If you are looking for an extraordinarily soft and fragrant dessert, the orange and ricotta cake is the perfect choice for you. If you follow me, you already know my passion for ricotta desserts and might have already tried the chocolate and ricotta cake and the lemon and ricotta cake: you know, therefore, that adding ricotta to the batter results in a truly unique texture, hardly achievable with regular pantry dessert recipes. And the process to prepare it is very easy and quick: just mix everything with electric beaters, place the batter in the mold, and bake! Great for both breakfast and snack time, the ricotta and orange cake is also a perfect base for filling, to create a delicious birthday cake or any layered dessert. I’m sure you will immediately fall in love with this orange and ricotta cake and will know how to enhance it for every occasion.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8 servings
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 320.75 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 42.63 (g) of which sugars 25.25 (g)
- Proteins 7.50 (g)
- Fat 14.69 (g) of which saturated 3.58 (g)of which unsaturated 10.43 (g)
- Fibers 0.59 (g)
- Sodium 103.01 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 90 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
To make the gluten-free orange and ricotta cake, I simply replaced all-purpose flour with an equal amount of rice flour. If you are celiac, make sure the following ingredients are labeled as “gluten-free”: rice flour, cornstarch, baking powder, powdered sugar.
- 1 cup cup ricotta
- 3/4 cup cup sugar
- 3 eggs (medium)
- 1 cup cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free rice flour)
- 1/3 cup cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup cup orange juice (freshly squeezed)
- 2 teaspoons orange zest (untreated, grated)
- 1/3 cup cup sunflower seed oil (or 1/2 cup melted butter)
- 1 packet baking powder (16 grams)
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste powdered sugar (for garnish)
Tools
- 1 Grater
- 1 Citrus Juicer
- 1 Bowl
- Electric beaters
- 1 Cake Pan 8 inches in diameter
- Parchment paper
How to Prepare the Orange and Ricotta Cake that Melts in Your Mouth
To prepare the orange and ricotta cake, after washing and drying the orange well, grate the zest. About 2 teaspoons are enough, a little less than half an orange. Then squeeze the juice and measure 1/4 cup. Squeezing half an orange is usually enough, but I recommend measuring it precisely, otherwise the batter might turn out too runny or too thick.
Then place the ricotta in a large bowl and add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Work everything with electric beaters for about a minute, until the ricotta is creamy (1). Then add the eggs one at a time (2). Add the first egg and mix it well into the batter with the electric beaters before adding the second (3).
Do the same with the third egg. Once all the eggs are well blended with the ricotta, you can add the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour (or rice flour), cornstarch, baking powder, and grated orange zest (4).
Mix everything well with electric beaters, then, when the flours are incorporated, slowly add the oil or melted butter (5) and finally the orange juice (6).
Continue working the batter with electric beaters for about a minute until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture (7). Line an 8-inch diameter cake pan with parchment paper. I always use an aluminum pastiera mold because I’ve noticed that for cakes like this, compared to even more expensive and “refined” molds, the result is better.
If you don’t have an 8-inch mold, you can follow this guide that will help you recalculate the cake’s measurements based on your pan size. Pour the batter into the pan and level it well with the back of a spoon or a spatula (8).
Bake the orange and ricotta cake in a preheated oven at 350°F (static) for about 40 minutes, then check with a toothpick. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely before taking it out of the pan (9).
You can serve the orange and ricotta cake simply dusted with powdered sugar if you want to enjoy its flavor in simplicity. As mentioned, it is also suitable for being enriched with filling creams – an orange custard or chocolate custard, or even diplomatic cream – or even decorated on the surface with colored frosting or chocolate frosting.
Storage
You can store the orange and ricotta cake at room temperature, inside a cake container. It stays very soft for up to 4 or 5 days.
Tips and Variations
You can make the cake using sunflower seed oil or melted butter: in that case, you will need 1/2 cup, which should be gently melted in a saucepan or microwave.
FAQ
What type of ricotta should I use for this cake?
You can make the cake with either sheep ricotta or cow ricotta: in the first case, the cake will have a slight and pleasant ricotta aftertaste, while in the second case, the ricotta flavor will be very delicate and almost imperceptible. If you love flavor contrasts, you can also try using buffalo ricotta, which has a very distinct taste.
What can I use instead of ricotta?
This type of cake works best with ricotta – either sheep or cow – but if you can’t or don’t want to use it, you can replace it with an equal amount of mascarpone or cream cheese like Philadelphia.
