Italian Soft Ricotta, Honey and Almond Cake | Torta Morbida di Ricotta, Miele e Mandorle
Updated: Sep 15
This is a cake built on ricotta rather than on flour. Fifteen ounces of fresh cheese against a single cup of wheat flour means the cheese carries the structure, and the result cuts like a cake but eats closer to a set cream: dense, pale, faintly grainy in the right way, and soft enough that a thin slice will not stand up on the plate.
Honey is not here as a substitute for sugar. It contributes floral aroma, a darker sweetness and, because it holds water, a crumb that is still soft on the fourth day when a butter sponge would be stale. Almonds appear twice, as flour worked into the batter for tenderness and as sliced almonds on the surface for toasted contrast against a cake that has no crisp edge of its own.
Yield: one 9 inch (23 cm) cake, 10 slices. Prep: 20 minutes. Bake: 45 to 50 minutes. Cool: 2 hours minimum. Difficulty: easy. Course: dessert. Region: central and southern Italy, with strong Sardinian and Sicilian parallels.
The Story
Ricotta, honey and almonds are what shepherding country produces, and this cake is what a kitchen makes when it has all three and not much else. The combination is older than sugar in Italy. Roman cooks baked sweetened fresh cheese with honey and nuts, Cato left a recipe for it, and the practice never stopped in the south and the islands, where cane sugar stayed an expensive import long after it had become ordinary in the northern cities. Honey remained the sweetener of the countryside well into the nineteenth century.
The same three ingredients turn up everywhere in the Italian south in different clothes. In Sardinia they become seadas, fried pastry filled with fresh cheese and drenched in bitter corbezzolo honey. In Sicily they become the ricotta cream of cassata, scented with orange and studded with almonds. In the hill towns of Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise they are simply beaten into a batter and baked in a tin, which is this cake, and which has no single canonical name because it was never a restaurant dish.
Ingredients
For the batter
Whole milk ricotta, drained, 15 oz (425 g)
Honey, acacia or orange blossom, 1/2 cup (170 g)
Granulated sugar, 1/4 cup (50 g)
Eggs, large, at room temperature, 3
Almond flour, 1 cup (100 g)
All purpose flour, 1 cup (125 g)
Unsalted butter, melted and cooled, 1/3 cup (75 g)
Whole milk, 1/4 cup (60 ml)
Baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp (6 g)
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp (5 ml)
Finely grated zest of 1 untreated lemon
Fine sea salt, 1/4 tsp (1.5 g)
For finishing
Sliced almonds, 1/3 cup (35 g)
Honey, for the warm glaze, 2 to 3 tbsp (45 to 65 g)
Water, 1 tsp (5 ml)
Powdered sugar, for dusting, optional
Preparation
Step 1. Drain and sieve the ricotta
Set the ricotta in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and leave it to drain for an hour, or press it briefly between two layers of paper towel if you are short of time. Supermarket tubs are almost always wet, and several tablespoons of free water will otherwise end up in the batter and leave a damp seam at the base of the cake. Then push the cheese through the sieve into a large bowl with a spatula. Those two minutes remove the granular quality that no amount of beating will fix.
Step 2. Build the sweetened cheese base
Add the honey, the granulated sugar, the lemon zest and the salt to the sieved ricotta and beat with a whisk for about a minute. The mixture slackens noticeably as the honey works in, which is normal, and should finish completely smooth. Rubbing the zest into the sugar between your fingers first releases the citrus oils and makes the lemon far more present.
Step 3. Add eggs, vanilla, milk and butter
Beat in the eggs one at a time, stopping as soon as each disappears into the base. Follow with the vanilla and the milk, then pour in the melted butter in a slow stream down the side of the bowl while whisking. The butter must be barely warm and the eggs at room temperature, because cold eggs set the butter into hard flecks that never disperse. You want a loose glossy pourable cream the colour of buttermilk. A faintly curdled look here is not a problem and the flour brings it back.
Step 4. Combine the flours
Sift the all purpose flour with the baking powder into a second bowl, then stir in the almond flour by hand, rubbing out any lumps between your fingers. Almond flour will not go through a sieve and clumps if added unbroken. Weigh both flours rather than scooping: a cup of almond flour packed instead of spooned can be a fifth heavier and tightens the crumb noticeably.
Step 5. Fold, and stop early
Add the dry mixture to the ricotta base in two additions, folding with a spatula in slow deliberate strokes, and stop the moment the last streak of flour disappears. Sixty seconds of folding is enough. This batter carries a great deal of moisture against very little wheat flour, so gluten develops quickly and shows up as a tough chewy ring around the edge. The batter should fall from the spatula in slow ribbons and still level itself in the tin.
Step 6. Fill the tin and set the almonds
Butter a 9 inch (23 cm) springform generously and line the base with parchment. A cake this moist grips the tin, and a lined base is the difference between turning it out and excavating it. Pour in the batter, level it with an offset spatula, then rap the tin firmly on the worktop two or three times to release the larger air pockets. Scatter the sliced almonds right to the edges and press them lightly with your palm so they sit in the surface rather than on it.
Step 7. Bake low and judge by feel
Bake at 340°F (170°C) on the middle rack for 45 to 50 minutes. The temperature is deliberately below the usual because honey browns at a far lower temperature than granulated sugar, and at 350°F (175°C) and above the surface darkens before the centre sets. The cake is done when the almonds are light toasted gold, the centre springs back slowly under a finger, the edges have just begun to shrink from the tin and a skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. A skewer that comes out perfectly clean means five minutes too long.
Step 8. Glaze while warm, cool completely
Warm 2 to 3 tablespoons of the same honey with a teaspoon of water in a small pan until it is just fluid, and no hotter, since overheating drives off the floral volatiles you are adding it for. Brush it over the surface about 10 minutes out of the oven, when the cake is warm rather than hot: at that temperature the honey soaks a few millimetres into the crumb and glazes the almonds instead of sitting on top as a sticky film. Then leave the cake in the tin until completely cold, at least 2 hours.
Plating
Serve this cake at room temperature and never straight from the refrigerator, where the butter firms and the honey aroma vanishes completely. Twenty minutes on the counter is the minimum, half an hour is better. Cut it with a thin knife wiped clean between slices, and cut generous wedges, because the crumb is soft enough that a delicate slice will slump.
Present it plainly. A wooden board or rough ceramic suits its character far better than a white plate and a sauce, and the surface needs nothing beyond the honey glaze and, if you like, a narrow band of powdered sugar dusted around the rim just before it goes to the table. On a glazed surface the sugar dissolves within the hour, so it is genuinely a last minute gesture.
If you want an accompaniment, a spoonful of thick sheep yoghurt or a few fresh figs split open beside the slice are both right and both common in the Italian south. Serve it with coffee at the end of a meal, or as it is most often eaten at home, in the middle of the afternoon.
Professional Technique
The governing technique here is treating fresh cheese as a structural ingredient rather than a flavouring. Ricotta is about 70 percent water and its proteins set softly when heated, so a batter this heavily loaded with it behaves partly like a baked custard and partly like a cake. Draining removes the free water that the recipe never accounted for, and sieving breaks the curd into particles small enough to disperse into a smooth emulsion. Skip either step and the same ingredients give a grainy cake with a wet seam at the base.
Baking temperature is the second deliberate choice. Honey contains fructose and glucose in free form and browns at a considerably lower temperature than sucrose, which is why 340°F (170°C) is correct here and 350°F (175°C) is not. Lower and slower also suits the high moisture content and protects the thin sliced almonds, which toast on the cake itself.
The third is the warm glaze. Honey brushed onto a raw batter caramelises long before the interior is cooked and leaves a dark bitter lacquer over an underbaked middle. Brushed onto a warm cake instead, it thins on contact, penetrates the first few millimetres of open crumb and sets as it cools, and the residual heat lifts its aroma up through the cake without driving the volatiles off entirely. On a cold cake it simply sits on the surface and stays sticky.
Texture and Moisture Control
This cake carries an unusual amount of water for its flour content, and its softness is the result of that imbalance being managed rather than avoided. Three things do the managing. Draining takes out the excess free water. Almond flour absorbs and holds moisture while contributing fat and no gluten, which keeps the crumb short. Honey is hygroscopic and holds water in the crumb long after baking, which is why the cake is still soft on day four and also why it never develops a crisp exterior and should not be expected to.
Two failure modes are worth recognising. A dense damp seam at the base means either the ricotta went in wet or the cake came out of the oven early: the structure had not set when the weight of the batter was still on it. A dry crumbly edge around a wet middle means the oven ran hot, setting and drying the perimeter while the centre was still rising. Both are corrected at the temperature dial and the timer, never by adding more flour, which only makes a heavier cake with the same fault.
Cooling is part of texture here. The ricotta proteins keep firming as the cake comes down to room temperature, so cutting it warm tears it apart. Leave it in the tin for the full 2 hours, and overnight is better again, since the honey redistributes through the crumb.
Professional Mise en Place
Everything here is about having the wet ingredients at the right temperature and the tin ready before the flour goes in, since this batter should not stand around.
Equipment and tools
Fine mesh sieve, for draining and for sieving the ricotta
9 inch (23 cm) springform tin, buttered and lined at the base
Balloon whisk, flexible spatula and a small offset spatula
Digital scale, more reliable than cups for both flours
Soft pastry brush and a small pan for the warm honey glaze
Prepared ahead
Ricotta set to drain first, an hour ideally, 20 minutes at a minimum
Eggs taken out of the refrigerator at the same time, to reach room temperature
Butter melted early so it cools to lukewarm before it is needed
Honey measured in a cup wiped with a film of neutral oil so it slides out cleanly
Oven preheated and the tin lined before any mixing begins
Service setup
Cake baked the day before and kept covered at room temperature
Glaze honey warmed and brushed on while the cake is warm, not at service
Cake brought out of any refrigeration at least 30 minutes before serving
Powdered sugar and a thin knife held ready for the last moment
Chef Tips
Sheep milk ricotta makes a better cake than cow: drier, more savoury, and far closer to what this recipe descends from. If you can only find cow milk ricotta, drain it harder and for longer, because it is almost always the wetter of the two.
The honey you choose decides the flavour of the cake more than anything else on the list, since half a cup is not a background note. Acacia is mild and floral and always works. Orange blossom is the best match for the lemon zest. Chestnut honey, dark and frankly bitter, makes a more serious cake and is wonderful with almonds, but use a third chestnut to two thirds acacia or it will bury the ricotta. Sardinian corbezzolo is the most interesting and the most divisive of all.
Toast the sliced almonds for 4 minutes at 300°F (150°C) before scattering them if you want a deeper nuttiness, but stop well short of colour, since they toast again on the cake. A tablespoon of Marsala or orange flower water added with the vanilla is a traditional variation.
Bake it the day before you want it. Twenty four hours in a covered tin gives the honey time to move through the crumb, and the difference is easy to taste side by side.
Common Mistakes
Using ricotta straight from the tub. Undrained and unsieved, it gives a cake that is grainy through the crumb and wet at the base, because the excess water has nowhere to go. An hour in a sieve and two minutes with a spatula fix both faults before you start.
Baking at 350°F (175°C) or higher. Honey browns early, so the almonds and the crust darken while the middle is still batter. Drop the oven to 340°F (170°C) and give the centre the extra time it needs to set.
Overmixing after the flour goes in. Gluten develops fast in a batter this wet and shows up as a rubbery ring at the edge of the finished cake. Fold in two additions and stop at the last streak of flour, around sixty seconds of work.
Cutting the cake warm. The ricotta structure has not finished setting until the cake is completely cold, and a warm slice tears rather than cuts. Two hours in the tin is the minimum wait.
Swapping in a strong dark honey at full strength. Chestnut or corbezzolo used for the whole half cup overwhelms the ricotta entirely and the cake stops tasting of cheese. Blend it with a mild honey and keep it to a third of the total.
Wine Pairing
Moscato d'Asti DOCG: Low in alcohol, gently sparkling and full of peach, sage and orange blossom, it echoes the floral side of the honey instead of competing with it. The light fizz and bright acidity lift a crumb made dense and fatty by the ricotta and the butter.
Malvasia di Bosa DOC: The Sardinian match and the most interesting glass on the list. Aged under a film of yeast, it develops bruised apple, dried nut and a bitter almond finish that runs alongside both the almond flour and the toasted almonds on top. Its oxidative depth stands up to a strong honey.
Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOC: The classic Tuscan partner for anything almond based, sweet with dried fig and walnut and a long oxidative finish. Its sweetness sits just above that of the cake, which is the correct relationship, and its acidity keeps the pairing from turning heavy.
Recioto di Soave DOCG: Made from air dried Garganega, it brings candied apricot, marzipan and a faint saffron note with less weight than most sweet wines carry. That restraint suits a cake with no icing, and the marzipan character meets the almond flour head on.
Storage & Reheating
Thanks to the honey, this cake keeps better than most. Covered with a dome or wrapped loosely in foil, it holds at cool room temperature for 3 days and is arguably at its best on day two. In a warm kitchen, or past the third day, move it to the refrigerator, where it keeps 5 days, but always bring it back to room temperature for half an hour before serving, because cold flattens both the honey and the almond.
Do not seal it in plastic while any warmth remains: the trapped steam softens the almond topping and turns the glaze pale and tacky. It does not need reheating and a microwave ruins it, but a slice warmed for 5 minutes in a 300°F (150°C) oven revives the honey aroma without drying the crumb.
It freezes well, whole or in slices, wrapped in parchment and then foil, for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature for about 3 hours, still wrapped, and refresh the surface with a little warm honey. Do not freeze it once the powdered sugar has gone on.
Nutrition
Per serving, based on 10 slices from one 9 inch (23 cm) cake:
Calories: 355 kcal
Total Fat: 18 g
Saturated Fat: 7 g
Trans Fat: 0 g
Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
Cholesterol: 85 mg
Sodium: 180 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 38 g
Fiber: 2 g
Total Sugars: 24 g
Added Sugars: 22 g
Protein: 11 g
Lactose: 3 g
Principal micronutrients: calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E, magnesium, riboflavin, vitamin B12, choline
These figures are estimates. Roughly two thirds of the sugars come from the honey, which is not nutritionally superior to sugar in any meaningful sense, only sweeter by weight. Ricotta made from partly skimmed milk saves about 30 calories and 3 g of fat per slice, at the cost of some softness.
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