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Magical Layered Chocolate Italian Love Cake with Creamy Ricotta Filling

A rich slice of layered Italian love cake featuring a dark chocolate base, creamy filling, and chocolate mousse topping with shavings.
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This recipe creates a decadent, layered Italian Love Cake where a moist chocolate base meets a sweet, creamy ricotta center, topped with a light chocolate pudding frosting. It bakes itself into distinct layers, making it an impressive, yet straightforward, dessert for any celebration.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 (15 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 1/2 cups cold milk (for pudding)
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • Chocolate shavings, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. Add the water, oil, vanilla extract, and vinegar to the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined; do not overmix. This forms the cake batter.
  4. Pour the cake batter evenly into the prepared baking pan.
  5. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, egg, 1/4 cup sugar, and almond extract until smooth. This is the ricotta filling.
  6. Gently spoon dollops of the ricotta mixture over the top of the chocolate batter. Do not spread; the layers will separate during baking.
  7. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. The cake will appear done, but the ricotta layer will sink to the middle/bottom, creating the signature layers.
  8. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack.
  9. Prepare the pudding frosting: In a bowl, whisk the instant chocolate pudding mix and 1 1/2 cups cold milk until thickened, about 5 minutes.
  10. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.
  11. Gently fold the whipped cream into the prepared chocolate pudding until combined.
  12. Spread the chocolate pudding frosting evenly over the cooled cake.
  13. Chill the cake for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Notes

  • This is a great make ahead dessert; the flavors deepen after chilling overnight.
  • For an extra bright flavor, you can add 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the ricotta filling mixture.
  • If you want a richer chocolate flavor in the cake base, substitute 1/4 cup of the water with strong brewed coffee.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://spoonsprout.com/italian-love-cake-recipe-magical-layered/