake from the pan, place on a wire rack and let cool before slicing. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator — the cake’s great cold, too!
— From “More is More,” copyright © 2023 by Molly Baz. Photographs copyright © 2023 by PEDEN + MUNK. Illustrations copyright © 2023 Claire McCracken. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House, $31.50.
