A super moist and tender ricotta cake with an amazing lemon flavour!
Lemon is one of my favourite flavours for sweet treats and it works amazingly well in this Italian style ricotta cake! This cake is super simple! You basically mix butter, sugar, ricotta, eggs, lemon, flour, and baking soda before baking. This cake is like a cross between a cheesecake and a regular flour cake and it’s super moist and tender. This cake is perfect for any occasion and it’s great served as is or with a simple dusting of powdered sugar, or a dollop of whipped cream along with some fresh berries!
Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes Servings: 12
A super moist and tender ricotta cake with an amazing lemon flavour!
ingredients
- 3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (gluten-free for gluten-free)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon confectioners/powdered/icing sugar (optional)
directions
- Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the ricotta cheese, followed by beating in the eggs, one at a time.
- Beat in the vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest.
- Mix the flour, baking soda and salt before mixing into the batter.
- Pour the batter into a greased 9 inch springform pan and bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes.
- Let cool for 15 minutes before removing the sides of the springform pan and letting cool completely.
- Dust with the powdered sugar, slice and enjoy!
Option: Add a second tablespoon lemon zest for a more intense lemon flavour.
Nutrition Facts: Calories 330, Fat 16g (Saturated 9g, Trans 0), Cholesterol 94mg, Sodium 208mg, Carbs 40g (Fiber 0.4g, Sugars 25g), Protein 5g
Nutrition by: 
Similar Recipes:
Lemon New York Style Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Blueberry Crumb Bars with Lemon Cream Filling
Lemon Ricotta Strawberry Pie with Poppy Seed Shortbread Crust
Dutch Babies with Lemon Curd and Blueberries
Lemon Almond Cake
Blueberry Swirl Lemon Cheesecake
Lemon Loaf
Blueberry Lemon Loaf
White Chocolate Souffle Cheesecake
Japanese Souffle Cheesecake
Lemon New York Style Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake Bars
Blueberry Crumb Bars with Lemon Cream Filling
Lemon Ricotta Strawberry Pie with Poppy Seed Shortbread Crust
Dutch Babies with Lemon Curd and Blueberries
Lemon Almond Cake
Blueberry Swirl Lemon Cheesecake
Lemon Loaf
Blueberry Lemon Loaf
White Chocolate Souffle Cheesecake
Japanese Souffle Cheesecake
This is a delightfully light and delicious Italian treat. I always squeeze fresh lemons and put a little more (because I love lemon) AND make a lemon drizzle (confectionery sugar and fresh lemon juice to simmer and thicken) on top of the cake. You can punch holes in it to seep in or just let it sit on top 🙂
A lemon drizzle would be amazing on this!
gorgeous cake, and lemon is one of my favorites too, thank you!
I’ve never baked a cake like this. There is no information on whether to add flour all at once or how long to mix after adding it. The texture was unusually thick and after baking halfway, when I turned it in the oven it was very liquid.
It’s browned on top now after 35 minutes but not cooked through. Still liquid in the middle. My oven isn’t usually overly hot, but I turned the temperature down 5 degrees at first and now will continue at 25 degrees lower. I hope it doesn’t burn before the center is done!
After an extra 10 minutes and cake is quite brown and cracked but still not cooked in the center.
At 50 minutes, I turned off the oven and left it in for another 5 minutes when it tested done. The bottom and sides are over-done and dry.
I’m not sure what happened.
The flavor is great.
I made this today. It came together easily, and I made it exactly according to the posted directions and ingredients. It did take about 50 minutes total to set up in the middle. My husband and I had a slice of it while still warm, and it was delicious. My husband loved it. I do think it would be amazing with some berries.
I really want to make a ricotta cake like this, I love the consistency but I’m not a giant fan of lemon. Or really any citrus flavor. Can you suggest a good alternative?
can I pre-make and freeze for a few weeks?
Yes! This cake freezes well! Enjoy!