Inspired by a trip to Florence, Italy, my Amarena Cherry Ricotta Bars are perfectly moist and studded with Amarena cherries.

December 11, 2019 Updated August 19, 2021 Jump to Recipe
Inspired by a trip to Florence, Italy, my Amarena Cherry Ricotta Bars are perfectly moist and studded with Amarena cherries.
These beautiful Amarena Cherry Ricotta Bars are one of my favorite desserts.
Moist with a graham cracker crumb crust, these bars are a little reminiscent of cheesecake. But they’re more cakey, and the cheese taste is pretty mild.
These Amarena Cherry Ricotta Bars were inspired by a recent trip to Italy. While in Florence, Andrew and I did an amazing four-hour walking tour of the city.
Four-hours is a pretty long tour. So about halfway through, our guide took us to her favorite café for a short break.
And of course I got a pastry.
It took awhile to choose because everything looked amazing, but I finally selected a beautiful slice of cake that was studded with what looked like rubies.
I soon learned that those “rubies” were Amarena cherries.
There is truly no equivalent to Amarena cherries in the US. Not at all like maraschino cherries, the flavor of Amarena cherries is rich, deep, and elegant.
And completely addicting.
We bought a jar of Amarena cherries at the COOP next to our Airbnb in Romito Magra, with the intention to recreate that wonderful cake when we got home.
I successfully got the jar of cherries back home.
I did not successfully make the cake. Because I ate the whole jar of cherries before I had a chance to experiment with a recipe.
It worked out in the end though, because I discovered that Trader Joe’s carries Amarena cherries during the holiday season.
It took some discipline, but I finally succeeded in getting the cherries home without eating them all. And this recipe is the result.
I hope a trip to Italy is in my near future.
But until then, these bars are a delicious substitute.
Amarena cherries seem to be a holiday item in the US. You can find the brand I bought in Italy here on Amazon [aff. link] if you can’t find these cherries at the grocery store.
I love baking with vanilla paste. It adds those gorgeous flecks of vanilla bean to these bars, and ups that vanilla flavor a bit more than vanilla extract alone.
This recipe calls for 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp vanilla paste. If don’t have vanilla paste, you can substitute it with another tsp of vanilla extract. But I highly recommend getting some vanilla paste. Here is my favorite vanilla paste on Amazon [aff. link].
This Post Has 8 Comments
I love recipes that are inspired by travels! (I also happen to love…LOVE…Italy, too.) These bars sound delicious, and I did hear that Trader Joe’s carries Amarena cherries. I didn’t realize that it was a holiday item, though, so that means I need to get myself down to Trader Joe’s before the holidays are over. This sounds like the perfect dessert for the holidays! (Also, thanks for the walking tour tip. Filing that away for the next vacation!)
Isn’t Italy the BEST?!!! Some of the very best food in the world, no doubt! Oh for sure, stock up on those Amarena cherries! I can’t get enough haha. Thank you so much for your kind comment Dave!
So darn good but how many calories. Thanks
Thanks Suzanne! If you slice the bars into 9 equal squares, there are approximately 260 calories per square.
I’m nervous. Have the bars in for 35 minutes & they are already browned all over. Do I keep them in another 25 minutes? I put my heart & soul into this.
Hi Marion!
I would leave them in. The top will get brown. One of the most important steps with this recipe happens during cooling, after baking. In the three hour cooling time, the bars will get their final texture. If you take them out too early, the middle won’t cook through, and will cave in.
Thanks for your comment Marion, keep me posted!
-Shannon
As soon as you mentioned “reminiscent of cheesecake” at the start of this post Shannon I knew I had to add these bars to my “must make” recipe list. They look so delicious! I was a student when I was back-packing round Europe and visited Florence so many years ago. I hope to visit there again one day, with more money so that I can actually experience the pastries. All we could do as penniless students was look into the bakery windows and drool! Ha ha!
Awww thank you so much Neal!!! Haha oh I totally know what you mean! How amazing would it be to visit Florence with an unlimited budget for pastries?!!! Back-packing through Europe sounds amazing too! I’ve never backpacked, but my first experience traveling through Europe was staying at cheap student hostels in various cities, and I can totally relate to seeing all those amazing pastries and wishing I could eat them all!