Bring a "Hot Dish," or even a cold dish

This recipe was a hit following the end-of-the-reading-year pot luck my long time group held every June, where we met for fellowship and to vote on our reading selections for the following year.

It is called Demeter's Ricotta Cake. One of our members, who teaches Classics at Tufts, brought this cake and she got the recipe from one of her Latin I students.

DEMETER'S RICOTTA CAKE

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1 package yellow cake mix or one recipe for a 2-layer 9" yellow cake
Prepare batter as you usually would.

Butter a 9 x 13 pan and pour in batter.

Mix the following ingredients together:

2 lbs. Ricotta cheese
8 eggs
3 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 C. sugar

Pour ricotta mixture into the center of the cake batter. Do not stir or mix with batter. The pan will pretty much be filled. The originator of recipe suggests removing a cup or so of batter to prevent overflow.*

Bake in the preheated over for 40-45 minutes.

Mix 1/4 C sugar with 2 Tbl. cinnamon and sprinkle on top of the cake. Return to oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

* I have simply opted to cut back a little on the amount of ricotta and eggs. I am not certain how much I cut back, as I haven't made this cake in several years, but 1 and 1/2 pounds of ricotta and 6 eggs sounds good to me.

I have also made this in a bundt pan.