Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake
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Flavored with orange zest and orange liqueur, this ricotta pound cake is incredibly tasty and moist. It is the perfect treat, particularly nice as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea, but it is equally good served for breakfast or brunch or even dessert — so versatile. Everyone raves!
As five of us celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving down here in Virginia, the rest of my family journeyed north to Vermont to the shores of Lake Champlain for a wild gathering with my aunt and uncle.
Upon returning, my mother gave me the full report: Of course, the turkey, which she had prepared, was over-cooked, gross and inedible but roasted Jerusalem artichokes saved the occasion as well as an orange-and-ricotta pound cake that her sister prepared twice during their five-day visit.
I had to make the cake immediately. My mother was right. Flavored with orange zest and orange (or almond) liqueur, this incredibly tasty and moist — thanks to a generous amount of ricotta cheese — pound cake is the perfect treat.
It’s particularly nice as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea, but great with breakfast or after-dinner coffee, too. It also makes a lovely gift, when baked in mini loaf pans (see recipe for notes.)
** Finally, if you love an olive oil cake, I’ve since adapted this recipe to use olive oil in place of butter. It’s also a one-bowl job: One-Bowl Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake **
5 Favorite Quick Breads
- Mrs. Myers’s Best Banana Bread (truly the best)
- Must-Try, Super-Moist Zucchini Bread
- My Mother’s Delicious Pumpkin Bread
- Lemon and Ricotta Pound Cake
- Yotam Ottolenghi’s Lemon-Semolina Cake
Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 large loaf or three mini loaves
Description
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
** UPDATE: If you love an olive oil cake, I’ve since adapted this recipe to use olive oil in place of butter. It’s also a one-bowl job: One-Bowl Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake **
Notes:
- Important: You must use a 9×5-inch loaf pan or 10×5-inch loaf pan or something larger for this recipe, or, two 8×4-inch loaf pans, otherwise the batter may spill over into your oven, and the cake will not bake evenly. If you only have an 8×4-inch loaf pan, I would recommend not filling it higher than 3/4 or even halfway to be safe. You can bake off the remaining batter in smaller pans or you can wait till your first loaf is done; then bake off the remaining batter in your cooled and cleaned loaf pan.
- I often use three mini loaf pans, because this is a great one for gifting.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more to grease the baking pan
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour or all-purpose
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 orange, zested
- 2 tablespoons amaretto (or Cointreau or Grand Marnier)
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9- or 10 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan (see notes above!) with butter (grease it very well). In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to blend.
- Using a mixer, cream the butter, ricotta and 1.5 cups granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, zest and alcohol until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan (Note: Do not fill pan higher than 3/4 — save extra batter to bake off in a mini pan or muffin tin … if you fill the pan higher than 3/4 you risk the batter spilling over. See notes above.) and bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 60 minutes (about 35 minutes for mini pans). Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian/American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
164 Comments on “Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake”
I love the orange-ricotta loaf! It looks absolutely delicious! Your gift ideas are just wonderful and will definitely be using a few! You are so talented – always love your posts and recipes! Happy Saturday!
Thank you, Carol, you are sweet. Happy Saturday to you as well!
Oh no! Sorry to hear this. I have made this so many times always to rave reviews. What exactly went wrong?
ntw needs to suck it and get a life. ntw you clearly add no love in your baking and that is why it was horrible. who says things like that ?
You are FULL of good ideas! How do you do it? I always struggle with Christmas gift ideas, but you’ve started a wonderful list for me – thank you! I am taking part in a little secret santa exchange and last week I gave her some pumpkin granola (darcy’s recipe), and I think this week I’ll give her a loaf of ricotta poundcake and some cookies. I hope she likes baked goods, because that’s about all I’ve got in the way of gift ideas right now. Ooooooo I still have one packet of your notecards – maybe I’ll giver her those and then order some more for myself. I love the holiday version. WONDERFUL Ali! wonderful wonderful wonderful. I love your posts, they make my day 🙂
Oh Talley Talley, you are too much. The orange ricotta loaf is delicious. I think it could be spiked with even more booze, too, but I don’t know how that will affect texture. Enjoy your santa exchange party!
Such a great post! Not only because all your gift ideas are wonderful, but because you reminded me that I’ve got that Giada cake in my mental folder to make it forever!
I like the idea of the mini cakes, and if I have time this weekend, I might make a batch, as I do have some ricotta in the fridge
Thanks for the inspiration!
SallyBR — The mini loaves are so great…perfect for gift giving!
I made the beautiful cake, and it really is so much lighter than pound cake. The texture is fluffy like the ricotta, and the flavor so subtle. I love it anytime of day–mid-morning with coffee–yum! I love that silver cleaning hint, too. I can’t believe it works.
Liz — I meant to note that it doesn’t taste like pound cake at all and that’s part of the reason why I loved it. I should make a note of that. I didn’t even want to call it pound cake because I thought that might deter people from making it.
A very seductive pound cake! I adore the subtle flavors of orange paired with the ricotta.
And your gift guide is enchanting; I’ll have one of each!
Darcy, you are too much. Thank you thank you.
Thanks, Deb, I wish I could send you one of each!
Love the Granola + recipe card idea.. How simple + clever!
Off to make your cake I think.. looks like just the recipe I’ve been searching for. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Tegan — you are welcome! The granola + recipe card is a cinch to put together and can be used for so many foods. I’m trying to branch out, but I always go back to granola 🙂
Wonderful recipe! Thank you Alexandra!
Simplu si bun — you are so welcome! So glad you liked it!
This bread looks divine, what a great gift idea!
Do you think this would work as a bundt cake?
Hina, I do. I think it will cook nice and evenly in a bundt pan. My only concern is if there is enough batter to fill a bundt pan properly. If you have a standard-sized loaf pan, fill it with water 3/4 of the way up or higher (my batter almost filled a loaf pan completely), and then pour this into your bundt pan to see how high the water level reaches. If it reaches higher than halfway, I say go for it. Let me know how it turns out!
Oh now I wish I could stop working to make something genuine and tasty like this cake. Not to mention these gift idea…. I want to craft one as well! Beautiful post.
Overall I would say it worked in the bundt pan although it wasnt as tall as a whole bundt cake usually is. Also, while delicious, the texture wasn’t as light as I was hoping for given that the recipe calls for cake flour and that is what I used. I wonder if I made a mistake along the way…maybe the bundt pan might have had something to do with the cake not rising to it’s full potential?
Hina — thanks for reporting back. Sorry to hear that the texture wasn’t as light as you had hoped — I used all-purpose and found the texture to be pretty light. I can’t say for sure about the pan affecting the rising and texture. It doesn’t sound as though you made a mistake. What kind of ricotta did you use? And did you add any alcohol?
Made the the ricotta cake with homemade ricotta because I’ve been wanting to try my hand at that as well…. used half a teaspoon of food grade orange
essential oil because that’s what I had on hand, and made it into 9 mini loaves with a pan that I have and it turned out the divine! thanks for the awesome recipe
Michelle — so happy to hear this! Your mini loaves sounds adorable. Where did you find such mini loaf pans? Or did you double the recipe? Isn’t homemade ricotta fun and delicious? Love the idea of the orange essential oil…I bet that added a wonderful flavor.
I love your gift ideas and already bought some cocoa to add to hostess gifts!
I was wondering if you know if pound cake can be frozen? I wanted to make some mini loaves and freeze for gifts in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for wonderful ideas and recipes!
Maureen — I haven’t frozen this particular loaf yet — it’s still new to me as well — but I have a feeling it will freeze beautifully. It stays moist for days!
Mini loaf pan here: https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Aluminum-9-Cavity-Petite-Loaf/dp/B0000CFSMW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1355199492&sr=8-9&keywords=mini+loaf+pan
I never used it much because of cleanup until I discovered these :
https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-White-Petite-Loaf-Bake/dp/B0008D6YY0/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_y
now I use it all the time!
Michelle — Genius! Awesome. Thanks so much for sharing. Both of these items would make fabulous gifts as well. I love this sort of thing.
Hello Alexandra,
Tried the cake yesterday and it was delicious!! My son (9) who loves cake fell to the ground and said “this is the best cake ever mom!”.
I could only fill up two small loaf pans and since I didn’t have any orange liquor in my cabinet I used “Peach schnaps” and they worked out fine!
Thanks for another great recipe and happy holidays from our house to yours!!
Dorothea
Oh Dorothea! This makes me so happy. And I could just squeeze your son! How adorable. Love the idea of Peach Schnaps. Happy Holidays to you as well!
Baking this right now and the house smells wonderful! Can’t wait to taste! Thank you again! I love today’s fontina post too! Yum!
Maureen — hope it turns out well for you!
Will the silver polishing technique also work on jewelry? I have a few pairs of earrings that tarnished, and so many knooks and crannies that I just don’t bother with them. BTW, I’m making the orange-ricotta cake tonight!
Terri — I just checked on the chef’s catalog website, and it says the plates work on jewelry, so sounds like they might work for you! Hope the cake turns out well for you!
I’m sure this pound cake was wonderful for Thanksgiving….I have just discovered it today, and have decided it is perfect for Spring as well! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe!
Joy — I’m so happy to hear this! I was actually just thinking about making a lemon variation, which for whatever reason, also feels a little more springy? I’m just wondering what I would use in place of the grand marnier…perhaps I’d just keep that the same. So glad you liked this!
So yummy! I split the batter between two regular loaf pans (4.5×8.5 I think) and it worked out perfect. Thanks for another great recipe.
Lizzie — wonderful to hear this! I like the idea of splitting this batter into two loaves.
Gorgeous blog/website. I am very excited about the orange ricotta cake. I live in the Pacific NW now but originally from NY and whenever my sister and I visit NYC we always go to Fish’s Eddy – love the bowls you posted!
I found your blog via pinterest! Great recipes, pictures, and descriptions are very interesting. Thank you to share all this!
Of course! Hope you find some recipes you like.
Just made this today… It is delicious…
Yay! Wonderful to hear this.
I love your orange ricotta cake recipe. I am baking the cake,now. I made them in mini loaves, as you suggested in your instructions. I had to change a few ingredients because of my diet. I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour. I substituted sugar for honey + 1 tablespoon of sugar. I did not have the liquor, used pure almond extract. I tasted the batter, so yummy!!!! My first batch turned out perfect. I cannot wait to try them. Thank you for sharing a beautiful recipe.
wonderi ng if i could double the recipe to make 6 minis ? and use orange jiuce instead of Amaretto
I made it to use up my left over ricotta and orange skins and it was really good! Even my super high standards mother in law was impressed! I had run out of vanilla essence and so used almond essence. Thanks so much for the recipe!
So happy to hear this, Lena!
Late to this party, but I too loved this recipe! I used a mixture of Pimm’s and lemon extract and baked the leftover batter in a mini muffin tin, which made for some incredibly cute and tasty bite-sized morsels. Thank you so much!
Nice work on NOT loading the pan with all of the batter … that can be hard. So happy this one turned out well! Love it, too. Happy Thanksgiving!!
Where do you get electronic plate for use cleaning silver?
Hi Fran, I think Chef’s Catalog must have gone out of business. Such a bummer! I found a similar (maybe the same) product on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/CHEFS-Electrolytic-Cleaning-Plate/dp/B001J488K0
This cake graced our Easter table. We loved it.
Yay!! So happy to hear this, Amy 🙂
Is this orange ricotta recipe something that could be made in a bundt pan?
It could, but I worry about well it will turn out. It’s a very moist cake. As long as your grease the pan very well, it should be fine.
I’m making the lemon ricotta, and shared this post far and wide!