Apricot and Ricotta Brioche Cake with Almond Streusel

Photo: Natalie Levin

Brioche dough: in a bowl of a mixer with dough attachment, put flour, yeast, sugar, eggs and vanilla and knead on low speed until stiff dough begins to form.
Add the salt and butter cubes and knead for 10-12 minutes until dough is slightly sticky.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 8-10 hours. The dough does not rise too much during cooling, but it solidifies and becomes very convenient to work with.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into a circle with a thickness of about 1-2 cm and put in a greased pan, forming marginal walls (it should resembles pie crust).
Ricotta and apricot filling: in a medium bowl put ricotta, sugar, eggs, cornstarch, vanilla and lemon zest and mix until smooth.
Pour the cheese filling into the crust and arrange apricot halves on top.
Close the margin inside and press down slightly to adhere to the filling.
Cover the cake with a damp towel and let rise for 1-2 hours until the almost doubled in size.
Streusel: in a food processor with a steel blade put almonds, flour, butter and sugar and blend on high speed until crumble forms.
Preheat oven to 170c degrees.
Brush the dough parts of cake with beaten egg, and sprinkle almond streusel in the center.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before serving.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

The ricotta brioche cake is best on the day of baking.
You can use any kind of summer fruit instead of apricots, such as nectarines, cherries, grapes and so on.
Instead of almonds you can use any other type of nut you like.
It is recommended to slightly warm the cake before serving.