This lemon raspberry ricotta cake is a perfect Summertime dessert! A beautifully light, lemon scented cake packed full of jammy raspberries. Serve with mascarpone or Greek yoghurt for a delicious treat that’s great any time of the day.
If you love lemon and raspberries together, you might also like these lemon and raspberry cupcakes!
I love cakes that you can easily get away with serving for breakfast with coffee and this lemon raspberry ricotta cake definitely falls into that category.
It’s also just as good eaten for an afternoon snack – or as an after dinner dessert with fresh berries and Greek yoghurt or mascarpone.
If you’ve never had a ricotta cake before and wondering what the texture is like, it makes a very light, moist cake that’s almost cheesecake like. As you can imagine, it’s pretty dreamy to eat.
why you should try this raspberry ricotta cake
- quick and easy to make – once you’ve gathered your ingredients, it takes no more than five-ten minutes to make the batter. Simple!
- adpatable – You could try this recipe with different fruit. Blackberries or blueberries would be great.
- no mixer required – you just need a pan to melt the butter, a large and medium bowl, a whisk and a rubber spatula to make this cake. Oh, and a fine grater to grate the lemon zest.
ingredients for lemon raspberry ricotta cake
Keep scrolling to the end of the post to find printable recipe card with ingredient amounts and detailed instructions. Please have a read of the recipe notes below for attempting the recipe.
- melted butter. I have made this recipe using oil instead of butter and although it works absolutely fine, the flavour isn’t quite as good. Try and use unsalted butter. If you only have salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Plain (all purpose) flour.
- baking powder. Please make sure it’s as fresh as possible – if it’s been sitting opened in your cupboard for several months, the raising agents will have lost their “oomph” and the cake might not rise.
- a teaspoon of salt is needed for flavour. I use fine (table) salt in all of my baking.
- fresh ricotta gives the cake a very light, creamy texture – reminiscent of a baked cheesecake, but with a firmer texture. Whole milk ricotta cheese is the best choice for this recipe.
- Lemon zest. I used one large unwaxed lemon, but you could use two lemons to amp up the flavour.
- The finer grains of caster (baking) sugar are perfect for this light cake.
- Large eggs – you’ll need three at room temperature.
- vanilla extract. Try and use the best quality extract you can find – I know they aren’t as cheap, but it’s one thing I don’t mind spending a few extra pounds on if budget allows. I love Nielsen Massey extract.
- fresh raspberries add a vibrant pop of colour to this golden cake. Please read the recipe notes below for substitutions.
- a scattering of pine nuts add crunch and texture, but you don’t need to add them. This is just an optional extra.
what kind of baking tin do I need?
You’ll need a 23cm round baking tin – ideally springform. I almost always favour a springform pan when making cakes, but it’s especially important for a delicate cake like this. You’ll need to butter the base and sides of the tin (or use baking release spray) and line the base with baking parchment.
step by step guide
- STEP ONE – The first thing you should do is melt the butter in a small saucepan. You’ll need to cool the butter slightly before adding it to the cake mix – slightly warm butter is ok, but hot is a no-no.
- STEP TWO – In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together to combine.
- STEP THREE – In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla extract and eggs until you have a smooth mixture.
- STEP FOUR – Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and using a large spoon or rubber spatula, quickly fold everything together until you have a light batter.
- STEP FIVE – Fold in the melted cooled butter without overmixing. Finally, fold in the fresh raspberries, keeping a few aside for the top of the cake.
- STEP SIX – Spoon the batter into a greased and lined 23cm springform cake tin. Top with the reserved raspberries and pine nuts, if using.
- STEP SEVEN – bake in the oven at 180C/160Fan/350F for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is golden and shrinking from the sides of the cake tin. A skewer inserted in the middle of the cake should emerge clean with no wet batter.
- Leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before carefully unmoulding the tin. Peel off the baking paper, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
does ricotta cake need to be refrigerated?
It depends. If your kitchen is generally a hot room, then any leftover ricotta cake really should be refrigerated.
If you live in the UK like me (although we have had a spell of very hot, humid weather over the past couple of weeks!) then the cake should be fine to sit out at room temperature for a minimum of two days. The cake will last for up to five days in the fridge, but the texture will change slightly.
can i use frozen raspberries?
Frozen raspberries can be used instead of fresh. Don’t defrost the berries – use them straight from the freezer.
bakers tips
If you wanted, you could sprinkle a tablespoon of granulated or Demerara sugar over the top of the cake before baking. I prefer to finish it off with a dusting of icing sugar once it has cooled.
Got no lemons? You can use one teaspoon of lemon extract instead. But fresh lemons are best!
As I’ve already mentioned above, don’t forget to cool the melted butter slightly before folding into the cake batter.
The best tip I can give you for making this cake is don’t overmix the batter. As soon as the ingredients are incorporated and there are no streaks of flour, stop mixing. This is a light cake – the last thing you want to do is beat the living daylights out of it!
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did you make this recipe?
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Lemon Raspberry Ricotta Cake
This lemon raspberry ricotta cake is very simple to make and has a light, dreamy texture! It's equally good served as a dessert with Mascarpone or Greek yogurt or for breakfast with coffee.
Ingredients
- 220g (1 1/2 cups) plain (all purpose) flour
- 1 tablespoon (12g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5g) fine salt
- 360g (1 1/2 cups) whole milk ricotta cheese
- 280g (1 1/4 cups) caster (bakers) sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- finely grated zest of one large lemon
- 115g (1 stick( unsalted butter, melted
- 300g (approximately 10oz) fresh raspberries
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F. Grease and line the base of a 23cm springform cake tin (make sure to butter the sides well to prevent the cake from sticking). Melt the butter in a small saucepan and set aside to cool down slightly.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the plain flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the ricotta, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and lemon zest until the mixture is smooth.
- Fold the ricotta mixture into the bowl of four until the ingredients are just incorporated. Fold in the melted cooled butter, followed by most of the raspberries (keep a few aside for the top of the cake).
- Sprinkle the remaining raspberries and the pine nuts, if using, over the top of the cake. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and the sides are shrinking away from the sides of the tin. A skewer inserted in the middle of the cake should emerge clean.
- Cool the cake in the tin for at least 30 minutes before unmoulding and peeling off the baking paper. Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Serve the cake on its own with coffee, tea or as a dessert with Greek yoghurt, Mascarpone and fresh berries.
If you use salted butter, reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
Frozen berries can be used instead of fresh. There's no need to defrost them.
STORING THE CAKE - store at room temperature in an airtight box or cake tin for up two two days. If your kitchen is very hot, store in the fridge. Please note however the texture of the cake will change slightly after refrigerating.
SUBSTITUTIONS - If you feel like a change, swap blackberries or blueberries for the raspberries.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 159Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 105mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 5g
Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.