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 quick and easy 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. Think of it as a cross between a creamy cheesecake and lemon cake – divine!
Served with a thick mascarpone cream and fresh raspberries, I promise this easy Ricotta Cake is a total crowd-pleaser.
Why you will love this recipe
Quick and easy: It sounds impressive, but this Lemon Ricotta Cake is surprisingly easy to make with only simply ingredients – perfect for beginners!
Lemon flavour: With lemon zest and fresh lemon juice in the cake, it’s bursting with zesty lemon goodness.
Creamy texture: The ricotta in this cake helps to create a creamy *almost* cheesecake-like texture with a very moist crumb.
Make-ahead: If you want to make this for a dinner party, you can easily make it the day before for easy entertaining.
Thanks Jess, beautiful recipe. I doubled the recipe to make two layer cakes and iced it with lemon cream cheese frosting. Delish!
– Karen
Recipe testing
I’m proud of this Italian-inspired 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 the fresh lemons and creamy ricotta change everything. It creates a somewhat dense cake, especially when compared to my Lemon Crumb Cake or even my Lemon Pound Cake but it has a truly tender crumb.
The texture is not too wet but not dry. It is creamy like a cheesecake, but light and fresh too.
Just like in my Lemon Ricotta Cookies, I recommend using a tub of full fat store-bought ricotta.
To serve, you can simply dust the cake with powdered sugar, add a few fresh berries and a generous dollop of mascarpone cream. Heaven.
Ingredients
This Italian Lemon Cake calls for fresh lemons and storebought ricotta, but the rest of the ingredients are pantry staples.
I like to serve my cake with a simple two-ingredient mascarpone cream, but you can also just enjoy it with a simple dusting of icing sugar.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the key ingredients you’ll need, including any substitutions you can make.
- Caster sugar: Caster sugar is very fine sugar often used in baking. In this recipe, granulated sugar will also work.
- Fresh lemons: You can’t substitute fresh lemons in this recipe. We will be using both the lemon zest and the juice in the cake batter.
- Plain flour: You’ll need plain flour or all purpose flour.
- Ricotta cheese: I used Perfect Italiano Original Ricotta in this recipe. Most storebought full fat ricotta should work. If you use fresh ricotta cheese, you may just need to drain it first.
- Milk: You don’t need buttermilk for this recipe, just regular whole or full fat milk works perfectly.
- Icing sugar: Icing sugar, also known as powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar, is what you’ll need just to decorate the cake.
- Thickened cream: You’ll need thickened cream or heavy cream for the mascarpone cream. Cream can have different names in different countries but look for a high-fat cream (at least 35% fat) that says it is suitable for whipping.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to make Lemon Ricotta Cake
This easy Lemon Ricotta Cake is surprisingly easy to make. You will need an electric mixer, either a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Here’s a quick overview of how to make it but the full instructions are included in the recipe below.
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and vanilla. Mix on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Step 2: Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly just to combine. It’s ok if your mixture looks a bit lumpy here.
Step 3: Add lemon juice, lemon zest, flour, baking powder and ricotta and beat on a low speed.
Step 4: Add milk and beat briefly until combined. Cake batter will be thick and creamy.
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Step 5: Transfer cake batter to a prepared cake pan. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
Step 6: Leave cake to cool completely on a wire rack.
Step 7: In a large bowl, add mascarpone and thickened cream. Mix on medium speed until thick and creamy.
Step 8: Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar and serve with mascarpone cream.
Tips for making Ricotta Cake
- Grease and line: Classic Lemon Ricotta Cake has the tendency to stick to the pan, so make sure you grease your cake pan well and line the bottom AND the sides with baking or parchment paper. You could also use a springform pan if you like.
- Batter may curdle: Adding fresh lemon juice means the cake batter might look a little curdled, but it’s totally fine.
- Expect a limited rise: 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 to cool: Leave the cake to cool completely in the cake tin as it will be quite fragile when warm. Serve cooled cake with mascarpone cream and fresh raspberries for the perfect dessert.
Frequently asked questions
You can serve this cake at room temperature or cold from the fridge. I personally love to serve it at room temperature with mascarpone cream or freshly whipped cream and a handful of fresh berries.
Yes absolutely! You can swap the lemon zest and lemon juice in this recipe for orange zest and juice.
Yes, you can fold a few fresh raspberries or blueberries into the cake batter right before baking. If you want to use frozen berries, add them frozen – do not thaw first.
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Let’s Bake
Lemon Ricotta Cake recipe
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 or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 140 grams (1 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 250 grams (1 cup) store bought ricotta
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) full fat or whole milk
Mascarpone cream
- 240 ml (1 cup) thickened or heavy cream (see notes)
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) mascarpone
- Icing sugar or powdered sugar, optional, to serve
- Fresh raspberries, optional, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan 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 on medium speed 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.
Notes
Ricotta cheese: I used Perfect Italiano Original Ricotta in this recipe. Most storebought full fat ricotta should work. If you use fresh ricotta cheese, you may just need to drain it first.
Icing sugar: Icing sugar, also known as powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar, is used to decorate the cake.
Thickened cream: You’ll need thickened cream or heavy cream for the mascarpone cream. Cream can have different names in different countries but look for a high-fat cream (at least 35% fat) that says it is suitable for whipping.
Mascarpone cream: If you don’t have access to mascarpone cream, you can simply leave it out and decorate the cake with whipped cream.
Storage: Keep leftover Lemon Ricotta Cake in an airtight container in the fridge. You can bring it to room temperature to serve.
Make-ahead: You can freeze the cake. Wrap it carefully in plastic wrap and keep it in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 slice Calories: 433 Sugar: 23.5 g Sodium: 64.4 mg Fat: 28.6 g Carbohydrates: 36.9 g Protein: 7.8 g Cholesterol: 136 mg
Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.
Jerry says
DELICIOUS! And super easy.
If I wanted to make this a ricotta orange cake, do you think I could just replace the lemon ingredients with organge in the same quantities?
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Jerry! And yes absolutely!
Rosanna says
Do you think this cake would be OK as individual cupcakes?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes I think so! Just remember they’re likely to cook much faster!
Tanuja says
Absolutely delicious. Slightly crunchy on the outside, soft and silky inside. Thanks for a perfect recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! So glad you enjoyed it Tanuja!
Dianne says
Just stumbled across your website whilst looking for a lemon ricotta cake recipe. The cake was so easy to make and such a delicious flavour. Will definitely be on my remake list and can’t wait to try out more of your delicious looking recipes. Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
Fantastic! So glad you found me Dianne and that you loved the cake!
Kanika says
I tried it… lovely recipe
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Celeste says
Hi Jessica! Thank you for this lovely recipe! I’ve made it a couple of times, and while the taste is great, the top never comes out as beautifully as yours. It would crack and have uneven brown patches on the surface. Can you please help me troubleshoot this? Also, just a note to the other bakers, the icing sugar on the cake disappears after a while, so dust it with icing sugar just before serving!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Celeste, so glad you like the cake. The brown patches might just have to do with hot spots in your oven. Cracking can also happen when your oven is too hot. Maybe get hold of an oven thermometer just to double check?
Razaan Van Zyl says
I LOVE THIS. The texture is AMAZING, after 3 days it’s at its BEST texture. The cream is DELICIOUS and possibly the best I’ve ever tasted. THANK YOU!
Jessica Holmes says
Yay! So pleased you enjoyed it!
Lena says
Made it think it’s a little too fence for me. Taste is ok not too sweet. Will make with a lighter version.
Jessica Holmes says
Thank you for your feedback Lena!
lily says
My concern with this recipe was the stated 115g of butter OR half a cup! There is quite a difference. I wish I’d gone with the half a cup as I found, while the cake tasted nice, it was too oily with butter.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lily, that’s the correct amount of butter. Sorry you didn’t enjoy it!
Joan Tuber says
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday. Our family totally enjoyed it. In fact, my grandson, soon to turn 8, has asked that I make it for his birthday as well.
Jessica Holmes says
How cool is that! So glad everyone enjoyed it Joan!
carol says
This is the best cake I have ever eaten.
Jessica Holmes says
Amazing! Thanks for the lovely feedback Carol.
Natasha says
A delicious cake, really moist, soft and beautifully yellow. Also quite simple to make.
Jessica Holmes says
So pleased you enjoyed it Natasha!
Ruth says
Thus a wonderful cake—authentic and absolutely delicious! I bake it slightly less time because I like it more “pudding-ish”.
Jessica Holmes says
Amazing! Love that idea Ruth!
Cindy Yang says
great 🙂
Judy says
Was a beautiful cake I used an oblong tin. Was delicious.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Judy!