You’ll love my Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cake! It’s a delicious blend of ricotta, mascarpone and chocolate, stuffed between two layers of a buttery crust that will make this the best ricotta cake you’ve ever tasted.
If you’re looking for that extra special dessert, a one of kind creation, my Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cake is just what the doctor ordered!
It was one of my extended (Italian) family favorites and one I was lucky enough to learn from my adopted Nonna. This delicious cake which she called a “Torta di Ricotta e Cioccolata” was served over the Christmas and Easter holidays. But this cake is too good to serve just at those holidays, perfect for any occasion.
What caught my attention about this torta was the cake itself, I’ve made layer cakes stuffed with cannoli filling before and they were delicious, but they were traditional layer cakes. The difference with this cake was the batter.
What Ingredients do I need to make a Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cake?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cake. In Chef Speak this is called the “Mise en Place” which translates to “Everything in its Place”.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the up cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
How do I make a Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cake?
- In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients for the crust together, except the butter
- Cut the butter into very thin slices and add it to the mixture working it in gently, you don’t want the butter to blend in, the mixture should be chunky.
This cake will seem more like a scone batter, or even a fruit crisp topping than most cake batters you make. But don’t be worried about how it looks before you bake it. You’ll be rewarded with a moist cake, with a delightful crumb and the perfect blend of flavors.
- Mix the ricotta, mascarpone, egg and sugar using a fork.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir to blend
- Press half of the cake mixture gently into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan that has been greased with butter and dusted with flour. (do not mash it down!)
- Spread the ricotta mixture evenly on top of the first layer of the cake mixture in the springform pan.
- Crumble the remainder of the crust over the ricotta filling. Make sure to cover the ricotta completely.
- Sprinkle pistachios over the top of the cake
Bake in a 350° F preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool in the springform pan for 10 minutes before removing the pan. When the cake has fully cooled, add a layer of confectioners sugar to the top of the cake.
*The confectioner’s sugar will basically dissolve if the cake is too hot)
If you’re looking for a delicious new treat to serve your family or take to your next potluck dinner with friends give my cake a try.
Who knows it may even become one of your signature desserts!
Kitchen tools I use for my cakes
- 9 -inch Springform Pan
- offset spatula (essential for bakers)
- 9-inch parchment cake circles
- silicone spatulas
- wire whisk
- mixing bowls
More Italian Desserts You’ll Love!
Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cake
Ingredients
Cake aka crust
- 2⅓ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 8 oz very cold butter sliced thinly
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp Tuaca or your favorite liquor. Amaretto, Frangelica or Sambucca are good choices.
Ricotta Filling
- 8 oz ricotta
- 8 oz Mascarpone
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Topping
- ¼ cup pistachios Optional
- dust with confectioners sugar Optional
Instructions
Cake
- In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients for the crust together, except the butter
- Cut the butter into very thin slices and add it to the mixture working it in gently, you don’t want the butter to blend in, the mixture should be chunky*
Ricotta Filling
- Mix the ricotta, mascarpone, egg and sugar using a fork.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir to blend
Assembly
- Press half of the cake mixture gently into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan that has been greased with butter and dusted with flour. (do not mash it down!)
- Spread the mixture evenly on top of the crust
- Sprinkle pistachios ver the top of the crust
- Crumble the remainder of the crust over the filling, covering the filling completely*
- Bake in a preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes at 350°
- Torta is best served at room temperature.
Notes
* put the butter in the freezer for 20 or 30 minutes before slicing it.
*you can press down the crust on top of the filling but be very gentle, the crust forms as the butter melts, giving the cake that rustic look.
Nutrition
Jo
Ricotta and chocolate, how amazing is that! I love the rich crumbly texture of this torta. Would be perfect for holiday season and I wouldn’t mind gifting this to friends.
Tammy
Dennis this cake is absolutely beautiful! It looks so moist and rich…oh I’d would LOVE a slice right now. Pinning for later <3
Jenni LeBaron
This Ricotta Chocolate Chip Cake looks delicious. I imagine this is one of those desserts that you set out and not a single crumb is leftover at the end of the meal. I can’t wait to give this a try!
Jamie
I love the rich texture of this cake and the crumbled crust on top was wonderful! It was gone in no time!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thanks for the great review Jamie and I’m happy to hear you enjoyed the cake!
Tara
You had me at chocolate! I also love Ricotta in baking. This looks like a delicious take on an Italian classic.
Amanda
Yum! The ricotta makes this such a moist cake! Thanks for sharing.
Kushigalu
Cake looks gorgeous. Perfect for holiday season. Yum!
Frank
Great recipe Chef Dennis and as always excellent advice. Thank you for sharing your blogging tips.
Mari
Wonderful cake recipe, the combination of chocolate and ricotta must be awesome! I can’t wait to taste it. Very helpful Ask Chef Dennis post. Thanks 🙂
Rebecca McCray
Do I need to set the cheesecake into a water bath?
Chef D
hi Rebecca
no you do not, because it really isn’t a cheesecake. The ricotta is in between two layers of this crunchy dough. The most important thing to remember is not to blend the butter into the flour, use xtra cold butter and leave the dough chunky, and when you put half in the springform pan, don’t press it down real hard, just enough to level it up some. Then add your cheese mixture in the center and top with the rest of the chunky dough. I did add pistachio’s to the top of mine, mostly for presentation, but the saltiness did add another element to the cake.
if you have any questions you can always email me too!
Dennis
deedee
I made this last evening. I noticed in the directions, it does not say anything about when to add the egg for the filling.
Taking this to the office for a party tomorrow… stay tuned for comments
Chef D
thanks for letting me know, I’ll fix that, it should be added, while your mixing the ricotta and mascarpone together, so it blends smoothly.
Let me know how everyone likes it!
deedee
Wow! Great dessert/ looked exactly like the picture. Everyone had a great big smile after the first bite!
Chef D
glad to here it worked out! I made it with an apple filling instead of ricotta and it turned out great, I just increased the cake part by half.
Bunkycooks
This is great advice, Chef. I so agree that we do need to not give up what we work so hard for just a few boxes of pasta or cookies. I cannot believe some of the things that bloggers will do for companies with no hesitation. This cheapens all of our work and makes it more difficult to command any kind of compensation for our efforts.
I wish you all the best in 2012 and hope that your blog continues to grow!!
Gwen
Chef D
hi Irma
thanks so much for the kind words, it was truly a delicious cake! I put pistachio’s on top as the garnish and actually added them about midway through the baking process so they would toast. The saltiness of the pistachio’s really added a nice contrast to the sweetness of the chocolate.
Thanks for asking!
Dennis
Roxana GreenGirl {A little bit of everything}
This post came in at the perfect time. With the arrival of the new year, setting new goals, I know almost all the (food) bloggers set some goals for their blogs, may they be higher readership, better $ deals, more awards and the list goes on.
I hope I’ll have as much fun blogging this year as much as i did in 2011. No fun = no blogging.
Happy New Year Chef!
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love.
This cake look so delicious, Chef! My grandma makes a cake very similar to this and it’s so good! And thanks again for giving us such great advice, this topic is very timely for me right now as I have been thinking about these exact things!
Margaret Murphy Tripp
That cake looks moist, delicious and marvelous. I happy to have an excess of ricotta right now, too 🙂 yay!
Kathy
This cake looks fabulous!! Something I would make…ricotta, chocolate and mascarpone…Yum!
Thanks for a great recipe and a great post! Very inspiring! Happy New Year!
Becky
This is excellent advice in such a timely manner, as always. There is much “food” for thought. Thank you for so much for this column, because I learn so much, every time I read it.
I love the rustic look of this cake, and I’m sure that it taste as good as it looks!
Gerry @Foodness Gracious
Excellent advice again Chef! You should compile all of these posts and publish a food bloggers guide book!!
Take care…
Marsha @ The Harried Cook
Happy New Year, Chef Dennis! I’ve been away from blogging for a while, and I look forward to browsing through all your yummy recipes that I’ve missed… this cake looks sooooo good! 🙂