Chocolate and Ricotta Cake

Would you like a good cake to enjoy with your afternoon tea or coffee?
Here you have an interesting one created on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
It has a soft base of ricotta and chocolate and a topping of crunchy balls made of shortcrust pastry. A generous drizzle of good dark chocolate is the perfect finish for this decadent and luscious cake.
I have added some marsala liquor to the ricotta mixture but if you prefer not to use alcohol 2 tsp of vanilla essence or orange essence would be a great substitute.
Happy baking!
- Prep Time : 40 minutes
- Cook Time : 30 minutes
Ingredients
- self raising flour - 190 g - 1 + ⅔ cup
- sugar - 3 tbsp
- vanilla essence - 1 tsp
- lemon zest organic or unwaxed - 1
- egg - 1
- butter - 100g - slightly less than 1/2 cup
- For the ricotta mixture:
- ricotta cheese - 250 g - 1 cup
- flour - 40 g - ⅓ cup
- egg - 1
- dark chocolate - 100 g
- sugar - 60 g
- marsala, rum or other liquor - 2 tbsp
- butter - a knob
- cocoa powder - to sprinkle
Instructions
First let's make the shortcrust pastry.
Put the flour in a heap on your work surface. Make a hole in the middle and add one egg, sugar, vanilla essence, lemon zest and the butter cut into cubes.
Quickly incorporate the ingredients with your hands and form a smooth ball then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes wrapped in cling film.
Make the ricotta mixture: put the ricotta in a bowl and mix it with the egg, sugar, liquor and the flour.
Grate 50 g of chocolate
and add it to the mixture. Stir well.
Grease a round springform cake tin (about 20 cm diameter) and spread the mixture leveling well with a spoon.
Take the pastry out of the fridge and make little balls the size of a walnut
Line them up on top of the ricotta mixture and cook at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes.
Let the cake cool down then carefully remove it from the tin. Sprinkle with cocoa powder. Melt the remaining chocolate with a knob of butter over a saucepan of boiling water then with a spoon drizzle onto the cake.
I am entering this cake to "Cook, Blog, Share" and "Bake of the Week".
Wow! This looks so unusual and so incredibly tasty. Pinning to make – seriously never seen anything like this before! Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare
I am pleased you like it Lucy!
Well, this is decadent for sure and I’d love a slice right now; I’m drinking a cup of coffee and have nothing to go with it! There are some great ingredients in your cake so it has to be delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Alida ! This cake lool amazing! I love with ricotta!
xo
Dear Alida,
Ok, you got me at Chocolate and Ricotta! I want a piece right now..looks awesome! What an inviting cake and it looks so simple, but everyone will think you have spent all day on this luscious cake. It almost looks like it is upside down, with the dough on the top and the filling under that. Alida, what a combo between the chocolate and the ricotta it must be so creamy. I like the idea of adding a little liquor to it. It adds a special touch especially if you are serving it for a holiday or company. Fabulous dessert! Thank you for sharing…. Have a great week…
Dottie 🙂
Thanks Dottie. This cake went so quickly. I will probably make it again!
Questa mattina mi prendi per la gola, questo dolce è fantastico, mi piace l’idea delle palline di frolla, bravissima! Un abbraccio!
Grazie cara Molly!
Dear Alida, A beautiful cake to serve at the holiday table. xo Catherine
Another fabulous cake Alida. Ricotta is such a wonderful ingredient for cakes….. I really should use it more often!
wow this looks so delicious! i love adding ricotta to cakes and have made a ricotta raspberry cake before, but i think chocolate would be a wonderful addition!!
I love ricotta too. Italians use it so much in savoury and sweet dishes. Thanks for your comment.
Looks amazing and very easy. I cant wait to make it.Thank you for share.:-)