Citrus and almonds is a wonderful pairing, here elevated by the creaminess of ricotta cheese. A gorgeous cake, living proof of what is truly a delicious matchup.
Citrus and almonds are one of my favorite baking combinations. Add ricotta to the mix and I am sold. I just love the more substantial cake you get when baking with almond meal.
I have been wanting to make this recipe for quite some time. I was also intrigued with the method of making a meringue of the egg whites before adding it to the mixture so needed to try it out. 
How to Make Lemon Ricotta Cake with Almonds
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line the base and sides of an 8-inch (20 cm) round cake tin with parchment paper.
Making the Batter:
Place 1/2 cup of the caster sugar and the lemon zest in a food processor. Blitz until finely ground.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, vanilla extract, and the sugar-lemon zest mixture together for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is pale and creamy.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the almond meal to the mixture and beat until combined.
Gently fold the ricotta into the almond mixture until well incorporated.
Incorporating Egg Whites:
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually add the remaining caster sugar to the egg whites, whisking until stiff peaks form.
Mix one-third of the egg white mixture into the cake batter to lighten it.
Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the batter until no white streaks remain.
Baking:
Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top with a spatula.
Sprinkle flaked almonds evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin before removing.
Serving:
Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin and dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.
Recipe Notes:
- Ensure the butter is softened to create a smooth, creamy mixture when combined with the sugar.
- Folding the egg whites gently helps maintain the cake’s airy texture.
- This cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Lemon Ricotta Cake with Almonds
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Citrus and almonds is a wonderful pairing, here elevated by the creaminess of ricotta cheese. A gorgeous cake, living proof of what is truly a delicious matchup.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (120 g)
- 1 cup caster sugar (200 g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup lemon zest
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 2 cups almond meal (240 g)
- 1 1/4 cups ricotta (300 g)
- Flaked almonds for decoration
- Powdered sugar for serving
Instructions
Preparation:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line the base and sides of an 8-inch (20 cm) round cake tin with parchment paper.
Making the Batter:
Place 1/2 cup of the caster sugar and the lemon zest in a food processor. Blitz until finely ground.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter, vanilla extract, and the sugar-lemon zest mixture together for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture is pale and creamy.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the almond meal to the mixture and beat until combined.
Gently fold the ricotta into the almond mixture until well incorporated.
Incorporating Egg Whites:
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Gradually add the remaining caster sugar to the egg whites, whisking until stiff peaks form.
Mix one-third of the egg white mixture into the cake batter to lighten it.
Gently fold the remaining egg whites into the batter until no white streaks remain.
Baking:
Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and smooth the top with a spatula.
Sprinkle flaked almonds evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until the cake is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin before removing.
Serving:
Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the tin and dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
- Make sure the butter is softened to ensure it creams well with the sugar.
- Beating the butter and sugar mixture for 10 minutes helps create a light and fluffy texture.
- Folding the egg whites gently is crucial to maintain the airiness of the cake.
- This cake can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Cake, Dessert, Dolci
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American-Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 18g
- Sodium: 120mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 24g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 8g
- Cholesterol: 95mg
Delicious! And my children actually ate it without complaints. You don’t know how rare that is in my house.
Fantastic recipe, so delicious, and really pretty to look at too. Thanks for this one!
This has become my go to cake recipe, it is completely perfect.
This is fabulous!
My favorite cake recipe, hands down. I have made this so many times, and it always turns out perfectly.
Hi, for scaling the recipe down to 6 servings, how would you adjust the eggs, vanilla extract, and the lemon zest? Thank you.
I suggest you bake the recipe as is and freeze the extra pieces. Scaling down also impacts baking time, tin size etc and increases the chance that the cake does not turn out as it good as it can be.
Hein
I love this recipe. I think I’ll serve this with lemon semifreddo. If I were to cook this a day in advance. What is the best way to store the cake?
OMG, it’s DELICIOUS, absolutely wonderful, thank you so much for sharing this recipe, lots of love from down under!
Could almond flour be used instead of almond meal? If so, does the weight/amount of almond flour differ from that in the recipe for almond meal? Hoping to make this weekend! Thanks!
Hi Audra
I haven’t used almond flour before and I would imagine the texture is much finer that almond meal. I am sure you could try but can’t assist you with quantities unfortunately as I haven’t tried it in this recipe before.
So happy to hear!
Excellent cake. Moist and light at the same time. I added the juice of a half lemon to lighten the almond meal mixture. Made it much easier to mix in with the egg whites. Decorate with almond brittle. Stunning.
Great news! Thank you for letting me know
This is delicious! The lightest low carb cake I’ve made! I subbed PYURE ½ cup for the sugar and could have used a tad more but still really good!! Oh and I used 2Tbls bottled lemon juice instead of zest so I know it could be much better than I made it.
I had to search a bit to find almond meal here in the US, but I did and was excited to make this cake. I weighed each ingredient and followed the recipe exactly (and I am an experienced baker). The cake was a fail. It overflowed my 8″ pan (which I thought might happen so luckily I lined the bottom of the pan with foil to catch any spills) and was still wet in the middle after 60 minutes although the edges were burned. Also, my cake was not yellow in the slightest. It was a brown “Almond” color before and after baking.
This recipe was a hit. Served it for my sons birthday party to freinds from France and they
just loved it. Will definitely make again.
Hi there; if I do 1 and1/2 Times the recipe; do I need to cook for longer?
Hello Carol
Yes you would have to. Not sure how much longer so keep testing as it bakes
Regards Hein
Could I use either all orange zest, or a combination of orange and lemon?
Hello Carol, Yes I think that is a brilliant idea. Some lime or any other citrus would work well too.
Thanks :)
I bought six, a blast of lemon sounds delicious
I’m actually making it right now. Can’t wait to try!
Hope it was a hit Trudy!
Hi Hein!
How many lemons do you think I need for this recipe?
Hello Trudy
It depends on the size but at least 4. It is a lot of lemons but you want that blast of citrus. Enjoy!
Hein
Hi, do you think I could bake and freeze this cake a week or 2 before I need to serve it? I often bake and freeze early, but have never tried this with a ricotta based cake mixture. Looks delicious, btw!
Hello Sharmini. Yes I am sure it should be OK. I freeze a lot of cake leftovers and find they tend to taste better then second time around.
Would be nice if you were to signal a bit earlier in the recipe that the sugar should be divided. I missed that but forged ahead and it came out great, very light, airy and delicious. I screwed up my first attempt at a frangipane a while back so this was my redemption. Definitely worth making again.
So sorry that it was not too clear in the recipe – I will amend it on my side. I am happy the cake turned out great. Regards Hein
love the cake!
Sounds and looks delicious, and gluten free :)