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Cherry Ricotta Bars

May 31, 2015 10 Comments

Fresh cherry ricotta bars

Cherry Ricotta Bars

Cherry ricotta bars

Ricotta cheese for the Cherry Ricotta Bars

These Cherry Ricotta Bars sort of came about by accident.  I recently had a Sam’s-sized container of blueberries I was trying to use up.  So, I searched websites for blueberry dessert bars, and found a cooking video by Cooking with Manuela for blueberry ricotta bars.  That, in turn, inspired me to buy this big ol’ container of ricotta cheese.  But, as some of you may know, I made blueberry margaritas a few days ago, and so in the interim used up all of those blueberries.  Poor planning, I know, but I still had some fresh cherries left in a Sam’s-sized container!  I figured, what the hell, and so substituted the fresh cherries for the blueberries.

Honestly, I think the tanginess of the cherries might even suit this dessert better than blueberries!  No question, though, that pitting cherries is messy.  I used the end of a chopstick to pit my cherries, holding the stem end of the cherry against the cutting board and pushing down with the chopstick through the middle of the cherry alongside the pit.  Again, not very neat, but it gets the job done.  If you have a cherry pitter, all the better.

cherry ricotta bars

I used a chopstick to pit the cherries

cherry ricotta bars

Just chop the cherries roughly after you pit them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few tips for better Cherry Ricotta Bars: (1) You don’t have to neatly pit your cherries, because you’re going to roughly chop them to about 1/4th of their original size anyway; (2) Don’t overcook this dessert–it is okay if it appears slightly underdone in the middle at the end of the cooktime, because it will continue to cook some after you pull it from the oven; and (3) the consistency and taste of these Cherry Ricotta Bars is better the day after they are baked, as is often the case with bar desserts.

cherry ricotta bars

Freshly grated lemon zest

 

 

Be sure to add the lemon zest when making the crust mixture.  The juice of the lemon will be added to the cheese mixture.  I think you could use the juice of just half a lemon, and it would still be good.

These Cherry Ricotta Bars are “lemon pound cake meets cheese cake meets fresh cherries.”

Cherry ricotta bars

Before baking

 

cherry ricotta bars

After baking

 

 

 

 

 

cherry ricotta bars

Cherry Ricotta Bars

These Cherry Ricotta Bars are quite elegant when cut and served, but they would make a great potluck dessert brought in the dish as well.

A note about Manuela’s recipe that I adapted:  her video ingredients are slightly different from her printed recipe.  I think my version works perfectly.  Here’s the recipe for my Cherry Ricotta Bars:

Cherry Ricotta Bars
 
Save Print
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
50 mins
Total time
1 hour 10 mins
 
Cherry Ricotta Bars
Author: Ginger Wroot, adapted from Cooking with Manuela
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 24 squares
Ingredients
  • For the cake crust:
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ cup of sugar
  • ¾ stick of butter, softened
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest of one lemon
  • ⅛ teaspoon of salt
  • 1½ cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder
  • For the cheese filling:
  • 24 ounces (1 and ½ lb) of ricotta cheese
  • ½ cup of sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • juice of one lemon (or juice of just ½ lemon would be good too)
  • For the topping:
  • About 2 cups of pitted fresh cherries, roughly chopped.
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, with an electric hand mixer, mix the sugar with the eggs until well blended.
  3. Add the softened butter and blend well.
  4. Blend in the rest of the ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
  5. Butter a 9 x 12 or 9 X 13 inch baking pan, and then lightly flour.
  6. Pour the cake mixture in the pan, and flatten it as well as you can with a spoon.
  7. In another bowl, with a hand mixer, blend together all the remaining ingredients for the cheese filling, except the cherries.
  8. Pour the cheese mixture on top of the cake layer of the cake and smooth it flat.
  9. Sprinkle with the chopped cherries.
  10. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.
  11. Cool and then refrigerate covered for a few hours or overnight.
3.3.3077

Cherry Ricotta Bars: Enjoy!

cherry ricotta bars

Cherry Ricotta Bars

–G

I am linking up with Link Love @Running with Spoons Weekend Potlucks @The Country Cook Friday Favorites @ Life in Leggings What’s Cookin’ Wednesday @Buns in my Oven Tipsy Tuesday @Grey is the New Black MMM @Healthy Diva Life Totally Terrific Tuesday @ Live Randomly Simple The Wednesday Round Up @ Love, Pasta and a Toolbelt Create & Share DIY and Recipe Party @ Designs by Miss Mandee Treasure Box Tuesday @Memories by the Mile Fabulous Party @Lou Lou Girls Sunday Linky @The Lazy Gastronome Over the Moon Link Party @Marilyn’s Treats Foodie FriDIY@A Dish of Daily Life Funtastic Friday @Olives & Okra Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop @Katherines Corner Party Time! @ Live Laugh Rowe Mingle Monday Blog Link-Up @ Life of Meg

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Vegetarian

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Comments

  1. Easy Peasy Life Matters says

    May 3, 2016 at 5:15 pm

    This sounds like the perfect summer dessert! Yum! 🙂

    Reply
    • gingerwroot says

      May 3, 2016 at 6:47 pm

      It is indeed! Thanks for commenting!
      –G

      Reply
  2. Victoria @DazzleWhileFrazzled says

    April 9, 2016 at 12:33 am

    Looks really good! Love ricotta. Does it work with other fruit? Thinking of the Costco sized pint of strawberries I have…Thanks for linking up with Funtastic Fridays.

    Reply
    • gingerwroot says

      April 9, 2016 at 10:27 am

      Hi Victoria, and I think this would be great with any sort of berries, including strawberries and raspberries. If you try strawberries, please let me know how it turns out!
      –G

      Reply
  3. Marilyn says

    April 8, 2016 at 2:31 pm

    Congratulations! Your post was my feature pick at #OverTheMoon this week. Visit us on Sunday and grab your badge. we invite you to leave more links to be shared and commented upon.

    Reply
    • gingerwroot says

      April 8, 2016 at 4:03 pm

      Oh wow, Marilyn, that’s great news (and they’re really great dessert bars, I promise!) Thanks!
      –G

      Reply
  4. Marilyn Lesniak says

    April 5, 2016 at 8:52 am

    Wow! I love fresh blueberries. Ricotta goes without saying there are many uses outside of lasagna. My husband would love this. Copying for later. Thank you so much for linking at #overthemoon! I look forward to seeing what you share very week. Please come back for #WonderfulWednesday. Don’t forget to comment your link #’s so I can be sure to visit. Pinned and shared.

    Reply
    • gingerwroot says

      April 5, 2016 at 4:55 pm

      Hi Marilyn, and yes, I agree that ricotta goes with berries and cherries wonderfully!
      –G

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Keto Cream Cheese Espresso Brownies are gluten free and grain free says:
    May 2, 2018 at 10:12 pm

    […] Love dessert bars? You also might like my Cherry Ricotta Bars! […]

    Reply
  2. What’s for Dinner? Sunday Link up #39 | The Lazy Gastronome says:
    April 10, 2016 at 3:06 am

    […] love desserts – especially cherries!  Ginger Wroot shared these lovely Cherry Ricotta Bars.  Made with fresh cherries and oozing with cheese delights!  I want one […]

    Reply

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