Lemon Raspberry Ricotta Cake

Ricotta cake is super easy to pull together and it turns out almost like a pound cake with a deeply golden crust and super tender, soft center. This lemon raspberry version is filled and topped with a lemon whipped cream plus raspberries- it’s easy and summery, the perfect thing for this time of year!

By using ricotta in this cake, you end up with a really moist, soft cake that is super addicting. The cake base itself is a simple vanilla ricotta cake, but with the lemon cream and raspberries, you end up with something bright and fresh. Let’s get to it!

How to Make Lemon Raspberry Ricotta Cake

The ingredients for the ricotta cake are super simple and the ricotta provides much of the moisture and fat for the cake. Otherwise we’re using oil, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar along with the ricotta.

We’re starting out by whisking together the wet ingredients in a large bowl until everything is well combined and smooth. It helps if your ingredients are all around the same temperature. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until well combined.

Then simply stir the dry mixture into the wet using a spatula- this cake is super easy to make, and you want to avoid over-mixing so I recommend that you simply pull it together by hand until you have no large lumps of flour remaining. Then spread it into a cake pan and it’s off to the oven.

This cake takes a good amount of time to bake through so I recommend you check the browning of the cake around 40 minutes in. The cake will become deeply golden, but you may want to loosely cover it with foil at this point to avoid the edges and top burning.

For the filling, again we’re keeping things pretty simple. This is a whipped cream base where we whip up the heavy cream with lots of lemon curd until stiff peaks form. For the raspberries, we’re mixing together some raspberry jam along with a few fresh raspberries to bring out the tart flavors.

Once the cake has completely cooled, trim the top optionally and slice the cake into two even layers. Then fill the cake with half of the whipped cream before topping with the second layer and the rest of the whipped cream.

Then, dollop the top with more lemon curd and the raspberry mixture. I used the back of a small offset spatula to gently swirl these mixtures into the whipped cream.

Enjoy this cake right away or chilled for the perfect summer treat. Enjoy!

Tips & Tricks for Lemon Raspberry Ricotta Cake

Here are my tips and tricks to help you bake the perfect Lemon Raspberry Ricotta Cake:

• What kind of ricotta should I use? I am using whole milk ricotta for this cake. There’s definitely some variance in the moisture levels of ricotta, so if yours has a good amount of whey in the container, you may want to strain that off before adding it to your cake.
• Mix everything together by hand to avoid overworking the cake batter. This is a super simple batter, and it has enough moisture in the recipe to make mixing by hand simple and easy work.
• How do I know when the cake is finished baking? The cake is finished baking when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
• Do I have to fill and top the cake? No, you can also just enjoy this cake plain or with a dusting of powdered sugar for a simple vanilla ricotta cake. I love the addition of the lemon cream and raspberries here though!
• The cake will have a deep golden brown crust, but it also takes a good amount of time to bake through. I like to check the cake around 40 minutes and loosely cover the cake pan with foil to avoid burning the edges.
• Do I have to use fresh raspberries? You can omit the fresh raspberries if you don’t have any on hand, but I think they offer a helpful tartness to the mixture that you won’t get with jam alone.
• I’m at about 5,000 ft. above sea level, and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 feet above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!

5 from 1 vote

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Lemon Raspberry Ricotta Cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup lemon curd
• 3 tbs. raspberry jam
• 1/4 cup fresh raspberries
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Instructions

For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8 or 9 inch square or round cake pan, optionally lining the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. I recommend using either a tall-sided cake pan (3 inches) or a 9 inch cake pan for this cake as it makes a fairly large amount of cake.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs until smooth and well combined. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture into the bowl with the wet mixture, and whisk together until everything is just combined.
3. Spread the cake batter evenly into your prepared cake pan and bake the cake for 50-55 minutes. Check the cake at about 40 minutes, and loosely cover the cake with foil if it’s already reached a deep brown color. The cake is finished baking when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs sticking to it. Cool the cake completely before slicing and frosting.

For the topping:

1. In a medium bowl, beat the heavy cream with an electric mixer until you have soft peaks. Add in the lemon curd, and continue to beat the mixture until well combined and stiff peaks have formed.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the raspberry jam, fresh raspberries, and salt, and gently mash to break up the fresh berries.
3. Once the cake is cooled, trim the top (optional) and slice the cake into two relatively even layers. Fill the cake with half of the whipped cream mixture, and top with the remaining cake layer and whipped cream. Top the cake with the raspberry mixture along with some extra lemon curd optionally, and gently swirl both into the whipped cream. Enjoy!

Nicole Hampton

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!