If you love the taste of a classic chocolate eclair, this Italian Love Cake is soon to become a favorite choice of cake! It’s an irresistible mix of marble and cheesecake, topped with a pudding mix and whipped topping frosting, garnished with chocolate sprinkles, and chilled in the refrigerator before being served!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- This Italian Love Cake is a stunning dessert with a marble cake base and fluffy topping.
- This cake is moist and not overly sweet - ideal for those who don’t enjoy very sweet desserts.
- There are so many variations you can make to this Italian Love Cake recipe!
This luscious marble cake with creamy and fluffy topping is perfect for special occasions like birthdays and holidays. And it tastes just like a chocolate eclair!
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of this recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
- Be sure to follow your cake instructions for the necessary ingredients.
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix with water and oil.
- Add in eggs and mix well.
- Pour the cake batter into a prepared baking dish.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, vanilla extract, sugar, and eggs.
- Mix well until the filling is completely smooth and free of any lumps.
- Carefully pour the cheese mixture over the cake batter to spread evenly without mixing the layers.
- Bake the cake for an hour at 350F. Remove to cool completely.
- While the cake cools, combine the pudding mix with milk.
- Carefully fold the whipped topping into the chocolate pudding.
- Spread the frosting over the cake evenly.
- Sprinkle chocolate sprinkles over the freshly frosted cake and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
- Slice the cake and enjoy!
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Mixing bowls
- Electric hand mixer
- Baking dish 9 X13 inch
- Liquid measuring cup
- Dry measuring cups
- Spatula
- Whisk
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making this Italian chocolate dessert.
Traditional love cake consists of semolina, nuts, pumpkin preserve, butter, eggs, sugar, honey, rose water, and various spices. It’s a lightly spiced cake that’s moist and chewy inside while crunchy on the outside.
Italian cake typically consists of basic ingredients such as all-purpose flour, eggs, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract.
Italian chocolate cake includes the usual cake ingredients as well as dark chocolate, liqueur, amaretti biscuits, lemon zest, and a dusting of icing sugar.
Italian pastries come in various shapes, sizes, and fillings. Some popular Italian pastries include cannoli, sfogliatella, maritozzo, bomboloni, chiacchiere, struffoli, babà al Rum, and panettone.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- If you plan to store leftover Italian love cake in the freezer, a helpful trick is to cut individual slices and wrap those in plastic wrap to be stored in an airtight container. That way, you can remove the amount needed instead of defrosting more.
- This cake can be made ahead of time by wrapping it with plastic wrap (once fully cooled and without the frosting) and storing it in an airtight container at room temperature or the fridge for 1-2 days. You can add the frosting on the day of serving, allowing it to chill for an additional 6 hours in the fridge.
- Always check the package directions of the cake mix used for your cake as some cake mixes call for different ingredient add-ins.
- Ensure that you gently fold the whipped topping into the pudding mix to preserve as much of the air in the topping as possible for it to be light and fluffy.
- If you want a more pronounced marble effect in your cake base, use a butter knife and gently run it through the cake batter and ricotta cheese layer before baking the cake.
- While the cake bakes, the chocolate cake mix switches with the ricotta cheese layer so the chocolate layer ends up at the top. This is normal, so don’t assume that you did anything wrong.
- Don’t skip the chilling time before serving this cake. Chilling the cake helps settle the flavors and also adds to the moisture in the cake.
📚 Variations
- I’ve made this Italian love cake with a chocolate cake mix and chocolate pudding, but you could use a vanilla cake mix and vanilla pudding instead if you like.
- For a lemon Italian love cake, use a lemon cake mix, vanilla or lemon pudding mix, and fresh lemon zest as a topping.
- For a strawberry Italian love cake, use a strawberry cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, and freshly sliced strawberries as garnish.
- This cake is decadent and rich and can be topped with chocolate sprinkled, chopped candy bars, chocolate savings, maraschino cherries, or chopped nuts.
- Make a boozy Italian Love Cake by adding some liqueur into the frosting or the cake. You could even poke some holes into the baked cake base and pour the alcohol of your choice over the cake to infuse throughout it!
🥫 Storage
Store the Italian Love Cake in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Leftovers will last for up to 3-5 days. You can also store this Italian dessert in the freezer for 1-2 months.
📗 Related Recipes
For more decadent Italian-inspired cakes, try my Cannoli Cake With Whipped Cream And Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Italian Cream Cake, and Tiramisu Cake Topped With Zabaglione Cream.
🍽 Serve with
Enjoy this Italian Love Cake can as is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or custard. A delicious cup of espresso coffee along with the dessert is ideal.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
Italian Love Cake is close to heart! It’s a decadent cake that’s beautiful to look at with a marble cake effect and fluffy whipped topping. The cheese mixture in the cake helps to cut through the rich chocolate flavor and sweetness.
Although many serve this cake at weddings (hence the name Italian ‘Love’ Cake), you don’t need any excuse to enjoy a slice or two of this scrumptious dessert any time!
This cake is my go-to recipe for special occasions such as birthdays, Valentine’s day, and holiday celebrations with the family. I know you’re going to love it as much as I do!
Tutti a tavolo, è pronto!
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📝 Recipe Card
Italian Love Cake tastes just like a chocolate eclair! It’s an irresistible dessert we make with cake mix, pudding mix, and a fluffy whipped topping. Chill the cake before serving and plate as is or with a scoop of ice cream.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Lush and Creamy Chocolate Italian Love Cake
Ingredients
For the chocolate cake layer:
- 1 Box chocolate Cake Mix Plus all ingredients necessary for making the cake. (these are the ingredients required for THIS cake mix - yours might be different).
- 1½ cups water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
For the cheese layer:
- 2 pounds ricotta cheese
- 4 eggs
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract pure not artificial
For the Chocolate topping:
- 1 instant chocolate pudding mix (3.9 oz.) package
- 1 cup milk cold
- 16 oz. frozen whipped topping thawed (like Cool Whip)
Equipment Needed
Instructions
Prepare the chocolate cake layer:
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and spray a glass 9X13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake batter according to the package instructions.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread to fill the dish evenly and set aside. (DO NOT bake yet.)
Prepare the cheese layer:
- In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together the ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, and the pure vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
- Gently pour the cheese mixture evenly over the cake batter layer. Spread the cheese layer to cover as well as you can.
- Bake the cake for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before adding the top layer. (About 2 hours).
Prepare the whipped frosting layer:
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the pudding mix and cold milk until combined and slightly thickened. (About 1-2 minutes).
- Gently fold in the thawed whipped topping into the pudding until combined.
- Spread the whipped chocolate frosting on top of the cooled two cake layers. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving.
- Garnish with chocolate sprinkles or colored if desired.
Notes
- If you plan to store leftover Italian love cake in the freezer, a helpful trick is to cut individual slices and wrap those in plastic wrap to be stored in an airtight container. That way, you can remove the amount needed instead of defrosting more.
- This cake can be made ahead of time by wrapping it with plastic wrap (once fully cooled and without the frosting) and storing it in an airtight container at room temperature or the fridge for 1-2 days. You can add the frosting on the day of serving, allowing it to chill for an additional 6 hours in the fridge.
- Always check the package directions of the cake mix used for your cake as some cake mixes call for different ingredient add-ins.
- Ensure that you gently fold the whipped topping into the pudding mix to preserve as much of the air in the topping as possible for it to be light and fluffy.
- If you want a more pronounced marble effect in your cake base, use a butter knife and gently run it through the cake batter and ricotta cheese layer before baking the cake.
- While the cake bakes, the chocolate cake mix switches with the ricotta cheese layer so the chocolate layer ends up at the top. This is normal, so don’t assume that you did anything wrong.
- Don’t skip the chilling time before serving this cake. Chilling the cake helps settle the flavors and also adds to the moisture in the cake.
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