No-bake ricotta and peach crumb cake

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PRESENTATION

No-Bake Ricotta and Peach Crumb Cake has a structural logic that most summer desserts don't bother with: crushed biscotti and amaretti cookies form the base — the amaretti lending their distinct almond-scented crunch — then a thin spread of preserves, and finally a cold ricotta cream layered with fresh peaches. The crumble format gives it a texture that a standard no-bake peach cheesecake never quite delivers, and the layering means every slice holds together cleanly rather than collapsing into something closer to a trifle.

The payoff is in the contrast: that brittle, fragrant base against a cool, yielding filling that lets ripe summer peaches do what peak-season fruit should do. There is no oven involved at any stage, which matters when the temperature climbs and turning one on feels like a punishment. The result is substantial enough to close out a dinner with friends, and light enough to work as an afternoon treat on its own — a no-bake peach ricotta cake built entirely around what summer actually has to offer right now.

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INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for the base (9-inch pan)
Cookies 6.3 oz (180 g)
Amaretti cookies 3.5 oz (100 g)
Butter 0.8 cup (180 g) - approx. 3/4 cup
For the filling
Cow's milk ricotta cheese 1.7 cups (400 g)
Powdered sugar ⅓ cup (40 g)
Peach jam 0.7 cup (150 g)
Peach 2
For the topping
Cookies 3.5 oz (100 g)
Amaretti cookies 3.5 oz (100 g)
Butter 7 tbsp (100 g)
For decoration
Powdered sugar to taste
Preparation

How to prepare No-bake ricotta and peach crumb cake

To prepare the no-bake crumb cake with ricotta and peaches, start with the cake base: melt the butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave) and let it cool slightly 1. Place the plain dry cookies and the amaretti in a food processor 2 and pulse until finely ground 3.

Pour the resulting powder into a bowl, add the melted butter 4 and mix well with a spoon. At this point, take a springform pan with a removable base, 22 centimeters in diameter (about a 9-inch pan); line the bottom with a round of parchment paper cut to the same size; to keep it firmly in place, simply grease the bottom of the pan with a bit of butter. Now pour a little more than half of the cookie mixture into the pan 5 and begin shaping it to form the sides, then add the remaining half of the mixture and press it well to create the central base of your cake 6.

Once this is done 7, place the pan in the refrigerator to rest for about 10–15 minutes. In the meantime, you can prepare the cream. Sieve the ricotta into a bowl to remove any lumps 8, add the sifted powdered sugar 9 and mix gently.

Transfer the cream into a piping bag and put it in the fridge 10. Now move on to making the crunchy topping. In the food processor, pulse half of the remaining plain cookies and half of the remaining amaretti until reduced to powder, as you did for the base. Take the other half of the cookies and amaretti and roughly chop them with a knife on a cutting board 11 to obtain a more rustic crumble 12.

In a bowl combine the cookie powder, the coarsely chopped crumble 13 and the melted butter 14, then mix with a spoon until the mixture is uniform 15.

Halve the peaches without peeling them, remove the pit 16 and cut them into cubes 17. When the cookie base has rested long enough, take it out of the fridge and spread a thin, even layer of jam over it 18.

Arrange the peaches evenly over the jam 19. Pipe the cream 20 and level it with a spatula 21.

Spread the cookie crumbs over the ricotta cream 22 until it is completely covered 23 and place the cake in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. After the resting time, carefully remove the cake from the pan, place it on a serving plate and decorate as you like with a dusting of powdered sugar 34. The no-bake crumb cake with ricotta and peaches is finally ready to be served.

Storage

The no-bake crumb cake with ricotta and peaches keeps for a couple of days in the refrigerator.

Tip

If you want to make this dessert even more irresistible, you can enrich the ricotta cream with small dark chocolate chips or replace the fresh peaches with strawberries or mixed berries depending on the season.

Use a ricotta with a fairly dry, firm texture.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.