Have you ever added ricotta cheese to your pound cakes? If you haven’t, it’s a game changer! This Ricotta Orange Pound Cake is flavored with orange zest(and pure orange oil. It’s been coated with an orange glaze. It’s moist, tender and perfect for a morning treat, or perfect for company.
For some unexplained reason, I seem to be compelled to buy ricotta cheese whenever I shop at Trader Joe’s. While unpacking groceries, I discovered that I already had ricotta cheese in my fridge.
The first thing that comes to mind is to make lasagna. Right? Or, maybe Ricotta Waffles or Ricotta Pancakes. Ricotta adds so much moisture! Then it hit me. Cake. Better yet, bake a Bundt Cake. Our tree is bursting with oranges, so that was my mission for the day.
This pound cake recipe is super versatile. You can interchange and use lemon or lime zest. Or, go bare naked, and make a vanilla pound cake. either way, it’s going to be delicious.
The batter begins with simple ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs. Of course, I added the zest of one orange.
To the wet ingredients, I’ve added cake flour. This is very different than using all purpose flour. Cake flour is a lower protein and finer consistency than all purpose flour. Can you use all purpose flour? Try it. Most likely, your cake will turn out more dense. There are recipes on the internet on how to create your own cake flour. As for me? I tend to hoard a box (or three) in my pantry.
Since I wanted to go with the “orange” theme, really wanted to make sure that flavor took center stage.
Orange zest is good, but I’ve found that pure orange oil really kicks up the flavor a lot more. I prefer this ingredient over orange extract, because it’s pure and very potent. Believe me, a little bit goes a long way. (I also buy the lemon oil, as well.) I store mine in the refrigerator, once opened. It lasts a very long time!
I have a collection of bundt pans, and this one is a favorite. To guarantee that my cakes won’t stick, I use Baker’s Joy Spray. This product works, every single time I use it.
The batter is thick, so I used an off-set spatula to spread it evenly. I popped it into the oven at 350F for 50 minutes. I checked it my usual five minutes early, with a wooden skewer. Done! The cake released from the pan, without a glitch.
Once cooled, I could’ve dusted this with powdered sugar and be done with it. But, no. I decided to make an orange glaze.
The final touch. Now, to slice into this.
TASTING NOTES: If a cake recipe includes vegetable oil, sour cream or buttermilk I am pretty confident that it’ll be good. I can now add ricotta to that list. The cake was super moist, indeed. The cake flour gave it a nice texture. The orange flavor really came through in a good way.
I had also added amaretto and almond extract to this cake. Originally, I was going to name this “Orange and Almond Ricotta Pound Cake”. I dropped the “Almond” word. However, I can definitely see baking this cake with only Amaretto and/or almond extract. A lemon version would also be lovely. This is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. Loved it!
Ricotta Orange Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour AP Flour will make the cake denser
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup butter (1 ½ sticks)butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 orange zested
- 2 tablespoons Amaretto optional
- ½ tsp pure orange oil (optional) to boost flavor
- ½ tsp pure almond extract (optional)
- Powdered sugar for dusting (if not making orange glaze)
Orange Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- juice of one orange
- 1/8 tsp pure orange extract optional; to boost flavor
- 1-2 tsp milk, heavy cream or half and half
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. NOTE: I used an 8-cup bundt pan, prepared with Baker's Joy nonstick spray.In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla, almond extract (if using), orange zest, pure orange oil (if using) and Amaretto until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a tall wooden skewer comes out clean and the cake is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 45 to 50 minutes.Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Using a mesh sieve, dust the cooled cake with powdered sugar, or pour orange glaze on top.
Notes
Hi Debby, hope your health is doing alright.
I now have orange oil and wondered if it could be used in the glaze instead of the orange extract (which I do not have) thanks.
Yes, I did add a few drops of orange oil to the glaze. It’s really powerful, son a little goes a long way.
One more question; what brand of 8 inch Bundt pan do you have? Are you happy with it?
I own several Bundt pans from Nordic Ware. I do believe I provided a link within the post. Yes, I love them all!
Absolutely delicious! My whole family loved it! It will be repeated for a big event next month.
Thank you! I’m so pleased you liked this recipe.