Ricotta loaf with chocolate

I saw this beauty on Cloudy Kitchen’s Instagram and I knew I had to find the recipe on her blog and try it. The ingredients themselves (ricotta, olive oil, chocolate, almonds) are so tasty, it simply has to be a delicious cake! Similarly to banana bread, it is also very easy and quick to make.

Ingredients (for one loaf)

• 250 g ricotta
• 100 g extra virgin olive oil
• 135 g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or you can use 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 60 g milk
• 200 g all-purpose flour
• 50 g almond meal (I was only able to buy peeled almond slices which I then cut into very small pieces and it worked well)
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder (next time, I will try 1 1/2 tsp as it came out a bit flat)
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 100 g high quality chocolate chopped into chunks, feel free to add more

The quality of the chocolate is really important and makes all the difference. A high quality chocolate has richer taste and thus you often need smaller amount than when you use chocolate of a lower quality.

Directions

Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Line a baking form with a baking paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the liquid ingredients and sugar. Start with ricotta, olive oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix in eggs. Add the milk. In a separate bowl, mix baking powder with flour, almond meal and salt. Add the flour mixture into the liquids in the large bowl. Mix in the chocolate pieces.

Place the dough into the baking form.

Bake for about 55 – 60 mins. Use a skewer to test if the cake is done.  If you insert it in the centre of the cake, it should come out clean (except for melted chocolate). If not, leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.