How to Make a Ricotta Vanilla Cream Cake

The vanilla cream is light, not overly sweet, and blends perfectly with the gorgeous cake layers.

The ricotta, with its characteristic taste, refreshes with every bite. And the vanilla dough itself is enriched, with tiny chocolate flakes, giving an excellent taste and look.

This delicious vanilla cake with ricotta vanilla cream is a hit for any festive family gathering, for yourself, or when you want a delicious cake for the weekend when friends and family come over.

Suppose you're a fan of baking with ricotta like I am or would like to try it out. In that case, I can recommend making my no-bake ricotta cheesecake, Chocolate Chip Ricotta Loaf Cake, and strawberry ricotta cupcakes!

🥘 Ingredients

For the dough

• eggs
• powdered sugar
• butter
• bourbon vanilla sugar or homemade vanilla sugar
• baking powder
• cake flour
• chocolate flakes

  For the ricotta-vanilla cream

• ricotta cheese
• powdered sugar
• vanilla extract
• low-fat curd cheese
• whipped cream

Decorating (optional)

• White and dark chocolate pearls
• sugar unicorns and rainbows - icing decoration

See the recipe card for quantities.

🔪 Instructions

The Vanilla Cake Dough

Before you can start preparing the dough, preheat the oven to 160 °C //320 °F circulating air.   

Next comes the fun part of separating the eggs. I call it that because it often shows me what kind of baking shape I'm in. And on which days I should perhaps rather do without baking! 😀

Sometimes everything goes like clockwork! The eggs are separated quickly, without problems. And on other days, you stand in the kitchen, trying desperately to separate the eggs.

It seems more like you try juggling blindfolded than separating some eggs, and in the end, the yolk still flops into the white ....;

YES, those are the days when it might be better to bake something simple.   

But not today! Today is the day when everything works out!   

Good, the eggs are separated. Now, sieve the powdered sugar through a close-meshed sieve into a mixing bowl, and add the yolks and butter. Stir everything together until fluffy.   

Next, add the vanilla sugar, baking powder, chocolate chips, and flour and mix with the egg yolk mixture.   

Beat the egg whites in a separate mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer, and then fold the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.  

Once a homogeneous, somewhat viscous mixture has formed, divide the dough evenly between two springform pans. Make sure that you fill-up the pans evenly. Otherwise, you will get uneven cake layers later.   

Now bake the dough on the second rack from the bottom at 160 °C // 320 °F circulating air for 25-30 minutes. Test the cake with a wooden stick to see if the dough is well-done at the end of the baking time. If no dough sticks to it, you can take it out of the oven.   

Allow the cake to cool on a cake rack.  

Once the cake has cooled, please remove it from the springform pan and cut it in half horizontally once. This way, you get four cake layers without further ado.

The Ricotta Vanilla Cream  

Now that you've prepared the cake layers successfully, turn your attention to the delicious ricotta vanilla cream. If you have a kitchen machine at home, use it for the cream. It makes the whole handling much more accessible, and the cream combines better.   

In your kitchen machine's mixing bowl, add ricotta cheese, sifted powdered sugar, and vanilla extract, and mix them well. Then add the low-fat curd cheese by the spoonful.   

Whip the cream until stiff into a separate bowl and then fold it into the ricotta mixture.   

In fact, the ricotta vanilla cream is now ready. It goes fast and is very simple!   

Assemble the Cake

But before you can spread it on your excellent cake layers, set aside six tablespoons of the ricotta vanilla ream and save it for later. You'll need it to coat around the edges of your cake later.    

Now spread the cake layers with the delicious vanilla cream, layer by layer. First a cake layer, then a layer of cream, then another cake layer, until all the cake layers are stacked and coated.

Finally, spread the cake all around with the ricotta vanilla cream you set aside before. Afterward, place the cake either in the freezer for 60 minutes or in the refrigerator for one night.   

As you can see, I'm still practicing that 

• the cake looks beautiful even,
• the cream perfectly covers all parts of the cake, 
• the cream covers the dough better, 
• and the whole thing does not look like a wobbly little house!  😀

But, no one is born a master, and I will continue to practice and create even prettier cakes for you. Delicious is this cake in any case!  

Before serving, you have the opportunity to decorate the cake. I opted for white and dark chocolate pearls and store-bought sugar icing decorations (unicorns and rainbows). The rainbows and unicorns were my daughter's wish for her fifth birthday. 🙂 If your little one is into mermaids, check out this Mermaid Sheet Cake!

Enjoy this perfect dessert with friends and a little snowball cocktail!

Hint: For coating, I prefer to use a rotating cake stand, because it is much easier to work with it.

You also have the option to serve the cake with this cake stand or transfer the finished cake for serving under a cake bell, which is visually much more appealing!

[lasso id="2522266" link_id="4220" ref="amzn-royalty-art-european-cake-stand-with-dome-6-in-1-design-multifunctional-serving-platter-for-kitchens-dining-rooms-pedes-glass-durabilitytal-or-cover-use-elegant-product-name" type="image"]

🥜 Substitutions

The Ricotta Vanilla Cream Cake is low in fructose and doesn't contain nuts. It can be made enjoyable for lactose-intolerant people very quickly by using lactose-free products. 

📖 Variations

Instead of ricotta, the vanilla cream can also be prepared with mascarpone. It makes the cream a little firmer, fatter, and less liquid than with ricotta but loses its distinctive ricotta taste.

🌡️ Storage

The cake keeps several at least 3-4 days in the fridge but can also be wonderfully frozen.

💭 Top tip

If you have used sugar decorations for the cake, they will not keep well in the refrigerator or freezer. The humidity during storage and the moisture of the ricotta vanilla cream will, unfortunately, liquefy the sugar decoration. 

More delicious cake recipes for you to try

• Six egg white chocolate cake
• Old-fashioned whipping cream bundt cake
• Austrian strawberry sponge cake
• Ultimate double chocolate bundt cake
• Chocolate chip ricotta loaf cake
• Flourless Chocolate Cake
• Pink Cake (created by spatuladesserts.com)
• Strawberry Ricotta Cake (created by theunlikelybaker.com)

If you make this recipe, let me know how you liked it by ★★★★★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. This would be awesome! You can also sign up for our Newsletter or follow me on Pinterest or Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @combinegoodflavors and hashtag #combinegoodflavors, so I don't miss it.

📖 Recipe

⛑️ Food Safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

For further information, check Safe Food Handling - FDA.