The heart-shaped cake with ricotta and chocolate chips is extremely soft and fragrant, perfect for celebrating Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or other occasions. If you don’t have the mold, you can use a round one.
The cake’s base is made with a butter-free batter but with ricotta and scented with the zest and juice of lemon.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4/6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Mother's Day, Valentine's Day
Ingredients for the heart-shaped cake with ricotta and chocolate chips:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup ricotta
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/2 packet baking powder
- 1 organic lemon
- 1/2 cup milk (at room temperature)
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons rum (optional)
- to taste almond crumbles
- to taste sliced almonds
- to taste chocolate chips
Tools for the heart-shaped cake with ricotta and chocolate chips:
- 1 Mold
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Knife
- 1 Spatula
Steps for the heart-shaped cake with ricotta and chocolate chips:
Prepare the syrup by placing the water and granulated sugar in a small pot and whisk the ingredients well. Heat the pot without bringing to a boil, constantly stirring with the whisk to dissolve the sugar completely, then turn off the heat. Now, if desired, add the rum and stir well, or leave the syrup without alcohol and let it cool.
Grate the lemon zest and then squeeze the juice.
In a large bowl, place the eggs and granulated sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until the mixture is fluffy and doubled in volume, then add the ricotta and incorporate it into the mixture. Next, add the lemon zest and juice, and the flour sifted with baking powder.
Gradually add the milk and mix the ingredients until you obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Grease and flour a heart-shaped 8-inch mold, pour the mixture in, and level the surface with the back of a spoon. Bake in a preheated oven at 340°F for about 40 minutes. If you notice the cake’s surface browning too much, cover it with aluminum foil after the first 20 minutes of baking.
Remove the cake pan from the oven and allow the cake to cool.
While the cake cools, prepare the cream by placing the ricotta and powdered sugar in a bowl and mixing well with a spoon to achieve a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Once the cake is cool, remove it from the mold and cut it in half horizontally. Moisten the base with some syrup using a dessert bottle or a spoon, then spread half of the cream and level it well. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the cream.
Cover the cake with the other half, moisten it with syrup, and spread a layer of ricotta cream on top and on the sides.
Decorate the cake with almond crumbles along the sides and chocolate chips and almond slices on top, or as desired.
Place the cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Advice:
– If you do not have a heart-shaped mold, you can easily use a cake pan with a diameter of 8 to 9 inches.
– If the top part of the cake rises too much, trim it with a knife and then slice the cake in half horizontally.
– Instead of syrup, you can also use milk or milk with cocoa if serving children.
