Wally’s Cioccolotta Cake: Chocolate Ricotta Tart

Some recipes are special not only because of how they taste, but also because of the people and places behind them.

This cake comes from La dolce magia di Wally (Wally’s Sweet Magic), a cookbook by Wally, a pastry chef from the Dolomites. I own all her books, and I've even tasted her cakes at her café near the Earth Pyramids of Perca, in South Tyrol. I can honestly say they're out of this world!

Her Cioccolotta cake combines chocolate shortcrust pastry with a rich ricotta filling delicately flavoured with lemon. The finishing touch is wonderfully rustic: little balls of the remaining chocolate pastry scattered over the top.

It's a lovely cake for anyone who enjoys the combination of chocolate and ricotta, with a filling that's quite different from the usual chocolate cake or cheesecake.

Let's get straight to the recipe!

Wally’s Cioccolotta Cake

Yield: 8 servings
Prep time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45–60 minutes

Ingredients

For the chocolate shortcrust pastry

• 500 g all-purpose flour

• 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 125 g sugar

• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

• 125 g butter, cut into pieces

• 1 egg

• 1 tbsp milk

For the ricotta filling

• 3 egg whites

• 125 g sugar

• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar

• Zest and juice of ½ organic lemon

• 500 g cow’s milk ricotta

• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• 3 egg yolks

• 125 g butter, melted

Method

1. Make the chocolate pastry. Quickly combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar, vanilla sugar, butter, egg and milk in a food processor or by hand. Work the ingredients together just until you have a smooth dough.

2. Line a 24 cm cake tin with baking parchment. Use about two-thirds of the pastry to cover the base and sides, creating a rim approximately 3 cm high. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

3. Prepare the filling. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat until the mixture is firm and glossy.

4. Reduce the mixer speed. Gradually incorporate the vanilla sugar, lemon zest and juice, ricotta, cornstarch, egg yolks and melted butter, adding each ingredient slowly until the filling is combined.

5. Pour the ricotta mixture into the prepared pastry case and level the surface.

6. Take the remaining chocolate pastry and shape it into balls of different sizes. Arrange them over the top of the cake.

7. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Bake for 45–60 minutes, until the pastry is cooked and the filling has set. If the top browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.

8. Allow the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin and serving.

Notes

• Ricotta: If it is particularly watery, drain it before using it to help the filling set properly.

• Lemon: The zest and juice add freshness and balance the richness of the ricotta and butter.

• Cooling: Let the cake cool completely before slicing, as the filling will firm up as it cools.

• A rustic finish: The pastry balls don't need to be perfectly uniform; their different sizes are part of the cake's charm.