Easy Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake
This Easy Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake is bursting with fresh lemon flavor thanks to the lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice in the batter. Perfect for breakfast, Sunday brunch, Mother’s Day, and Easter! The perfect cake to enjoy after an Italian lunch or dinner.
Servings: 10
Calories: 272kcal
Equipment
- Stand Mixer if you don't have stand mixer, can be made entirely by hand using mixing bowl.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (plus more to grease the baking pan)
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1½ cups whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- zest of 1 to 2 lemons
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (less than 1 lemon, usually)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour Bundt pan (or you could use baking spray, as I did).
- Combine dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to blend.
- Mix butter, ricotta, and sugar: Using a mixer (or by hand), cream the butter, ricotta and granulated sugar until blended, about 3 minutes — I never really go over three minutes, and it’s ok if there are some visible pieces of butter. In other words, the batter will not look entirely smooth (see photo). With the machine running, add the eggs 1 at a time.
- Mix in eggs: Add the eggs 1 at a time.
- Add the vanilla, zest and lemon juice until combined. Add the dry ingredients, a small amount at a time, until just incorporated. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition of the dry ingredients.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place on middle rack of oven.
- Bake for 25 minutes on 350. Lower heat, bake about another 20 minutes on 325, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. I always have to lower my oven to 325 with cakes. My cakes bake too fast if I bake all the way on 350.
- Invert cake: Carefully invert the cake onto your serving plate. Dust with confectioner's sugar, or make a lemon glaze with fresh lemon juice.
Notes
- Prepping pan: The best way to prep a Bundt pan is with baking spray. I have baked countless amount of Bundt cakes, and I have had always the best baking experience using baking spray to prep my Bundt pans.
- Ricotta: I talk about the ricotta a bit in my post. And I do mention that I really like the texture and quality of the Galbani whole milk ricotta. You don't need to strain it. I am not working for them, it's just a personal preference. If you have a favorite ricotta, use that. But take a minute to read my ricotta notes in the post.
- Flour: I have made this with cake flour and with all-purpose, and it only turns out as fluffy as it does using cake flour. With that said, if you don't have any cake flour, go ahead and look at my post, I do explain what to do.
- Lemon: I do prefer to use fresh lemon juice. If you can get organic, that is best to use for the zest.
Nutrition
Calories: 272kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 80mg | Sodium: 362mg | Potassium: 50mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 365IU | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 1mg