June 19, 2010

Chocolate Ricotta Pound Cake


On TasteSpotting this week, I saw a recipe that caught my eye. I printed it & decided to make it for book club today. I made it last night, but I haven't tasted it yet. It smelled so good! And it was easy. I wasn't sure I had the right cake pan because the recipe calls for a 6 cup fluted cake mold & the one I have doesn't say how many cups it holds. Mine is a 9.75 x 3.38 in. It worked great, so maybe it is the right size.

Chocolate Ricotta Pound Cake


4 1/2 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
4 Tbsp boiling water
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
13 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta
1 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour the cake mold. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, mix together the cocoa powder and boiling water until thoroughly combined. Let cool to room temperature.

3. Once the chocolate mixture has cooled, whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. Set aside.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

5. In a mixer bowl, cream together on medium to medium high the butter, ricotta, and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the wet and dry ingredients in three stages, alternating wet and dry. Mix until combined.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes total. About twenty minutes into baking, cover the cake with a lightly oiled piece of aluminum foil. Continue to bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Remove from oven and let cool, turning the cake out onto a wire rack after about ten minutes. Let cool completely. Top with a light dusting of powdered sugar.

Kim's Notes: My Publix didn't have fancy cocoa powder, so I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa. The box says, "A blend of natural & Dutched cocoas," so I figured it would work. I missed the part in # 7 where it says 20 minutes in, you should cover the cake. I'm not sure what I messed up by not doing that. Maybe it's crispier? I don't know. I'll report back after I eat it. Based on how easy this was to make & how good it smells, I highly recommend this recipe. I'll let you know how it tastes after book club.

Full cake photostream here.

2 comments:

Steph (desserts for breakfast) said...

I'm so glad you made this-- let me know how you like it once you taste it! :-)

FYI: Not covering the cake with foil just makes the top a bit crustier, but it shouldn't really affect the taste.

The Blonde Mule said...

I loved it! It was a huge hit at book club. It's perfect for summer -chocolate, but not too heavy. I'm totally making this again. Thanks again for sharing your recipe!

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