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.
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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:
- First, mix the ricotta with the sugar until it becomes fluffy
- Add one egg at a time until combined
- Combine the flour with the baking powder, add to the mix the dry ingredients, and the flavoring of your choice
- 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.
- Pour the batter into the tin and spread evenly
- Bake the cake in a hot oven at 355 F - 180C for 40 minutes
- 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.
📋Healthy Ricotta Cake No Butter
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup ricotta
- 1 ½ cup caster sugar
- 2 ½ cup flour all-purpose
- 3 fresh eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Either one of those ingredients for flavouring
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest or
- 1 teaspoon orange zest or
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- First mix the ricotta with the sugar1 ¼ cup ricotta, 1 ½ cup caster sugar
- until it becomes fluffy
- Add one egg at the time until combined3 fresh eggs
- Combine the flour with the baking powder, and add to the mix2 ½ cup flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Add the flavour of your choice ( either lemon or orange zest or orange blossom water)1 teaspoon orange blossom water, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 1 teaspoon orange zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 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.
- Pour the batter in the tin and spread evenly
- Bake the cake in a hot oven at 355 F - 180C for 40 minutes
- Let it cook down for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan to serve it
Video
Notes
- Use cow ricotta as the flavor is milder
- Wipp the ricotta with the sugar to make it fluffy
- You can add any other flavors you like, be creative
- To store cover with cling foil, no need to put it in the fridge
Nutrition
Emily
Omg that's crazy that there's no butter, it's scary how quickly these things can happen. This cake sounds absolutely delicious and perfect for everyone that can't buy butter!
Laura
It is scary, and who knows when will we get it back
Amy | The Cook Report
Oh no! A butter shortage sounds like a nightmare! This cake looks awesome though
Laura
I know, I couldn't believe it. I hope it does not last too long
Patty @pattysaveurs.com
That ricotta cake looks amazing Laura, I'd love to make it with orange zest as it's my favorite flavor in a cake. Thanks for a recipe without butter, I'm still stocked up but worrying for the next future, I'll have to go buy it in Italy, like my olive oil!
Laura
Lucky you. I don't know Patty, I think everybody is going to Italy at this point I am not sure about that either
Jenn
I can’t believe this crazy butter situation! This looks delicious, a great recipe to have handy.
Laura
It is, my boys are happy
Amanda
How delicious. I haven't had ricotta cake in years, and I am so craving it now! Love it flavored with orange blossom water.
Laura
I know, I am glad we have no butter so I took out the recipe again
R.Amuthavalli
Wow..this is really nice. But as I'm on low carb diet, searching for the recipe, where i can bake totally free from flour& sugar.
Can i try with coconut flour& for sweetness thick,fresh coconut milk??
Laura
Thank you for your comment. I am not familiar with coconut flour, so I can only suggest to try and see. Just try to keep the proportions of wet and dry ingredients about the same so if you are substituting sugar why don't you try with fructose products specifically made for diabetes. They will have the equivalent measure replacement to sugar on the box
Pauline
Delicious! I remember the butter shortage, how ridiculous we were!
I just discovered your blog and I love it!
Laura
Thank you, I am glad to have you as a new reader. Welcome to the family !
Maylyn Larkin
It doesn’t say which flour to use also what size pan. So I’m hoping for the best
Laura
Hi Maylyn, you can use a regular flour as an all-purpose flour in UK. In Italy, we normally use 00 and in France 55 it will be ok either way. To my subscribers, I give a link to download for free a collection of conversion charts for Flours, measurements and name of meats which is very useful if you cook/travel around Europe. In terms of the dimension of the pan, it is a 25cm/10". I give a link to Amazon and a page where I list all my baking pans and utensil. Hope that helps and that you will like it.
Cookie
What is a small package of baking powder, what are the measurements?
Laura
3 tbsp will do. I will change the measurement on the recipe so it will be clear
Fern
3 tablespoons? or 3 teaspoons? A package normally has 1 tablespoon, which is equivalent to about 3 teaspoons... Maybe grams or ounces will be clearer...
Laura
Hi Fern, in a package here in Europe there are 15 g equal to 1/2 oz it is probably more like 1 tbsp. I adjusted the recipe with 1 tbsp
Rita
Hi Laura, just one question: the texture of the cake became slightly chewy; what could have gone wrong? I would like to bake it again. Thank you for your answer and for the recipe, indeed delicious.
Laura
Hello Rita, because the ricotta is low in fat, the consistency is not buttery like a regular cake. However, I wonder if the chewiness was due to the type of ricotta you used. Did you use a cow milk ricotta? The type of ricotta you use will make a difference in the results, especially when making a dessert. I just realized I don't talk about it in this article while I do in the pastiera recipe. I will add it here as well. Thank you for your comment.
https://yourguardianchef.com/pastiera-ricotta-pie/
Lib
My doc says my cholesterol is high, so saturated fat (butter, most cheese) is out! I love to bake. This recipe with low-fat ricotta and no butter makes me happy! Very grateful, Thanks!
Laura
You are very welcome. i am sure you will like it
Paulina
Just made your recipe this weekend for a brunch and it was delicious! Thank you! I doubled the amount of zest because I love lemon, and served with apricot jam and berries. The 40-min bake time may be fine for a cake tin, but I found that the batter was still raw at 40 mins in a loaf pan. 1 hour turned out just right at 355 degrees F in the loaf pan.
Laura
Hello Paulina, thank you for the comment. It is a great idea to add more lemon zest, I love it too. Thank you for your feedback