Name: Orange Ricotta Loaf Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups cake flour (192 g); 2 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1 1/2 tsp fine-grain salt (like table or sea salt); 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (3/4 cup, 6 oz); 1 1/2 cups plus 1 TB granulated sugar (313 g); 1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese (330 g); zest of 2 oranges, preferably organic; 3 large eggs; 2 TB fresh-squeezed orange juice; 1 tsp pure vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp pure almond extract

Description

This loaf cake tastes even better a day or two later. After baking and once cooled completely, wrap well in plastic wrap and store at room temperature up to three days ahead of serving or gifting. Yum!

Ingredients

Scale

1 1/2 cups cake flour (192 g)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp fine-grain salt (like table or sea salt)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (3/4 cup, 6 oz)
1 1/2 cups plus 1 TB granulated sugar (313 g)
1 1/2 cups whole-milk ricotta cheese (330 g)
zest of 2 oranges, preferably organic
3 large eggs
2 TB fresh-squeezed orange juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F
Grease a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, ricotta, and zest until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the orange juice, vanilla, and almond extracts and mix until combined. Turn the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients just until incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 55 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Notes

Before getting started, it's best if the butter, ricotta, and eggs are all at room temperature.
To capture all the orange oil from the zest (read: extra orange flavor), put the sugar in the mixing bowl and zest the oranges directly into the bowl and over the sugar. You can take it one step further and mix the zest and sugar together before adding the other ingredients. The sugar will turn a pale orange and smell amazing!
For a little extra pizazz, dust the cake with powdered sugar before serving. Or, go fancy and serve the cake with whipped cream and berries.
I use this pan and have never had issues with sticking (the cake seriously pops right out). But feel free to line the bottom of your pan with parchment, if so inclined.
Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' Ricotta Orange Pound Cake