Italian Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cake
This deliciously moist Homemade Italian Cake is made with ricotta cheese and chocolate chips. The perfect Breakfast, Snack or even Dessert Cake Recipe. A Cake everyone will love.
After living in Italy for over 25 years, I like to think I know this country , the people and the food quite well. Especially the food!
Naturally Pasta and Pizza are my favourites, but needless to say, I also love a good Dessert! I like the fact that Italians love to eat cake for breakfast and no excuse is needed.
And of course Ricotta Cake is one of the most popular Italian Cakes to make. This moist tasty cake, just like most Italian Cakes, needs no icing or glaze. Just a simple dusting of powdered sugar is all it needs.
Recipe Ingredients
- Eggs – large eggs room temperature
- Sugar – granulated sugar
- Vanilla – vanilla extract
- Ricotta – if the ricotta cheese is very liquidy place in a sieve to drain for 1-2 hours
- Flour – all purpose or cake/pastry flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Chocolate chips – unsweetened chocolate chips – I used mini chocolate chips
Why Use Room Temperature Ingredients?
Room temperature ingredients help to produce light tender baked good, in this case a cake. The ingredients will come together smoother with a lump free batter. Room temperature egg whites beat up fluffier. Be sure to remove the ingredients from the fridge 45-60 minutes before baking.
How to make a Ricotta Cake
In a large bowl beat the eggs and sugar for about 3 minutes, then add the vanilla and ricotta and combine. In a medium bowl whisk the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and combine, the batter will be very thick.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon into the prepared cake pan and bake until done, check with a toothpick, if it comes out dry or with a few crumb attached then the cake is done.
Let cool completely then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
What is Ricotta Cheese?
Ricotta is usually referred to as a cheese. Although it is actually a dairy product that is made through a process of reusing whey left over from the processing of other cheese.
The name Ricotta is derived from Latin, and refers to its processing – re-coctus, which means, cooked twice.
Therefore since it is not produced directly from the curd, but from one of its by-products, ricotta cannot be considered a real cheese.
Is it necessary to drain the Ricotta?
I didn’t drain the ricotta for this recipe, but my ricotta was quite thick. If you find that there is a lot of liquid, then drain the ricotta in a sieve for about 10 minutes before adding to the creamed mixture.
How To Make Cake Flour
For every cup of all purpose flour, remove two tablespoons and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Be sure to sift the flour and cornstarch together a couple of times, this way it is sure to be properly combined and lump free. Cake flour in cakes will give you a very tender texture and fine crumb, it will also help the cake to rise.
How to store a Ricotta Cake
The cake can be stored up to two days at room temperature. Make sure it is well wrapped or stored in an airtight container. Keeping it any longer and it should be refrigerated.
Can a Ricotta Cake be frozen?
Yes the cake can be frozen, be sure to wrap well in plastic wrap and place in an airtight container or freezer bag. It can be frozen for up to three months.
Be sure to remove the cake from the freezer bag or container before thawing, although you can leave it wrapped in plastic and thaw in the fridge over night.
How to prevent chocolate chips from sinking in a cake
To prevent the chocolate chips from sinking in your cake is very easy, just toss the chips with a little flour. I use one teaspoon of flour for every half cup of chips.
This little trick works with other additions from sinking too, such as nuts, dried fruits, and fresh berries. Just toss with a little flour before folding them into your cake, cupcake, or even muffin batter before baking.
More Delicious Italian Cakes
Italy, as everyone knows is going through a bit of a hard time, but as my husband says as he was eating a piece of this Ricotta Cake, “well at least we still have the food”. Enjoy!
Italian Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cake
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup ricotta room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour or cake/pastry flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips (unsweetened chips, milk chips or a mixture of both)
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
EXTRAS
- 3-4 tablespoons icing/powdered sugar (for dusting)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350° (180°), grease and flour a 9 inch (22cm) cake pan or 9 1/2 inch (24cm) bundt pan.
- In a large bowl beat the eggs, yolk and sugar until creamy and light about 3-5 minutes. Then add the vanilla and ricotta beat to combine.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add to the creamed mixture and mix just until combined (batter will be thick), fold in the mini chocolate chips*.
- Spoon into the prepared cake pan and bake for approximately 30-40 minutes, test with a toothpick for doneness. Let cool completely, then remove from the pan and dust with powdered sugar before serving. Enjoy!
*Toss the chocolate chips with one teaspoon of flour before adding, this prevents the chips from sinking in the batter while baking.
Notes
Nutrition
Updated from May 16, 2014.
This is so delicious!! My family loved it! Making again this weekend to take to a friends. Thank you for a great recipe!!
Hi Rose, thanks so much, so glad you and your family enjoyed it. Take care and have a wonderful weekend!
Can I use a 8×8 or 9×9, and how long would I bake for?
Hi Mary yes you can use an 8 or 9 inch, I would start at 30 minutes and check it. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
Can i substitue 1 cup sugar with dates instead?
Hi Mary, I can’t really say, because I have never done that before. If you want to try let me know if you do. Take care!
Can this be made in a regular baking dish/cake pan?
Hi Yosani, yes it can, probably a 9 inch would work. 🙂
Perfect cake! I love that it’s not so sweet and has a dense rich moist texture. Folks having a problem with dryness probably live in a different altitude and need to adjust cooking time. I did not have mini chocolate chips so just whirred the normal sized chips in the processor until a mini chip size. Made with eggs fresh from our chickens for the 2 eggs and the yolk from one of our fresh ducks eggs. Such a lovely cake!
Hi Louise, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Fresh eggs, nothing like it! Take care and have a great week!
Easy peasy delicious cake! Made it in my Nordic ware new bunt pan came out like a dream! Froze the leftovers and two months later still just as delicious! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Hi Jeanne, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care!
Help! 🙂 I’m sorry, but I am confused with the recipe. Beside your 1/2 c mini chocolate chips, you have these words in parentheses: (unsweetened, milk or half and half). I don’t know what that means. Does it have something to do with the mini chocolate chips? Or is it supposed to be listed as a separate ingredient? But, I don’t even see milk mentioned in the recipe.
I’d appreciate hearing back. I’d really like to make this! Was aiming for Easter.
Thanks much.
Deb
Hi Deb, it means you could use unsweetened chocolate or milk chocolate or a combination of the two. Hope that helps. Let me know. Take care.
Ohhhhhh. Sorry I misunderstood that! Thanks for the quick response. And thanks for making changes and clearing that up on the recipe as well.
Have a blessed, happy Easter season.
Sincerely,
Deb
Hi Deb, no problem, and thank you Happy Easter to you too! Take care.
I like the level of sweetness and the flavor of this cake. I also found it overly dense with the exterior top and bottom very crisp making it seem a little dry.
Hi Ingrid, Italian cakes are denser then other cakes. And if has a crispy top and bottom it was overbaked. 🙂
Love this recipe. My first time making a cake with Ricotta. It was delicious! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Bev, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care!
what is 3 pinch salt? need exact measures
Hi Marianne, 1/8 teaspoon you can use as a measurement. 🙂
Curious why there is no butter in this recipe. All the other Ricotta Cake recipes have butter in them.
Hi Jean, you don’t always need butter for fat, in this recipe the fat for the recipe comes from the egg yolks and the ricotta, this is a typical Italian cake that is denser than other cakes. Hope that helps. Take care!
I made this yesterday and I don’t know what I did wrong but it’s extremely dense, almost an edible.
What did I do wrong?
Hi Carol, Italian cakes are denser, but so dense that you can’t eat it shouldn’t be. Maybe you baked it too long. Let me know.
Hi there! This looks awesome. Can you use muffin tins instead?
Hi Meredith, I think you can. Baking time will be about 15-18 minutes, but check before you take them out. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
Did you use a Bundt cake pan or angel food cake pan?
Hi Katie, I use a bundt pan. 🙂
I made this today. I could eat the whole thing myself!
Hi TMP, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care and have a great weekend!