Olive oil keeps this simple blueberry lemon ricotta cake soft and moist—ready in under 1 hour with just 20 minutes of prep. Learn how to make this recipe, step-by-step.
It took me forever to get this recipe right. And by “just right” I mean: not-too-sweet, not-too-damp with a soft interior crumb (ricotta is notorious for making cakes soggy).
The secret is using room temperature ingredients. You’ve probably heard this tip before in baking– but do you actually do it?
In this recipe, it’s crucial. The texture becomes light, tender and smooth. When I tested it with cold ricotta and eggs straight from the fridge, the cake was more dense and stiff. A steady stream of olive oil ensures a superior texture too.
Also, you do not need to drain the ricotta first (a common step found in my Italian ricotta cookies and homemade ravioli where excess moisture is problematic). Here, I use a small amount of ricotta and adjusted the flour-to-liquid ratio for a faster fix. It’s one of my favorite “any occasion” cakes to make!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple, step-by-step instructions
- Easy to find ingredients
- Dress this cake up or down (serve plain or with powdered sugar and whipped cream)
- Fresh or frozen blueberries can be used
- Make it gluten free with 1:1 all purpose GF flour
How To Make It {Step-By-Step Recipe}
Below, you’ll find visual step-by-step instructions with my tested notes and tips. For a printable version of this recipe, scroll to the end. I recommend serving this cake on the same day it’s baked- it will get softer and more moist from the blueberries as it sits. The flavor combination of blueberry, lemon and vanilla is wickedly good.
Notes, Tips & Expectations
- Room temperature ingredients (fast): Submerge eggs in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes. Microwave the ricotta for 10-15 seconds (use your judgment here). Or, scoop the ricotta into a bowl and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or more.
- Use a hand held mixer or stand mixer. Beating the eggs until frothy, followed by streaming in the olive oil to emulsify the mixture is much easier when using a machine to assist you. A large bowl and whisk will also work.
- For the love of lemons! 🍋 I use lemon zest in this recipe- not the juice (good, but too tart). Sometimes, I’ll use lemon oil instead for a deeper flavor.
- Weigh your ingredients for best texture. Due to varying ingredient densities and measuring cups sizes, you’ll get better, more precise results with a digital scale.
- Try Whole Milk Ricotta. It’s my preferred milk % for this recipe. Leftover ricotta can be used to make homemade ravioli, ricotta cookies, Italian almond ricotta cake, and this ultra-creamy ricotta pasta dish.
To start, preheat your oven and coat your cake pan. I use salted butter for extra flavor (it’s the little things!). Then sift the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and eggs. The color will go from dark to light yellow as more air is incorporated into the mixture.
Slowly add the olive oil to emulsify the frothy egg mixture. Then, add the ricotta, vanilla and lemon zest. It will look a little lumpy after mixing- this is OK. Add the dry ingredients. Gently fold some of the blueberries into the batter. Evenly decorate the top with the remaining blueberries- do this nicely. You don’t want them to cave into the center. Bake until light golden brown, about 30-35 minutes.
Photography & Styling by Saltwater Studio.
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Simple Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Cake with Olive Oil
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: Serves 8
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Oven-Baked
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Olive oil keeps this simple blueberry lemon ricotta cake soft and moist—ready in under 1 hour with just 20 minutes of prep. You’ll love its simplicity and bright, fresh flavor!
Ingredients
- 180 g (~1 1/3 cups) all purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
- 220 g (1 cup) granulated sugar, plus more to coat the pan
- 3 large eggs
- 105 g (~1/2 cup) mild olive oil or neutral oil
- 125 g (1/2 cup) whole milk ricotta
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 210 g (1 1/2 cups) blueberries, divided
- Powdered sugar, for garnish
- Pat of butter, for coating the pan
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F.
- Lightly coat an 8-inch springform pan with butter. Sprinkle the bottom and sides with sugar; tap out the excess.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and fine sea salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Add the sugar and eggs to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or use a hand-held mixer). Beat together on medium speed until frothy, about 2 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to low; slowly stream in the olive oil. The egg mixture will become more voluminous and lighter in color.
- Add the ricotta, followed by the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until incorporated (do not over mix).
- Stop the mixer. Add 1 cup of the blueberries. Fold into the batter using a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Evenly place the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries over the top- you might not need all of them.
- Bake on the center rack for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack to cool.
- Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar & cutting into thick slices, to serve.
Comments
Dinny Bedard says
I made this cake just now and just love it! The sweetness and moistness of the cake are incredible! Thank you so much for sharing. My springform pan was a 9” so I used an 8” round pan and had to bake a little longer, like 7-8 minutes longer. I used my countertop convention oven to bake it and it worked! Too bad I am not able to share a picture of the cake coz it’s beautiful!
Toola says
Hello there. My blueberries sank to the bottom of my cupcakes. Should I have rolled them in a little bit of flour before I added them to the batter? Very moist yummy cake. I was surprised by the lemon flavor. I didn’t think the zest would be enough.
Bethany says
My 10 year old daughter made this for me for Mother’s Day. It was so good. She dolloped fresh whipped cream on top. I couldn’t stop eating it!! The only change we made was einkorn flour instead of AP flour. I will definitely be making this again. Would be delicious for a brunch as well!
Emilie Raffa says
Sounds delicious. It’s good with the whipped cream, right? Ooo… for the Einkorn flour, did you make any additional changes? Or did the recipe work as is? I’m curious because I love this flour and I have some at home too.
Bethany says
It was a direct swap and it turned out great! I know sometimes the liquid needs adjusting. I found our cake to be moist, but not overly wet.
Lisa says
Made this today. Baked well per the instructions but I still found it a bit too sweet. Next time I will reduce sugar by 1/4 cup. Thanks for sharing.
Emilie Raffa says
Thanks Lisa! You can absolutely do that. Enjoy!🥰
Susan Shores says
I didn’t see the comments before I asked mine. You can ignore my question but I do want to tell you your bagel recipe is wonderful plus your zucchini banana sourdough bread. Thanks so much!
Emilie Raffa says
Haha… thanks so much Susan! So glad you like the sourdough recipes!
Carrie Sichley says
Two questions, can I sub the ricotta for cottage cheese? And what other type of pan can I use( I don’t have a springform pan). Thank you!
Emilie Raffa says
Hi Carrie! Good question. Not sure on this one- the texture and taste of cottage cheese is too different from ricotta which might require additional adjustments to the recipe. Do you have yogurt instead? I’d sub with that if you have it, or even sour cream as another reader mentioned. For the pan, try a regular 8 or 9 inch round cake pan. Just use your judgement when you fill the pan with the batter; you don’t want it to overflow.
Annie says
Hello,
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. I want to try it but bother my daughters are lactose intolerant. Can I replace the ricotta with lactose free sour cream ? I can’t find lactose free ricotta here.
Emilie Raffa says
You’re very welcome Annie! Although I haven’t tested it, I do think sour cream will work- lactose or regular is fine. Two things: make sure the sour cream is 100% at room temperature, and expect the overall texture of the cake to change just slightly (sourdough cream had less moisture than ricotta). Let me know how it goes!