Easy and fluffy ricotta cake with cherries is the ultimate summer dessert. This recipe can be made in one bowl, the preparation will take less than 20 minutes and you’ll end up with the most delicious, moist and fruity cake.
This recipe is an interpretation of the most delicious Italian lemony ricotta cake. Afterall, we all know Italians are the masters of making the most flavoursome food! I love how they convert the simplest ingredients into something extraordinary. This cake is exactly like that – simple and creamy ricotta cheese plays the main role and brings a beautifully moist texture to this summer treat.
Even though the original dessert is absolutely delicious and fragrant, additional ingredients lift this cake to the next level. Also, you know my love for cherries (especially when they’re right in season), so I’m using every chance to incorporate them into my bakes while I can.
I know that now, at least in London, even the idea of turning on your oven seems crazy and ridiculous. But the moment this heat goes away, this ricotta cake needs to be on your baking priority list. You won’t regret it!
How to Make the Fluffiest Ricotta Cake
I love this ricotta cake because it’s so easy! Nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen on a hot summer’s day and then deal with a bunch of cleaning. This recipe meets these needs – it’s quick, can be made in one bowl and is simply perfect for summer. Just follow these steps:
- Beat the soft, room temperature butter with caster sugar until very soft and fluffy. Take your time and don’t rush the process. It might take up to 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs and beat them together with butter. To incorporate the ingredients better and not overmix the batter I recommend adding 2 eggs – mix them together, then add the remaining one.
- Add the ricotta cheese.
- Prepare the cherries – cut them in half, remove the stones. Cover the cherries in flour. This’ll prevent them from sinking.
- Add all the remaining dry ingredients and gently mix the batter.
- Add the cherries.
- Bake – the easiest part! Bake the pie in the oven for 40-50 minutes until it turns golden.
Ricotta Cake Recipe Variations
This ricotta cake doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, so your variation options are quite limited. However you still have some options:
- This is going to be very controversial, but if you really can’t find ricotta cheese, you can swap this ingredient for Greek yogurt. It won’t be the same recipe, but you will end up with a very moist cake.
- I love adding ground nuts to my cakes. This time I used ground almonds, but you can swap them for ground pistachios, or ditch this product completely and add extra 50g of plain flour.
- Cherries – I looooove them and I wouldn’t change them for anything else. Although, you can use lemon zest, blueberries, blackberries raspberries or little cubes of nectarines to bring even more summer vibes.
If you’re looking for summer deserts, try these recipes:
Lemon and Pistachio Cake with Lemon Curd
Nectarine Crumble with Blueberries
Zingy Lemon Bars with Meringue
Also, for your easy baking, I recommend these baking utensils:
Baking Parchment Paper Roll
Baking Rectangular Tray
Baking Round Tin
Palette Knife
Recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
110g room temperature butter
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
250g ricotta
200g cherries
150g plain flour
50g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
Method
Prepare the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a loaf tin with a baking sheet.
- Beat the butter with caster sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer for a couple of minutes, until you have a pale and smooth mix.
- Add in the eggs with ricotta cheese and whisk until combined and smooth.
- Cut the cherries in half, take out the stones and mix them with two tablespoons of flour.
- Add the remining flour to the batter, together with ground almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix everything.
- Add the cherries into the batter.
- After everything is mixed, add the batter into your prepared cake tin.
- Sprinkle some vanilla sugar on top.
- Bake the cake in the oven for 40-50 minutes.
