Italian Orange Ricotta Pound Cake

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Enjoy this moist Italian Orange Ricotta Pound Cake soaked in an orange syrup reduction and aaretto whipped cream topping.

Growing Up With A British Mum

I’m fascinated with baking cakes because my mum was brilliant at making them when we were younger and still is today.

I  especially fancy a pound cake to see what flavors I can incorporate to create something fresh and different. In England, we call the pound cake a Madeira cake.

Now that I know the butter pound cake in Canada is pretty much the same, I’m hooked.

My wife looked at me gone out when I told her I fancied the Madeira cake.

When I made it for her, and she tasted it, she laughed, “You mean a pound cake,” to which I replied, “Ya, a pound cake,  I guess so”.  

I felt like an arse, but I guess we give fancier names to cakes; what can I say.

Baking A Ricotta Pound Cake

When I make a pound cake, I prefer using the loaf, tube, or bundt pans for best results.

My specialty is the cherry pound cake, followed by the lemon pound cake or keto lemon pound cake.

Poke Ricotta Pound Cake

Around the Christmas holiday, I had this idea a couple of years ago to poke holes in my pound cake and soak it with an alcoholic simple syrup.

I did that with my cherry pound cake, drinking it with an amaretto cherry simple syrup reduction, which was terrific.

I thought, heck, I’m going to try that with lemon, so I made a lemon pound cake and soaked it with a lemon rum syrup reduction, and I’ll tell you there’s nothing better.

The cake is so moist once the simple syrup has been absorbed, especially if it sits for a few hours.

A couple of months ago, I received some fresh tangerines from a friend’s tree here in Ontario.

I decided to make a pound cake and soak it with a tangerine coconut rum simple syrup reduction that bursts in your mouth.

The possibilities are endless, and I’m sure that this is only the beginning of my alcoholic cake-soaking experience.

Creating The Orange Ricotta Pound Cake

I created the orange ricotta pound cake topped with yogurt amaretto whipped cream, soaked in an orange simple syrup reduction, and served with blueberries and orange slices.

We bought a load of oranges on sale at the grocery store this past week, and we needed to start using them up.

We also found tubs of ricotta at 50% off, a spectacular price, usually costing about $4.79 for 475 grams.

I was going to make a ricotta dessert cheesecake but wasn’t in the mood.

But I wondered if I could make a ricotta cake to give it a creamy texture.

I made some alterations to my cake recipe even though I had made a cream cheese pound cake and hoped for the best.

Sometimes, with baking, you have to be careful with measurements as they are so precise sometimes.

Moist Buttery Pound Cake Recipe

The cake turned out excellent, fluffy, soft, buttery, perfect!

Then I had this idea to make whipped cream to lay underneath the cake when I served it, but that was too boring.

I started beating my cream, added in a touch of sugar, vanilla, and amaretto alcohol, and then it hit me.

What about adding yogurt?

A whole tub of plain yogurt was in the refrigerator, fluffed up beautifully into whipped cream.

You get the flavors of vanilla and amaretto but with a tangy fresh yogurt splash in your mouth.

It goes perfectly with this Italian pound cake recipe and fresh fruit, such as fresh blueberries.

What is a Pound Cake? 

Traditionally, an old-fashioned pound cake is made of four ingredients measuring a pound, such as butter, flour, sugar, and eggs.

It sounds simple and really an easy pound cake recipe, considering the difficulty of many other cakes.

The issue with using a pound of each ingredient will be yield as it will make far more than you may need.

Of course, if you plan to make a couple of cakes, this would be fine, but I alter my measurements to fit one cake pan.

This pound cake is simple and delicious when paired with fruits, glaze, frosting, or a simple dusting of icing sugar.

Almost every country has a variation of the traditional pound cake, which goes through recipe books and generations of families.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of cake and pastry flour + 1 teaspoon to coat your baking pan
• 1 tsp  salt
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup softened butter (no salt) + nob of butter to grease your pan
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 4 large eggs
• 2 oranges zested (keep the oranges for your syrup reduction)
• 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp of Amaretto Liquor
• 1 tsp Pure  Almond Extract

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Instructions

• Grease your 9×5 inch loaf pan or tube or bundt pan. I also toss some flour to dust the pan lightly.
• Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl, mix, and set aside.
• Add the butter, sugar, and ricotta to your stand mixer and mix until blended, creamy, and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. You can use a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer.
• Add the eggs one at a time to blend well into the batter.
• Pour in the amaretto, almond, and vanilla extract and mix well.
• Add the dry ingredients gradually and blend until mixed, around 2 minutes.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, depending on your oven. Since oven temps vary, I test my cake with a toothpick to see if it comes out clean, and then I know it’s done.
• Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
• Flip over onto your hand and sit on a wire rack lined with parchment paper underneath.
• Get a long skewer and poke holes gently all around your pound cake, even the sides
• Coat the top and sides with the orange simple syrup reduction with a cake brush until it is soaked in.
• Leave the cake to sit for around 2 hours to soak up good.
• Serve with amaretto yogurt, whipped cream, and fresh blueberries and oranges.

How To Make An Orange Simple Syrup

Need: 1 cup of Sugar and Juice of 2 freshly squeezed Oranges

• In a saucepan, add in one cup of sugar and the juice of 2 oranges, and stir on medium heat until it reduces to a simple syrup, which takes about 10 minutes.
• I did not add alcohol to the sauce, as I have it in the whipped cream and the cake. 

How To Make Yogurt Amaretto Whipped Cream

You need 1 cup of plain yogurt, 1 cup of whipping cream, 1 tablespoon of Amaretto, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.

• Add the whipping cream and sugar in a mixer, then whip until soft peaks start forming.
• Add the yogurt and amaretto and mix until whipped cream has soft peaks.

Although Valentine’s Day is around the corner on February 14, I made a separate Valentine’s Cake treat for the love of my life so we could tuck into this lovely orange ricotta pound cake after dinner.

You can certainly use this batter to make mini cakes like I did for an easy, frugal Valentine’s dessert for your loved one.

She told me she loves me more today than she did yesterday… awe.

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