Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe
Published September 21, 2022. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This incredibly moist and flavorful Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe loaded with lemon and almonds will quickly become your favorite. You will not believe just how tasty and tender this cake is.
In my family, we need a sweet to finish every meal, and if there’s a cake, there are extra smiles. If you have a similar family, then you must try my Funfetti Cake or Tres Leches.
Olive Oil Cake
Olive oil cake is a simple cake that uses olive oil to help flavor and hydrate the cake for flavor and moisture. The flavors of the olive oil are subtle, but the result is a very moist cake with gentle lemon flavors from the lemon zest. While this is a classic Mediterranean cake, I push in on the Italian region and use Ricotta cheese to assist with flavor and moistness.
This is a very easy-to-make cake and is one of my most popular cake recipes. Do not let the “olive oil” in this recipe frighten you. It is extremely light and fluffy and nothing short of delicious. See the video below for detailed instructions for making this.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Ricotta – Use a good full-fat ricotta cheese. If you can get ahold of a true sheep’s milk ricotta, even better.
- Oil – Use good virgin olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil will give too strong of a flavor.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar is what you will need for this recipe.
- Lemon – The zest of lemon will give great flavors to this olive oil cake.
- Eggs – Large eggs that are chilled or at room temperature work great.
- Flour – You will need all-purpose flour and almond flour for this recipe.
- Leavening Agents – Both baking powder and baking soda is used in this cake.
- Salt – I always use sea salt in my recipes.
How to Make a Ricotta Olive Oil Cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the ricotta, olive oil, sugar, and lemon zest until completely combined.
Next, add in one egg at a time and mix to incorporate before adding in the next one.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Whisk well to ensure all clumps are removed.
Transfer the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and whisk together until everything is combined.
Pour the batter into a 9″ springform pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until golden brown on top of the cake and firm in the center. You can add a parchment paper round to the bottom of the pan.
Place the lemon ricotta cake onto a wire rack and let it cool to room temperature before decorating and serving.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this cake up to 1 day ahead of time.
How to Store: Cover and keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. Place it in the refrigerator and cover it for up to 5 days. You can freeze this covered for up to 3 months and thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before serving.
How to Serve: Pull the cake out and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature before serving.
Chef Notes + Tips
- Use finely ground almond flour. This is also known as almond meal.
- There are a few ways that you can finish off this cake. You can do it by simply sprinkling on some powdered sugar, or you can decorate it with some whipped cream, lemon slices, and fresh mint.
- For more lemon flavor, feel free to add lemon juice from 1 lemon.
- This is not a gluten-free cake.
- Feel free to also serve with fresh berries.
- Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the wet ingredients if you want added flavor.
More Cake Recipes
Video
Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups of ricotta
- 2/3 cup of olive oil
- 1 ½ cups of sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cups ap flour
- 3/4 cup of almond meal
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/3 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the ricotta, olive oil, sugar, and zest until completely combined.
- Next, add in one egg at a time, and they are completely mixed in.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined. Whisk well to ensure clumps are removed.
- Transfer the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and whisk together until everything is combined.
- Pour the batter into a 9" spring form pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until browned on top and firm in the center.
- Place the cake onto a cooling rack and let it cool to room temperature before decorating and serving.
So hefty when it comes out of the oven yet somehow light and deliciously moist. Served it with raspberry jam and it was gone in 3 days.
Back again! This is my go-to cake. I’ve substituted Chobani low sugar fruit youghurt for the eggs, for my egg-allergic family and friends. And I’ve used dried lemon peel when I am missing fresh lemons. Still turns out wonderful! It’s even good a little stale (a rare occurrence) drenched with a fresh fruit compote.
Aside from being very easy to make, this cake has a lovely lemon flavour and fantastic texture. It is a keeper. I followed the recipe and didn’t make any changes. I did not add the powdered sugar and found it sweet enough. One question, what size portion does the nutritional information provided apply? Thank you!
that info is at the top of the recipe card.
Can this be made with mascarpone instead of ricotta? I cannot find whole milk ricotta anywhere around me and any ricotta I get is very grainy.
What would be a great substitute for the almond meal? I have nut allergies in the familybut this sounds absolutely heavenly.
Fantastic! I’ve made it twice and it’s already a family favorite. The time in the oven is different on the video, and I think the video is correct. I definitely like the lemon juice addition.
I made the Ricotta Olive Oil cake for my granddaughter’s birthday. She’s turning three and not a fan of sweet or chocolate. The lemon flavor was perfect. I served it with whipped cream, which she loves. It was moist and had a great bouncy texture. I’m sure will be requested in the future.
The easiest and most delicious cake I’ve ever made. Perfect for the quick fix for a sweet tooth or unexpected guests.
I substituted ground walnuts for the almond flour (it’s what I had) and it worked fine.
Billy, should flours always be sifted before measuring or only if the recipe tells you to?
Only if the recipe says so.
Thank you ChefBilly had a desire for a cake fabulous cake 🍰 tasty 😋
Thank you ChefBilly was looking for a fluffy soft cake spot on yes tasty 💗😋😁