Ricotta Cake

Every year for July 4th, I like to try to come up with something red white and blue. One year I did a raspberry and pretzel dessert with a flag design, another year it was a berry and cheese pie, another year it was a berries and cream tart. I even had a strawberry salsa with sour cream and blue corn chips. And of course, my favorite one of all is the red white and blueberry trifle. (That's always the big showstopper!) Anyway, this year is no exception. I decided to keep it simple and quick by basically doing a doctored up cake mix with fresh berries on top. Easy, right??? Perfect for any cookout! The addition of the ricotta cheese turns it from something blah into something special! Serve it up chilled right out of the fridge. I bet your family and friends will love you for it! Three cheers for the red white and blue!


1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
Oil and eggs (as directed on the package)
2 pounds ricotta cheese
3/4 cup white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
Fresh strawberries
Fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan (or spray with baking spray...you know, the kind that has flour in it). Prepare the cake according to the directions on the package. 
In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Drop by spoonfuls on top of uncooked cake. 
Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Sprinkle cooled cake with confectioners sugar. Keep refrigerated.

Tips:
 You can decorate the top of the cake any way you like, or decorate each individual piece, as shown in the picture. No matter how you do it, it'll be fabulous and yummy.
If you like, you can glaze the fruit on top of the cake with some apricot jam. Just thin it down with a few drops of water and then brush it over the fruit so everything glistens.