Home » Gifts » Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake
4.9 from 36 reviews
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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
5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star
4.9 from 36 reviews
- Author: Alexandra Stafford
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 large loaf or three mini loaves
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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.
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Judy Thompson —Reply
The first time I made this recipe (from Giada’s website) I used loaf pans, and the cake was raw in the middle, as well as over-browned (probably because of all the sugar). But the taste was there, so I tried again, but used a Bundt pan, specifically a Bavarian Bundt pan, and the cake came out perfectly. NEXT time, I 1 1/2 times the recipe and used two small Bundt pans, again, perfect. Hints: Use Pam with flour for easy release as there is a lot of sugar in the recipe and the cake can stick. Definitely use all room temperature ingredients, beat the butter and sugar til fluffy, don’t skimp this step. But then carefully fold in the dry ingredients just until combined. Don’t over mix. If the cake starts getting too brown before it is done in the middle, lightly cover with foil. Take out of the pans at 10 minutes per the recipe – or the cake could stick. This is a wonderful recipe and if you just follow some additional suggestions you will be making this cake over and over again. Also, you could switch flavorings, add dried fruit, mini chocolate chips, coconut, as it can be a very versatile recipe. By the way, I, too, was skeptical of the 1 1/2 cups of flour – but it works. Try it again.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear all of this, Judy 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to write and share all of your notes.
Leah —Reply
I’ve made this multiple times in my loaf pan and it’s always delicious! I recently made it gluten-free with “Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1to1 baking flour”.
I was worried that it would taste different (as lots of gluten free stuff does), but it was still delicious and the texture was still great!
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear Leah! Thanks so much for writing and sharing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Nancy —Reply
Love this recipe. The bread is so good. Do you have any suggestions if I wanted to make muffins from this recipe? Thanks
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Nancy! My only suggestions are to be sure to fill the cups only half or 3/4 full at the very most to ensure the cupcakes bake properly. If you have extra batter, tuck cupcake liners into ramekins, and bake off the remaining batter that way. I would bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes, but add time if necessary.
Penny —Reply
This was so delicious! I subbed King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour, used zest of two oranges and no liqueur. I used two stoneware loaf pans (9.25×5.25) and cooked for 42 minutes. It came out perfect!
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Penny! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes 🙂 🙂 🙂
Rina —Reply
Hi I am making this tomorrow but with out the alcohol – is there anything you recommend as a substitute? or just leave it out? Thanks!
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Hi! You could add 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice or simply leave out the alcohol 🙂
Kathy Mitchell —Reply
OMG this is soooooo delicious! I won’t tell you how much I ate of it right after it cooled off!!! Light, moist, and heavenly!! I used Cointreau for the liquer and made 4 minis in a pan that contains for minis. I plan to make it again. A real keeper!!! I gave samples to friends and they loved it also!
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
So great to hear this, Kathy 🙂 🙂 🙂 Love Cointreau. Thanks for writing and sharing your notes.
Candy Jacobson —Reply
Absolutely fabulous! Moist tastes great.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Candy! Thanks for writing 🙂
Kathy Mitchell —Reply
This recipe was outstanding!!! I could not stop indulging in it!!! I shared with friends and they felt the same. 10 stars!! So light & moist. Devine!! I have a large pan with 4 small size loaf inserts. I made the entire batch using the 4 little loaves. So cute. A real keeper!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Wonderful to hear, Kathy 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing and sharing all of this.
Cindy —Reply
Absolutely delicious! Made it in a Bundt pan with no problems. Used orange juice rather than orange liquor, as it was going to be eaten by younger children. Have made it many times. Thank you for the great recipe.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Wonderful to hear this, Cindy! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes regarding orange juice and the Bundt pan… so helpful for others 🙂 🙂 🙂
Natalie —Reply
The recipe is so easy, moist and delicious. This will definitely be a recurring dessert in our home. How did you get your cake so brown on top?
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Natalie! Regarding your question, I’m not sure! One thought: you could raise your oven temp up 5 to 10 degrees and see if that makes a difference.
Nicole —Reply
If I have both types of flour which one do you recommend?
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
I always use all-purpose flour. In fact, I never have cake flour on hand. I only include that because that’s what the original recipe calls for. Here’s my updated version of this recipe: One-Bowl, Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake
Paula —Reply
Could you use mascarpone instead of ricotta? How would the measurement be?
Thank you Paula
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Hi Paula, I imagine you could, but I think the texture will be different. I would use the same amount by weight if possible, which is 364 grams. Mascarpone is heavier than ricotta so it will be less than 1.5 cups.
Antoinette —Reply
This is delicious. I will make it again.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Antoinette! Thanks so much for writing 🙂 🙂 🙂
Cheryl Lewis —Reply
I have made this several times and everyone loved it. I serve the cake with fresh strawberries and ice cream or whipped cream.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Cheryl! Thanks for writing 🙂
Nancy —Reply
I made this lovely cake twice last week. The first time for a dinner party at friends and it was so good I made one for us. It is delicious and very flavorful. I used a cara cara orange zested and Cointreau . Very nice crumb, moist and company worthy. Thank you Alexandra.
NancyAlexandra Stafford —Reply
So nice to hear this, Nancy 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thanks so much for writing.
Nancy —Reply
I made this cake recently with large Cara Cara oranges for the delicious zest along with Cointreau. First I placed the sugar and orange zest and mixed them alone. Then I added the butter and ricotta and mixed until fluffy 3-4 minutes. Then I followed the recipe exactly. The cakes were moist with a lovely crumb and delicious flavor. I served them with mixed fresh berries- strawberries, blueberries and cherries and topped with Hagen daz vanilla. Absolutely wonderful dessert with friends.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
So nice to read all of this, Nancy! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your mixing notes. I love mixing zest with sugar, too 🙂
Ellis Vidler —Reply
Sounds wonderful, but could you substitute cottage cheese or anything else for ricotta? We are lactose-intolerant and can get lactose-free cottage cheese, cream cheese, and sour cream, but not ricotta.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
I would go for the lactose-free sour cream!
Tracey —Reply
I don’t want to use a liqueur. Is there a substitute? Would orange juice work? Or orange flavoring?
Thank you!
thbAlexandra Stafford —Reply
Orange juice would work great!
Lisa —Reply
Love it! This cake is fantastic and everyone in my family enjoys it. It is moist and very flavorful. I used part skim ricotta as that is what I had on hand and I couldn’t tell a difference. In the past, I have made it with whole milk ricotta but didn’t read the package this time and bought the part skim ricotta I really couldn’t tell the difference. Also, I have made this recipe with a cup and a half of sugar but this time , I made it with 1 1/4 cup and it was still sweet so next time, I will try it with a cup. Less sugar is a personal preference. The recipe as written was exceptional. Thanks for sharing!
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
So nice to read this, Lisa! I will try with less sugar as well next time around — I prefer things less sweet these days, too. Great to hear part-skim ricotta worked so well!
Doris —Reply
i used two oranges for extra orange zest and I made an orange glaze with the orange juice and powdered sugar. The glaze really wasn’t needed though. The pound cake was delicious alone. I used mini pound cake pans and this recipe made 5 cakes for gifts. I also gifted mini jars of my homemade raspberry jam with them. It was very tasty on the pound cakes.
Alexandra Stafford —Reply
Great to hear, Doris! Thanks so much for writing and sharing your notes!
