Serve Up Love By The Slice: Easy Chocolate-Ricotta Love Cake

Share the love with Chocolate-Ricotta Love Cake. An easy, make-ahead dessert that starts with a box mix that’s impressive enough to serve company.

Happy Monday!

Help yourself to love-by-the-slice and an easy, make-ahead

cake that starts with a box mix!

Chocolate-Ricotta Love Cake is perfect anytime,

but especially appropriate for Valentine’s Day.

There are three layers to love in this cake:

♥ a chocolate cake layer

♥ a creamy ricotta layer, reminiscent of cheesecake

♥ and an easy cocoa-mascarpone frosting.

To make this cake, you start with a chocolate box cake mix, (I used a Duncan Hine’s Devil’s Food Cake mix.)

Follow the directions on the box of your cake mix for baking,

using the quantity of eggs, oil and water called for on the box.

In addition to the cake mix you’ll need your ricotta filling ingredients:

♥ 28 ounces ricotta cheese, part skim or full fat (3 1/2 cups, I like the smooth texture of Galbani)

♥ 4 ounces mascarpone (1/2 cup)

♥ 3 large eggs

♥ 3/4 cup sugar

 ♥ 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

The ricotta-mascarpone filling is poured over your chocolate cake batter layer.

The cake layer rises as it bakes with the heavier ricotta filling sinking to the bottom of the pan.

Don’t fret over any cracks and crevices in your cake, as they will be covered by your frosting.

The Cocoa-Mascarpone Frosting that has a chocolate mousse-like texture and it easy to make.

You’ll need:

♥ 10 ounces mascarpone (1 1/4 cups)

♥ 1 cup whole milk

♥  3.9-ounce box instant chocolate pudding mix

♥ 1 tablespoon sugar

♥  Optional: 2 ounces dark chocolate (in a block or bar) for grating

Beat together pudding mix, sugar and mascarpone until smooth; slowly add milk beating until incorporated.

Let stand until thickened about 5 minutes; spread over cooled cake.

To add more chocolate if desired, top the frosting with some grated chocolate

from a 2 oz. block or bar.

I adapted this recipe from Valerie Bertinelli’s Sicilian Love Cake,

inspired by a recipe for Sicilian Chocolate Love Cake

she found in a small community Italian-American newspaper.

I searched but could never find the history of why it’s called ‘love cake,’

but it’s appropriately named as there’s a lot to love about this cake!

The real star of this cake is the creamy ricotta-mascarpone layer,

resulting in a cake that’s not overly sweet, which we prefer.

Valerie’s recipe didn’t call for refrigerating the cake before serving, but I agree with other reviewers

that the texture and flavor improves by Day 2 or even Day 3,

becoming more moist and flavorful the longer it sits in the fridge.

For that reason, this cake is a great make-ahead dessert, which makes

the chilled cake especially appealing for the warm, summer months.

 This cake will take anywhere from 45 – 60 minutes to bake. (My cake baked in 55 minutes.)

Factors that affect baking times are the age of your oven, electric vs. gas, humidity,

elevation and ultimately the pan you use.

In general when it comes to cakes, a lighter pan promotes more even baking.

When baking cake in a dark pan, reduce your oven temperature 25 degrees.

To be on the safe side, start checking the cake about 10 minutes before the recipe says it should be done.

Glass vs. Metal Pans:

The insulating properties of glass make it slow to heat up

and consequently it retains heat longer than metal.

If you have ever baked brownies or a cake in a glass pan, you probably discovered

to your dismay that the edges are hard and dry by the time the center has set.

The rule of thumb for baking in a glass pan is to lower the

 oven temperature by 25°F and bake up to 10 minutes longer.

You can read more about choosing the right pan from King Arthur Flour, HERE.

Full disclosure: This cake is a bit of an indulgence with the price of eggs these days

as this cake will require 6 eggs in total; 3 for the cake and 3 for the filling.

Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese and can be harder to find

than regular cream cheese, as well as pricier.

Next time I make it, I’ll substitute cream cheese for the mascarpone

which offers a similar tang and texture.

Looking for an easy no-bake dessert to love?

Satisfy your inner-chocoholic with this  No Bake 5-Ingredient Chocolate Tart,

guaranteed to make your sweetheart, family and friends swoon!

Find 14+ Sweets & Treats to celebrate Valentine’s Day, HERE.

Lola and Sophie wish you lots of love on Valentine’s Day

and plenty of treats!

🐾 ❤️ 🐾 ❤️

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