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!

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    “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-sized loaf inserts. I made the entire batch using the 4 little loaves. So cute. A real keeper!!! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!”
    – Kathy
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Flavored with orange zest and orange (or almond) liqueur, this incredibly tasty and moist — thanks to a generous amount of ricotta cheese — orange ricotta pound cake is the perfect treat, a particularly nice afternoon snack with a cup of tea, to have on hand this time of year. It would make a lovely gift as well. // alexandracooks.com

One Thanksgiving, my dear Aunt made this orange-and-ricotta pound cake twice during our five-day visit. Flavored with orange zest and orange liqueur, the cake is incredibly tasty and, thanks to a generous amount of ricotta cheese, it is exceptionally moist, too.

We often enjoyed it as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea, but it proved great with breakfast or after-dinner coffee, too. Upon returning from Vermont, I found myself making this perfect anytime cake anytime anyone came to visit. And in the weeks that followed, when holiday baking season arrived, I discovered that, when baked in mini loaf pans, it makes a lovely gift, too. (See recipe box for details.)

Update: If you love an olive oil cake, I’ve adapted this recipe to use olive oil in place of butter. It’s also a one-bowl job: One-Bowl Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake

PS: Lemon and Ricotta Pound Cake

How to Make Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake, Step by Step

First, gather your ingredients:

ingredients for orange-ricotta loaf

Whisk together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar, then add the eggs, vanilla, orange zest, and liqueur. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a little at a time, until just incorporated.

    Orange-ricotta loaf batter.

    Transfer the batter to buttered loaf pans.

    mini pans, ready for the oven

    And bake until evenly golden and cooked through.

    orange-ricotta loaves, just baked
    orange-ricotta loaves

    Let cool briefly before slicing. Look at that lovely crumb!

    A slice of orange-ricotta cake.
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    An overhead shot of a mini loaf pan filled with just-baked lemon-ricotta pound cake.

    Orange and Ricotta Pound Cake

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    4.9 from 38 reviews

    • Author: Alexandra Stafford
    • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
    • Yield: 1 large loaf or three mini loaves 1x
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    Description

    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!

    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 all-purpose flour
    • 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

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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