This lemon ricotta cake comes with light and fluffy cream cheese frosting and boasts a soft and buttery crumb and a delicate lemon flavour. The perfect treat with you afternoon tea!
Or give our Lemon Ricotta Bundt Cake with Blackberry Glaze a try. So much drama!
I have great memories of beautiful cakes made by my father for each and every occasion. To evoke those warm feelings from childhood I baked a simple cake that is a loose version of a Russian loaf cake “Keks”.
It is usually served simply dusted with powdered sugar but I decided to give it a royal treatment. I went for a cloud of light and fluffy cream cheese frosting to crown my humble loaf. This cake is the happy result!
Lemon Ricotta Cake
This lemon ricotta cake is pretty spectacular on its own. The soft crumb is made especially buttery by the addition of ricotta cheese.
Ricotta cheese does a bit of magic added to a cake recipe like this one. It adds a richness to the flavour as well as a lovely moistness.
Ricotta can also be used successfully in cookies, which gives them a light and cake like texture. You do need to use a full fat ricotta cheese to get the full benefit.
The sponge in this recipe is also infused with lemon juice and lemon zest. Together the flavour is delicate and exquisite.
Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe Tips
Then enters the frosting, which you will want to eat by the spoonful. Even though it is made with cream cheese, the frosting is surprisingly light.
It works as the perfect accompaniment for the sharper citrus flavour of the cake. It also looks luxurious and beautiful, especially when topped with lovely yellow lemon zest.
The frosting itself is incredibly easy to make. It is simply a mix of the full fat cream cheese, double cream or heavy whipping cream and icing sugar/powdered sugar.
If you are in the UK and use double cream, which is higher in fat than American whipping cream, go ahead and mix all frosting ingredients at once. You will have no issues with them blending.
However, if you are in the US, use the highest fat content whipping cream. It should say the word “heavy” on the package.
For the frosting to work just as well, you will need to whip the cream first with the powdered sugar and vanilla. Then lightly whip the cream cheese. And only after the two textures are similar, you can blend them together into a frosting by folding the whipping cream into the cream cheese.
The cake comes together quickly and doesn’t require any special techniques. Make sure you give it time to cool completely after baking and before adding the cream cheese frosting.
I love to eat this cake in the afternoon with a cup of tea or coffee!
More cake recipes with citrus flavours:
- Russian Loaf Cake “Keks Stolichniy”
- Lemon Curd Cheesecake
- Orange Glazed Cranberry Orange Bread
- Orange, Yogurt and Olive Oil Cake from Supergolden Bakes
Ingredients
For the loaf cake
- 75 g/1/3 cup butter softened
- 165 g/2/3 cup demerara sugar
- 130 g/1/2 cup ricotta cheese drained
- 2 eggs large
- 150 g/ 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ salt
- 1 lemon juice and zest of
For Cream Cheese Frosting
- 200 g/ 1 cup cream cheese
- 150 ml/ ½ cup double cream or whipping cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- lemon zest for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F
- Cream soft butter with sugar in a stand mixer. Add ricotta cheese and eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest and continue beating until light and well combined.
- Sift flour in a separate bowl, then add baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix for 1 minute until well combined.
- Empty contents in a greased and parchment paper lined loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes. Check the cake for doneness with a toothpick, it should come out clean. Let it cool in a pan for 30 minutes and then remove it on a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting
- Whip slightly softened cream cheese with icing sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add double cream or whipping cream and vanilla bean paste continue whipping for 2 more minutes until the frosting comes together. It should be slightly more stiff than whipping cream in consistency.
- Frost the top of your cooled cake and sprinkle with more lemon zest.
