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Chocolate: Italian Love Cake

Source of Recipe

From Lori Spooner-Porter, Hopedale, MA


Recipe Introduction

Note: I baked this again several times, and found an alteration I enjoyed--instead of 1 1/3 cup water in the batter I used 1 cup of water and 1/3 cup of Amaretto. To keep that flavor going, I also added 1 teaspoon almond extract to the filling.

List of Ingredients

Cake:
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain devil's food cake mix
1 1/3 cups water (see Note)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
Filling:
1 large container (1 pound, 14 ounces) whole ricotta cheese
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract, optional (see Note)

Frosting:
1 cup whole milk
1 package (3.9 ounces) chocolate instant pudding mix
1 package (8 ounces) frozen whipped topping, thawed



Recipe

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mist a 9- by 13-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray and dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pan aside.
2. Place the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are just combined. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Continue to blend on medium speed for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until the batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared pan, and set the pan aside.
3. For the filling, place the ricotta cheese, eggs, and sugar (and almond extract, if desired) in a medium mixing bowl, and mix on medium speed with an electric mixer for 30 seconds or until well blended. Dab the ricotta mixture onto the top of the cake and swirl it in with a dinner knife. There will be a lot of ricotta mixture. Place the pan in the oven. Bake the cake until the top springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 55 to 65 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a serving platter to cool completely.
4. For the frosting, place the milk and pudding mix in a large bowl and blend with an electric mixer for 30 seconds to combine. Add the thawed topping and beat 30 seconds more, or until smooth. Spread the frosting over the top and down the sides of the cooled cake. Chill in a cake saver or lightly covered with waxed paper until time to serve.