Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake Recipe

Name: Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 65 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature, (1 1/2 sticks)); 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese (room temperature); 3 large eggs (room temperature); 1 large lemon (zest and juices); 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon salt

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Indulge the vibrant and citrusy flavors of the delightful Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake. This is a perfect fusion of creamy ricotta cheese and zesty lemons, delivering a rich, moist, and refreshing dessert. Top it with whipped cream and fresh berries for a perfect Spring or Summer celebration!

A slice of Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake on a plate with a fork and fresh berries.

Make this amazing Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake! It’s a rich and moist dessert, that is served with whipped cream and fresh berries. It will be perfect for a Spring/Summer celebration event that everyone will love!

Because we use ricotta cheese, this cake will be denser than your traditional cake. Although, thanks to whipping the cheese for a long time, until it’s light and airy, we still are able to create a lighter crumbly texture.

Lemon provides a nice bright citrusy touch. Whipped cream and berries help to balance all the flavors and texture, creating a beautiful dessert that will be a show stopper at any celebration.

Why you will love this recipe

Easy to make. This is really such a simple recipe to make even if you are a beginner baker! As long as you whip the ricotta cheese well enough, your cake will come out perfectly moist and light.
It’s all about the flavor! This is a great Spring/Summer dessert with bright lemon tang, rich but light cake, which is topped with whipped cream and fresh berries.

Ingredients and Substitution

Ricotta cheese. I highly recommend to use whole milk, full fat ricotta cheese, as it will provide rich buttery texture and more flavor. Also, if it has too much liquid in the container, you can simply drain it to avoid soggy batter.
Eggs. Always use room temperature eggs when baking. It will help them easily incorporate with other ingredients.
Butter. Similar to eggs, make sure that your butter is room temperature. It will better blend with sugar to create light and airy texture.
Sugar. A regular granulated sugar will work well in this recipe.
Lemon. Always use fresh lemon zest and lemon juice in baking.
Flour. For all my recipes, I use regular all-purpose flour (as most readers always have it on hand). Cake flour will also work great in this recipe and will help the cake become even lighter.
Salt. Pinch of salt is a must in any dessert. It helps to balance the flavors and the sweetness.
Baking powder, Baking soda. Both on these ingredients are needed to help the cake rise and get lighter texture.
Vanilla extract. It adds additional aroma to the dessert.

Ingredients for Italian Lemon Ricotta cake in separate bowls.

How to make it

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk dry ingredients (1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp baking powder, and ¼ tsp salt) and set aside.

Process photos of adding flour, baking soda and baking powder to a bowl.

In a large mixing bowl add 1 ½ sticks butter and 1 cup sugar. Beat with a stand mixer for a few minutes, until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes.

Process photos of mixing butter and eggs with a hand mixer.

Then add 1 ½ cups ricotta cheese and whip again for 5-8 minutes, until light and airy.

Process photos of adding ricotta cheese to the whipped butter with sugar.

Add 3 eggs, lemon zest and juice, and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix again.

Process photos of adding eggs, lemon zest and juice to the cake batter.

Add dry ingredients, and using a spatula, fold it in.

Process photos of adding dry ingredients to the cake batter.

Pour the batter in a pre-greased cake pan. Bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

When done, take out of the oven and let sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from the pan, peeling off the parchment paper from the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool off completely.

Lemon ricotta cake in a baking pan before and after baking.

Tips and Tricks

The main trick to make this cake light and airy, we need to whip ricotta cheese with butter and sugar very well for at least 5-8 minutes. If you skip this step, the cake will come out much denser (but still tasty).
If your lemons are not very “lemony”, you can easily add lemon zest from 2 lemons to enhance the flavor.
It’s important for the ingredients (like butter, ricotta cheese, and eggs) to be room temperature. This way, when you mix them together, they will blend smoothly, without being grainy.

Process photos of dusting powdered sugar over a cake.

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of ricotta shall I use in this recipe?

While you can use skim ricotta, full fat variety will work the best in this recipe and provide more moisture.

Can I make a layered cake with this cake?

Yes! You can simply make a double batch and bake 2 separate cakes.

How to serve Italian Lemon Ricotta Cake?

You can serve it by simply sprinkling with some powder sugar or top with some whipped cream and fresh berries (like raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries).

How to store?

You can refrigerate it for up to 5 days. When ready to serve, just leave it on the counter for about 20 minutes to get to the room temperature and soften up.