You’ll love this buttery and moist Lemon Ricotta Cake made with fresh lemons. Dusted with powdered sugar and topped with mascarpone cream and raspberries, it’s the perfect lemon dessert.
Lemon + ricotta = a match made in heaven 💕
It takes a lot for me to steer away from chocolate-covered desserts, but if there’s one dessert that can make me do it, it’s this gorgeous Lemon Ricotta Cake.
With a soft, buttery texture and a rich lemon flavour, it’s my new go-to dessert.
I’m proud of this cake. It took me a little while to get it just right but it has made me fall more and more in love with lemon desserts.
Not only is it lovely and sweet, but it’s very simple to make too.
You only need a handful of ingredients, but it’s the fresh lemons and creamy ricotta that changes everything. It creates a dense cake, with an enviable texture – not too wet but not dry.
To serve, you can simply dust the cake with powdered sugar, add a few fresh berries and a generous dollop of mascarpone cream. Heaven.
While I’ll always love a good chocolate cake or a slice of peanut butter cheesecake, this lovely Lemon Ricotta Cake is now on serious rotation in my house.
It’s also the perfect dessert for entertaining because you can easily make it ahead of time. In fact, it might even be nicer on day two.
Tips for making Ricotta Cake
- This cake has the tendency to stick to the pan, so make sure you grease the sides of your cake tin well with butter and line the bottom with baking or parchment paper.
- Adding fresh lemon juice means the cake batter might look a little curdled, but it’s totally fine.
- This cake is moist and dense, so it won’t rise as much as a regular cake. You can tell it’s ready by inserting a skewer into the centre, it should come out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool completely in the cake tin as it will be quite fragile when warm.
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Let's Bake
Lemon Ricotta Cake
A moist and dense Lemon Ricotta Cake made with fresh lemons.
Ingredients
Lemon ricotta cake
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 140 grams (1 cup) plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 250 grams (1 cup) ricotta
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) milk
Mascarpone cream
- 240 ml (1 cup) thickened or heavy cream
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) mascarpone
- Icing sugar or powdered sugar, to serve
- Fresh raspberries, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease an 8-inch round cake tin with butter and line the bottom with parchment or baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and vanilla and beat with an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined.
- Add lemon juice, lemon zest, flour, baking powder and ricotta and beat on a low speed. Add milk and beat briefly until combined. Cake batter may be lumpy and curdled but this is totally fine.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan and place in the oven for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave cake to cool completely in cake pan.
- Add cream and mascarpone to a mixing bowl and beat using an electric mixer for a couple of minutes or until thickened.
- To serve, dust cake with icing sugar. Cut into small slices and serve with mascarpone cream and fresh raspberries.
Nutrition Information
Ruzica says
Omg, that cake turned out absolutely beautiful and the best tasting I ever made in my life.
I used whole meal flour and it’s given it a little more texture,,just love love, thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
Aww that makes me so happy! Thank you for your lovely feedback!!
Julie says
Delicious cake, the only thing is your recipe was missing salt so I added a half teaspoon and that made it perfect. I actually did add a little more lemon juice because I love a very lemony cake so it was more like 4 tablespoons but absolutely delicious
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Julie!
Jazz says
Amazing cake!!
Love the taste and consistency…
I put the oven at 340 instead of 350F, because the previous cakes I’ve made were burnt.
But this one I should have followed your instructions. Because of my mistake, the cake was underdone in the middle.
I am going to bake the next one at 350F and it will be perfect! Thanks for this recipe
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Aww so glad you like it Jazz! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Tish says
Absolutely devine!
I made exactly as recipe but with thermomix
Place the butter, vanilla and sugar into the TM bowl. Mix on Speed 4 for 20 seconds, scrape down the bowl and repeat for a further 20 seconds. Should look pale and creamy.
Reduce to Speed 2 and leave running while addIng the eggs through the MC hole – 1 at a time. – approx 2 mins.
Add lemon juice, lemon zest, flour, baking powder and ricotta on speed 2 -3 until mixed.
Add the milk speed 3, 10 seconds- just combined.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Tish!
Tish says
Thank you! Also my friend also made with strawberries instead of lemon and also turned out great!!
Jessica Holmes says
Oh I love that idea!
Llsa Cummings says
So light and refreshing and easy to make!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Lisa!
Claire says
Hi Jess, I made this to use up some ricotta and the texture is very odd – like pudding rather than cake! I followed the recipe exactly except for substituting demerera sugar for caster as I had none. I had to cook it for 45 mins before a skewer came out clean. Any ideas where it might’ve gone wrong?
★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Claire, oh I’m sorry to hear that. The demerara sugar may have made a difference since it has a molasses in it. Or it could be due to the type or brand of ricotta you used? This cake is more moist than a regular cake but shouldn’t be like pudding.
Alex says
Can you make this the day before or best on the day?
Jessica Holmes says
It’s fine to make it the day before Alex, you can store it in the fridge.
Phil says
Your recipe says 140g (1 cup) plain flour, which is correct?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes?
Elspeth Zemla says
Hi there, could this recipe be frozen once baked and cooled, if so for how long
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Elspeth, I haven’t tried it myself (it always gets eaten too fast) but I think it would be fine!
Jo says
Lovely cake, served with crème fraîche and raspberries.. Everyone wanted the recipe.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I love hearing that! Thanks Jo!
Chris says
I used a wetter ricotta so I omitted the milk and it turned out really well. It’s delicious served at room temperature or microwaved for a few seconds. I might add a little more lemon and vanilla next time because I really like those flavours. At 30 minutes the skewer was still wet, 35 minutes it was dry. Any longer and I think it would’ve overcooked and dried out. I like this recipe!
★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback Chris ☺️
Christina says
Hi! I came across this recipe while looking for a ricotta cake recipe with apples. Have you tried adding any type of fruit to the batter?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Christina, I haven’t no, but that sounds nice!
SJA says
One word…DELICIOUS. Easy,elegant, and not too sweet. I did not make the cream for serving, due to time constraints, but can only imagine it would have been even more delicious. Thank you for sharing this delightful recipe.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the lovely feedback!
Katalin Kovacs says
Just baked this. Sooooo nice and easy.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that!
Jo Ellen Washburn says
This is fantastic! I made it as directed, except I only had a 9″ pan so cooked it for 32 minutes. Besides being incredibly easy, it was light and delicious. It also tastes elegant and looks so pretty. I am going to add this to my list of party desserts and food gifts. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Jo Ellen! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback!
Rachael says
Hi Jess, How long will this cake last? Can you (slice up and) freeze and take out when you feel like a piece? Thanks
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Rachael, this cake will keep for a few days in the fridge. But yes, otherwise you can pop it in the freezer 🙂
Cat says
Hi. I’ve made this twice and its wonderful but can I use sour cream instead of ricotta? . I’ve also made this with chocolate instead of lemon and it urned out just as good. Thanks you.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Cat! I’m so glad you loved this cake! I haven’t tried it with sour cream so I can’t say for sure. It may alter the taste and texture. If you try it, let me know how it goes 🙂
kristy wong says
can i substitute caster sugar with other sugar? such as raw coconut sugar and etc. or can i substitute it with honey?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Kristy, you can user granulated sugar instead of caster sugar. I haven’t tested it with any other sugar or sugar substitute so I really can’t say. I don’t recommend using honey instead as it will change the texture and structure of the cake. Here’s a blog post I wrote about caster sugar that you might find helpful.
Michelle says
Lovely recipe! The cake came out beautifully. Does it need to be stored at room temperature or in the fridge? Thanks for the awesome recipes.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Michelle, so glad you enjoyed it! I think either is ok, it will go a bit firmer in the fridge but it’ll still be lovely!
Bri says
Great cake, a new favorite for sure.
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you liked it Bri!
Angela says
Does this cake require 240 grams of plain flour?
Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Angela, it’s just 140 grams of plain flour.