Espresso Ricotta Loaf Cake with Cocoa Filling

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Brush a 9x5-inch loaf pan with a little of the melted butter and line it with a parchment sling.
2. Make the cocoa filling first: in a small bowl, stir together the unsweetened cocoa powder, brown sugar, cinnamon and chocolate chips. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta and granulated sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs one at a time, then the remaining melted butter, the espresso and the vanilla.
5. Fold the flour mixture into the ricotta mixture just until no dry streaks remain; the batter will be thick.
6. Spread half of the batter in the pan. Sprinkle half of the cocoa filling evenly over it.
7. Spoon the remaining half of the batter over the filling and spread gently to the edges. Scatter the remaining half of the cocoa filling on top and swirl once lengthwise with a knife.
8. Bake 55 to 65 minutes, tenting with foil after 40 minutes if the top browns quickly, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean of wet batter (melted chocolate is fine).
9. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then lift out by the parchment and cool completely on the rack, about 1 hour, before cutting into 12 slices.