Lemon Ricotta Cake

Ricotta cake with 3 slices cut out on a wooden board over a grey napkin.

4.49 from 43 votes

This Lemon Ricotta Cake makes the perfect light dessert or afternoon tea cake. The one-bowl Ricotta Cake with Lemon has such a light and fluffy texture - it's like bitting into a cloud!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time55 mins

Course: afternoon tea, Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 263kcal

Author: A Baking Journey

Ingredients

120 gr (1/2 cup) Unsalted Butter very soft
100 gr (1/2 cup) Caster Sugar or Fine White Granulated Sugar
1 Lemon, zested and juiced (30 ml / 2 tablespoons of juice)
250 gr (8.75 oz or 1 cup) Ricotta Cheese at room temperature
3 Eggs at room temperature
1 teasp. Vanilla Extract
200 gr (1 1/3 cup) Plain / All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teasp. Baking Powder
1/2 teasp. Baking Soda
1 pinch Salt

Instructions

Preheat your oven on 180'C / 350'F. Line the bottom of a 24cm / 9" Springform Pan with baking paper and lightly grease the edges.
In a large bowl (or the bowl of your mixer), cream together the Butter, Sugar and Lemon Zest for 3 to 5 minutes on medium-high speed (see note 1).
Mix in the Ricotta Cheese then the Eggs, one at the time. Add the Lemon Juice and Vanilla Extract and mix to combine (see note 2).
Sift in the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt. Slowly mix and stop as soon as combined to avoid overworking the batter.
Transfer into the prepared Springform Pan. Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread and smooth out the batter if needed.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool down completely before removing from the pan (see note 3).
Optional: to finish the cake, dust it with a little bit of Icing Sugar and the Zest of a Lemon.

Notes

Instructions Notes:

You should get a very light, pale and fluffy texture that will create an airy crumb for the cake. You can cream and mix the ingredients by hands with a whisk if preferred but I highly recommend using a hand or stand mixer for better results. If the butter is not at room temperature or soft enough, it will be hard to cream it and you will get small chunks of un-mixed butter in the batter.
Don't worry if the batter seem to split / curdle when you add the lemon juice, it' a normal reaction. The batter will come back together when you add the dry ingredients.
The cake will be very soft when it comes out of the oven and might break if you try to move it out of the pan straight away. Make sure it is cool before removing it from the pan.

Nutrition