Chocolate Chip Ricotta Crumb Cake
This Ricotta Cake is a fast and easy Italian crumb cake recipe, with a delicious creamy ricotta and chocolate chip filling. Perfect as a dessert or snack cake. Everyone will love it.
I have been on a roll with ricotta these days, from an easy and yes better than Potato Ricotta Gnocchi to a simple Chocolate Chip Ricotta Cake, to this tasty Lemon Ricotta Cake but this Crumb Cake all delicious.
I love crumb cakes, they are fast and easy to make from a yummy Peach Crumb Cake to a Wild Berry Crumb Cake.
Recipe Ingredients
- Flour – all purpose flour
- Sugar – granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Salt – if you use unsalted butter then add a bit more salt
- Butter – very cold or even frozen and grated
- Egg – large
Ricotta Filling
- Ricotta cheese – if the ricotta is watery then drain before using
- Sugar – granulated
- Egg – large egg
- Mini chocolate chips – I use unsweetened mini chips although you could use regular chips
How to make Chocolate Chip Ricotta Crumb Cake
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Then add the frozen grated butter and mix together with a fork to form a crumbly mixture. Add the egg and continue to mix only until still crumbly.
Add approximately 2/3 of the crumbly mixture to the cake pan, including the bottom and halfway up the sides, flatten the crumbs with your fingers and palm. Place in the fridge while making the ricotta filling.
In a medium bowl beat the ricotta, (drain the ricotta through a sieve if necessary), sugar and egg until creamy, then fold in the chocolate chips.
Remove the crust from the fridge and top with the ricotta filling, sprinkle with the remaining crumb mixture. Then sprinkle with more chocolate chips before baking.
Bake until golden on top. Let cool completely before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and or serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.
What does ricotta do for baked goods?
Adding ricotta to baked foods gives it a slightly sweet moist texture. Even if you don’t like ricotta on its own it is perfect in baked goods.
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.
What Is The Difference Between Coffee Cake And Crumb Cake
One of the differences between the two is the amount of streusel or crumb topping, a coffee cake has much less, and sometimes a crumb cake is all crumb, just like this Peach Crumb Cake. Another difference is a coffee cake is more cake than crumb.
Pro Tip
I learned this method from an Italian friend. Line your cake pan with a crumpled wet piece of parchment paper before adding the crumb crust.
I crumple the paper, wet it then lightly shake out the excess water before lining. No knead to grease it and it works perfectly. Make sure the paper is large enough to overlap the edge by a little more than an inch.
How to make a crumbly mixture
The easiest way to make a crumb mixture, is to freeze your butter for about 30 minutes before using.
Grate the frozen butter directly into your dry mixture and just combine with a fork. There you have a coarse crumb mixture.
Should the Ricotta be drained?
I drained the ricotta for this recipe for about 10 minutes, my ricotta was quite thick so I didn’t really lose much liquid.
If you find that there is a lot of liquid, then drain the ricotta in a sieve for about 20 minutes before beating with the sugar and egg.
How to store the Ricotta Crumb Cake
The cake should be covered in an airtight container or with plastic stored in the fridge. It will keep for up to 3-4 days in the fridge.
How to freeze the cake
The cake can also be frozen, be sure to wrap the completely cooled cake well and place in a freezer bag or container. The cake should be eaten within a month. Defrost overnight in the fridge.
More Delicious Recipes with Ricotta
So if you are looking for a tasty Crumb Cake then why not give this Chocolate Chip Ricotta Crumb Cake a try and let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Chocolate Chip Ricotta Crumb Cake
Equipment
- 8 inch cake pan
Ingredients
FOR THE CRUMB CRUST
- 2½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 pinch salt if you use unsalted butter then add ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ½ cup butter very cold or frozen and grated
- 1 large egg
RICOTTA FILLING
- 1½ cups + 2 tablespoons ricotta (drain 10-20 minutes or more depending on how much excess moisture there is)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup mini chocolate chips
EXTRAS
- ¼ – ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips
- 2-3 tablespoons powdered / icing sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (180C). Line an 8 inch round cake pan with crumpled wet parchment paper. (Cut a large square, crumple it, then wet it and shake out excess water then line the pan).
FOR THE CRUMB CRUST
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then add the frozen grated butter and mix together with a fork to form a crumbly mixture. Add the egg and continue to mix only until still crumbly.
- Add approximately ⅔ of the crumbly mixture to the cake pan, press down on the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan to cover. Place in the fridge while making the ricotta filling.
FOR THE RICOTTA FILLING
- In a medium bowl beat the ricotta, sugar and egg until creamy, then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Remove the crust from the fridge and top with the ricotta filling. Sprinkle with the remaining crumb mixture, then sprinkle with mini chocolate chips.
- Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes or until golden on top. Let cool completely before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and or serve with vanilla ice cream if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Do you think there could be an egg substitute that would work if you’re allergic to eggs?
Hi Cynthia, a lot of people substitute with unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 cup of applesauce for every egg. I hope that helps. Take care.
Delicious. Enjoyed by all the family.
Was a bit concerned that the crumble mixture was a bit too floury but it worked. Another tasty recipe.
Great tip about wetting the parchment paper.
Hi Gina, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. Take care!
The cake was very jiggly after 40 minutes so I put it in longer. Is it supposed to be very jiggly? Does it then set longer? If so it would be helpful to know that.
I also found that it seemed like a lot of flour compared to butter. It would probably be better to mix those two together with a wooden spoon and room temp butter. Is there any problem using room temp butter?
Hi Laura, as long as a tooth pick comes out clean it’s baked. You use cold butter because it helps with the structure and so that it doesn’t spread too much while baking. Hope that helps. Take care!
I’ve never used the crumpled up parchment paper. Doesn’t that make it hard to get the crust to lay flat? What does wetting it do?
Hi Edith, I actually explain it in the pro tip -I learned this method from an Italian friend. Line your cake pan with a crumpled wet piece of parchment paper before adding the crumb crust.
I crumple the paper, wet it then lightly shake out the excess water before lining. No knead to grease it and it works perfectly. Make sure the paper is large enough to overlap the edge by a little more than an inch. Hope that helps. Take care!
I took another look at how you did this and I realized the parchment paper here in Canada is a lot stiffer than what you have. Ours is like stiff wax paper – I’m going to see if I can find something softer like tissue paper.
Hi Edith, I’m from Canada and my daughter lives there and parchment paper there and here is basically the same, I don’t really find a difference. Are you sure you aren’t using waxed paper? Let me know.
Can you mix chocolate chips and butterscotch chips? What fruit would be good dried or fresh? How about dates? Thanks
Hi Syliva, I think you could mix the two chips, you could had chopped dates or figs. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
I only have 1 cup ricotta. Think I could substitute 1/2 a cup with either cream cheese or sour cream? Which do you think would be better?
Hi Kimberly, you could use either, I would probably use cream cheese. I hope you enjoy them. Take care!
I added grated orange rind to ricotta mixture and it was delicious! It did take about an hour to bake in a springform pan. Looked exactly like picture.
Hi Bridget, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Great idea adding the orange rind. Take care and have a great week!
Hi I was just wondering, why does the butter have to be frozen? Can you not just work with cold butter?
Hi Lucy, yes it can be very cold. I find frozen and grated easier to mix together. Take care!
This looks delicious. Can I substitute blueberries for the chocolate chips? Thanks!
Hi Joyce, thanks, yes you can substitute I would toss the blueberries with a couple of teaspoons of flour before adding. Let me know how it goes. Take care!
This was absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe to a T and it turned out perfect. I also followed the pro tip about crumpling up the parchment paper and wetting it etc. great tip! The chips were melted; the filling was moist; it was not overly sweet; the crumb was crunchy. A winner!
Hi Carol, thanks so much, so glad you enjoyed it. Take care!
Is there a ‘rule of thumb’ for increasing the recipe? I would like to use a 10” springform pan. Would 2X work? P.S. I really enjoy your recipes. Thank you!
Hi Linda, yes I would double it for the a 10 inch pan. Glad you enjoy the recipes. On my cooking tips https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/cooking-tips/ I do have a cake conversion chart on it. Take care!
Can you use regular size chocolate chips?
Hi Dh, yes you can. I hope you like it. Take care!
Sounds wonderful ! Should I double the recipe if I want to make it in a 13×9 pan ?
Hi Rosanne, yes double the recipe for the bigger pan. Thanks hope you enjoy it. Take care!
After 40 minutes it’s very jiggly doesn’t seem done, the crumb I had to add more butter it was all flour? Am I doing something wrong
Hi Ann, how much extra butter did you use? It shouldn’t be a batter, it should be crumbly. Take a look at the photos. Let me know.
What type of ricotta cheese do you use? Low-fat? Whole milk?
Would one be better and have less water?
Hi Kim, I always use whole milk ricotta. I would think low fat has more water in it. I hope you like it. Take care!