Recipe - Italian Pound Cake

One half pound Butter
2/3 pound Ricotta cheese
1 2/3 cup Sugar
8 teaspoon Sugar
5 Eggs
2 teaspoon Vanilla
2 cup Cake flour
4 teaspoon Whipping cream
One fourth teaspoon Salt
Grated semisweet chocolate
or cut or sliced up strawberries
1 teaspoon Vanilla
FROSTING
8 ounce Semisweet chocolate bits
One half cup Strong brewed coffee
10 tablespoon Unsalted butter, chilled

CAKE/FILLING

Cake: Cream butter, slowly adding sugar until light. Add eggs one at a
time. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake in buttered and floured 9 x 5
loaf pan at 325 degrees for 1One fourth to 1 One half hours or until done. Cool in pan
for 5 minutes before turning onto rack. Slice horizontally into three
sections.

Filling: Combine first four ingredients in blender until smooth. Fold in
grated chocolate or strawberries. Spread evenly between layers.

Frosting: Melt chocolate with coffee over very low heat. Beat in butter a
small amount at a time. Continue beating until thick and of spreading
consistency. Frost cake and garnish.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini