Poundcake and Ricotta Gelato with Blackberry Sauce

This light and airy cake goes perfectly with a smooth ricotta ice cream on a hot summer day. The tart blackberry sauce cuts the sweetness of the cake, and adds a beautiful contrast to the plate. The cake and ice cream recipes are borrowed (stolen) from Epicurious!

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature for 30 minutes
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup whole milk, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray/coat pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes in a stand mixer or 5 with a handheld. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in zest and vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing until just incorporated.

Spoon batter into loaf pan and bake until golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out with crumbs adhering, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes, then invert onto rack and cool completely.

Gelato:

1 1/4 cups half-and-half
1 1/4 cups milk
a 15- or 16-ounce container whole-milk ricotta
1/2 cup sugar
a 3-inch cinnamon stick
a 2-inch strip of lemon zest removed with a vegetable peeler
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoons vanilla

In a saucepan whisk together the half-and-half, the milk, the ricotta, and the sugar, add the cinnamon stick, and bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring. Remove the pan from the heat, add the zest, and let the mixture stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Force the mixture through a fine sieve set over a bowl and stir in the corn syrup and the vanilla. Chill the mixture, covered, until it is cold and freeze it in an ice-cream freezer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pack the gelato tightly into six 1/2-cup dariole or other molds, cover each mold with plastic wrap, and freeze the gelato for 30 minutes, or until it is ready to be served.

Blackberry Sauce:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 cups blackberries
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

In a heavy saucepan melt the sugar over moderate heat, stirring with a fork, and cook the syrup, swirling the pan occasionally, until it is a golden caramel. Working carefully and quickly, stir in the water, the blackberries, the lemon juice, and the crème de cassis (the mixture will bubble up), stirring until mixture is combined well, and cook the mixture over moderately low heat until the caramel is dissolved. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve set over a bowl, pressing hard on the solids, and chill the sauce, covered, until it is cold.