lemon raspberry and almond ricotta cake

lemon raspberry and almond ricotta cake

• 1 Dec 2024

I wasn't plannning to make this  lemon, raspberry and almond ricotta cake but with 250g ricotta cheese in the fridge about to reach it's due by date I needed to use it up and quickly. I looked online for inspiration and came up with this Donna Hay recipe and thankfully I had all the ingredients at hand to make this elegant little cake.

I made pastry on Saturday and as I already had the food processor out, I made the bulk of the cake in the food processor, making the cake even easier to put together. I just whipped the egg whites in my stand mixer before folding them through the batter. I also decided to up the raspberry quotient a little because I don't think you can ever have too many raspberries. 

Here's the recipe for you which makes a 17cm cake. If you'd like to make a larger cake refer to the original recipe. For all my recipes I use a 250ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon, unsalted butter and 60g eggs. My oven is a conventional gas oven so if your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the oven temperature by 20°C.

Lemon, Raspberry and Almond Ricotta Cake

Ingredients
60g unsalted butter, softened
110g caster sugar
1 tablespoons finely grated lemon rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, separated
120g almond meal 
120g fresh ricotta
75g frozen raspberries
¼ cup (25g) flaked almonds
Thick or double (thick) cream (optional), to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 170°C, conventional. Line a 17cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper.

Place the butter and 1/3 cup (75g) of the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat for 4 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the lemon rind and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Fold through the almond meal and ricotta.

In a clean bowl of an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add the remaining sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold a spoonful of whipped egg white into the almond mixture, then gently fold in the remaining egg white until combined. 

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle with raspberries and almonds. Bake for 1 hour or until firm and golden around the edges but with a slight jiggle in the middle. Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin. Don’t be scared by the uncooked appearance of the centre of this cake when it’s just out of the oven. As the cake cools, it will set to the most deliciously moist texture.

To serve, place on a cake stand or serving plate. Serve with cream, if desired. 

So easy to put together yet so delicious and naturally gluten-free. 

See you all again next week with some more baking from my kitchen. 

Bye for now, 

 Jillian