Default to cake

(In case this is not yet obvious, I am the food person in my house and thus the person primarily generating our food shopping lists.) When I said to get the big one, his tone in response sounded dubious: “That's a lot of ricotta.”
Well, challenge accepted, dear husband of mine. After using a fraction of the ricotta in a recent baked ziti recipe, I set about to use up the remainder. I scattered some on homemade pizza and smeared some on toast with honey but then found I was running low on ideas and high on leftover cheese. The solution, as is so often the case, turned out to be cake.
Lemon and ricotta are a natural and frequent pairing, but I didn’t have any lemons on hand. I found a few recipes online and immediately started making mental changes: without the lemon, chocolate could work well. Since I always love almond flavor, best to add that too. Coating the pan in large-crystal demerara sugar would offer textural contrast. And, with that, I was off to the ricotta races. I loved the result, and I think you will too. This delicious cake is dedicated to my big-tub instincts: I’m so glad I listened to you.
Almond Ricotta Cake
♦ 1/2 cup demerara sugar, divided
♦ 1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
♦ 2 tsp. baking powder
♦ 1 tsp. salt
♦ 1-1/2 sticks butter, softened and at room temperature
♦ 1-1/2 cups sugar
♦ 3 large eggs, at room temperature
♦ 1 tsp. vanilla extract
♦ 1 tsp. almond extract
♦ 1-2/3 cups ricotta cheese
♦ 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips
♦ 1/3 cup slivered almonds
1. Preheat ...