Healthy Italian Ricotta Cake (Butterless)

This is an old recipe for a healthy Italian ricotta cake "low fat - no butter". A recipe from wartime when butter was scarce. It is not a creamy cake like an American cheesecake but a soft spongy cake that you can serve with tea. I like it at breakfast, topped with jam or fresh ricotta and fruits.

Jump to:

• Why a cake without butter?
• When is butter coming back to our supermarket shelves?
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• How to serve it
• Top tips
• Ricotta and Italian desserts
• What flavors go with ricotta
• Equipment
• Other recipes with ricotta
• 📋Healthy Ricotta Cake No Butter

Why a cake without butter?

I thought it was a good time to post this recipe since France has been facing a butter shortage.

Yes, it is real!

Described as the worst since the end of World War Two, the supermarket shelves are empty.

There have been several causes for this shortage of supply, reduced European support to farmers, and increasing demand for croissants in Asia and the Middle East !! 

The price of butter has gone up and restaurant owners and bakers have been stockpiling butter from the supermarkets.

When is butter coming back to our supermarket shelves?

Who knows, but guess what?

Even if there is no butter for us, consumers, to buy, all those processed prepared meals that use butter are still available.

No way, I wouldn't buy any of those processed cakes.

I would rather make cakes without butter and this one is my favorite.

Ingredients

This cake is very simple to make and you only need the following ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups - 300 g of ricotta
• 1 ½ cups - 300 g of sugar
• 2 1//2 cups - 300 g of flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoon - 1 package baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of either lemon zest, orange zest, orange blossom water or vanilla

Instructions

Making the batter:

1. First, mix the ricotta with the sugar until it becomes fluffy
2. Add one egg at a time until combined
3. Combine the flour with the baking powder, add to the mix the dry ingredients, and the flavoring of your choice

5. Cover a baking tin (25 cm 10 " diameter) with parchment paper, grease, and cover with flour. You can also use a loaf bread baking pan.
6. Pour the batter into the tin and spread evenly
7. Bake the cake in a hot oven at 355 F - 180C for 40 minutes
8. Let it cook down for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan

How to serve it

This ricotta cake is perfect for serving for afternoon tea or coffee, it is light and low in fat.

Its flavor is very mild and can be eaten plain or combined with any other sweet ingredient.

If you bake it in a loaf bread baking pan the straight slices can be used as a base for your favorite topping.

I love having it for breakfast with some fresh ricotta and fruits or jam.

Top tips

Here a summary of the most important tips:

• Use cow ricotta as the flavor is milder
• Whip the ricotta with the sugar to make it fluffy
• You can add any other flavors you like, be creative
• To store; cover with cling film, no need to put it in the fridge

Ricotta and Italian desserts

Ricotta is a cheese made by re-cooking (ri-cotta in Italian) the serum, called whey, is leftover after the milk has been curdled to make cheese. Therefore it is a cheese with low-fat content. Usually made from cow's milk, it can also be made from sheep's or goat's milk.

Cow milk ricotta is better for making desserts as it has a milder flavor.

In Sicily and in the South of Italy, it is often used to make desserts in substitution of butter or cream. Delicious ricotta deserts are Cannoli Siciliani, Sfogliatella Napoletana, and the traditional Easter Pie Pastiera Napoletana  

What flavors go with ricotta

To make these desserts, the ricotta is usually mixed with sugar and some flavoring. The most typical flavor added in Sicilian cuisine is lemon or orange zest.

For the classic Pastiera Napoletana, orange blossom water (fior d'arancio) is used, which you can find easily in Italy, and in most other countries you can order it on Amazon.

Equipment

My mom always made this ricotta cake in a round tin. However, when I made the video for this recipe, I used a rectangular loaf tin.

I was very pleased with the result; very practical to slice. As the slices are flat it is easier to top them with jam or fruits.

I like to eat this cake for breakfast as a substitute for a slice of toast. Much better than a sweet Italian croissant.

Yes, I admit I do not like Italian croissants!

A new mixer

To make this cake I used this new stand mixer that was sent to me by the manufacturer for testing: Kichot stand mixer 4.8Qt.

I was not paid to write an article or make a video, so my feedback is sincere and unbiased. Here my main points:

• I was positively impressed by the sturdiness of the machine, and surprisingly it is also much lighter compared to KitchenAid. Since I always have to move my mixers around, especially when filming, I do appreciate its lightness.

• It comes fully equipped with 3 different mixers: beater, dough hook, and whisk. The aluminum beater is plain, not painted, unlike the one in KitchenAid. With time and use, the paint from the KitchenAid beater came off while mixing. Probably the paint mixed with our food. It was too late when I noticed it!

• Another positive note, compared to KitchenAid is that the bowl is easy to remove from the stand. In the KitchenAid, the pressure created by the twisting of the beater and the friction of the dough on the bowl tighten tight the bowl on the stand making. It is very difficult to remove the bowl once you finish mixing.

• The 4.8 qt is a small size, perfect for small quantities. For larger quantities, you can buy a Kichot 8.5 Qt mixer and the price is much more reasonable than the KitchenAid. I like to have the two sizes as I often need two mixers, in particular when a recipe requires the egg white whipped separately from the dough.

• The mixer comes with a spatula, an egg separator, and a splash guard with a pouring chute to avoid any spills while mixing. All very handy.

For now, my experience is very positive, I will keep you posted on how it will perform with time and wear and tear.

I wish it had more attachments, especially a vegetable grater. I still have to find a sturdy one that doesn't break when grating cabbages.

KitchenAids one broke 3 times already, they did send me a replacement but after the third time, I didn't even consider getting the 4th replacement.

Other recipes with ricotta

Besides the classic Easter Ricotta Pie - Pastiera Napolitana, I use ricotta in many other dishes, and here are some recipes:

• Cannoli Recipe With Ricotta Filling
• Sweet polenta cake
• Easter cake Pastiera
• Fried dough Crispelle
• Caramelized Squash Ricotta Spinach Bacon Quiche
• Zucchini Recipe Pasta And Ricotta

If you are making this Classic Italian Ricotta Cake No Butter, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, or sign up to my newsletter.