Very easy to make, this is a moist and dense lemon ricotta cake recipe topped with mixed berries that can be fresh or frozen, so it can be made year-round. It's slightly dense and wonderfully moist, almost custardy, different from a more traditional cake with ricotta.
Not your usual ricotta cake
A few loose ends came together, resulting in these soft and sweet berry ricotta squares. It's a simple cake that is wonderful for brunch or breakfast. It's one of my favorite bakes to make with ricotta.
I had a few cups of languishing ricotta cheese in my fridge, which I had bought to make this popular ricotta pie recipe. Or maybe it was this baked ricotta appetizer. Who knows. I use ricotta a lot.
This creamy and dense cake is a must if you're the least bit into sweet ricotta. You can say it's a cousin of our orange ricotta cheesecake.
The berries are a tangy surprise, perfect to cut through all that soft and monochromatic batter. You can use any combination you want, and I usually go for raspberries and blackberries. And red currants, when I can get a hold of them, which is not often.
Easy dessert: alternatively, you can make a plain ricotta cake, omitting the scattering of fruit on top and serving it with a sauce or compote like our blueberry sauce or the mixed berry compote.
Watch our step-by-step videos
Testing Notes
- When you remove it from the oven, the center of the cake should be almost set. While you don't want it to be too jiggly (like a brownie or cheesecake), don't wait until it's too firm and dry, or the cake will not be as creamy.
- Be careful with leaving it at room temperature for more than a day, especially if the room is hot. Recipes with fruit might not last long at room temperature because you run the risk of it starting to ferment and ruining the whole cake.
- I'm not a fan of freezing it. You can, but the texture might change a little when you thaw it; it will be grainier and less creamy. I'd rather refrigerate leftovers, well covered in plastic wrap or an airtight container to prevent dryness.
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Ricotta: Use full-fat, whole-milk ricotta for best results. The cake will be richer and tastier.
- Berries: any mix of red berries works, fresh or frozen. I like to use blackberries and raspberries for their tanginess and acidity. They pair very well with ricotta cheese. Blueberries are another one you can add to the mix for more variety.
- Flour: I have made it with all-purpose and cake flour with excellent results.
- Milk: You can use whole milk (for richer results), but 2% milk also works.
- Citrus zest: both orange and lemon zest work very well with ricotta and berries. You can also use a mix of both.
Variations & Substitutions
- Light brown sugar instead of white.
- Instead of milk, use buttermilk or vegetable ones like almond milk or coconut milk.
- Spices: add some ground cinnamon or cardamom, depending on the berries you use. A grating of ginger can add a spicy kick.
- Liqueurs: besides vanilla, you can add a teaspoon to a tablespoon of liquor like creme de cassis, Licor 43 (vanilla citrus), orange liquor like Cointreau and Grand Marnier, or Frangelico (hazelnut). Any alcohol you like paired with berries.
- Berry topping: you can also use a good berry jam or sauce, add dollops and swirl them on top if you don't have whole berries.
- Lemon raspberry ricotta cake: This is a very popular iteration where you only use frozen or fresh raspberries (same amount) and add 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, which you subtract from the amount of milk.
Process steps
This is a lemon ricotta cake with fresh berries that's very easy to assemble: you need a large bowl, an electric mixer, and a silicone or rubber spatula.
Ricotta
Add ricotta and flavorings, and mix well. At this point, I use a spatula for mixing.
Dry ingredients
Add them alternating with the milk.
Begin and end with the flour mixture and don't overmix or beat the batter. Use a whisk or silicon spatula.
Berries
Use fresh or frozen mixed berries over the smooth cake batter.
Baking
Bake as directed, and make sure you don't overbake it. This is important if you want a creamy cake.
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Berry Ricotta Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest, ¾ of a lemon approx
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk ricotta cheese, strained if it has too much liquid
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk, at room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cups berries, any mix (fresh or frozen)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Butter or spray a square 8-inch baking pan or cake pan. If you use a 9-inch pan, the cake will be shorter and bake faster, so check for doneness earlier.
- If you want, line the pan with a piece of parchment paper, covering its bottom and two sides. The other two sides will remain unlined but greased. This will help you remove the cake after it's baked.
- In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat ½ cup unsalted butter with ½ cup sugar for 2 minutes at medium-high speed.
- Add 2 eggs, one at a time, and beat until well incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl once or twice.
- Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons lemon zest, and mix well.
- Add 1 ¼ cups whole milk ricotta cheese and combine everything. I use the spatula from this step onward to avoid overmixing the batter.
- Sift 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt (I do it directly over the mixture, but you can use a separate bowl) and add to the wet ingredients in three parts, alternating with ¾ cup milk in two parts. That means that you start and end with flour. Do not beat much, just until everything is combined. The dough is very creamy but with texture.
- Scrape batter into the prepared pan and scatter 1 ⅓ cups berries on top.
- Bake cake for about 30 minutes, until it has light golden brown sides and the center is almost set. If you use a cake tester or toothpick it should come out almost dry, or with very few moist crumbs attached. Don't overbake.
- Let the cake cool completely on a metal wire rack before removing it from the pan. First, loosen the unlined sides with a smooth-bladed knife or spatula, and then lift the whole block (carefully because it's a soft cake) and transfer it to a board. Cut into squares and serve.
- Refrigerate leftovers covered in plastic wrap or an airtight container.
SL says
Lovely moist cake. A great option to use up leftover ricotta without having to commit to a whole cheesecake etc.
Laura Dembowski says
Happy birthday, Paula! I hope you had a wonderful day 🙂 These bars look like a great treat to celebrate with. I freeze tons of fruit too. I don't pit the cherries first - too much work.
e / dig in says
a belated but heartfelt birthday to you, paula. you are one of my favourite people in the blogging world! i hope you had a fabulous day with your friends - and thank you for sharing it with us.
PS i buy ricotta then forget why too!
Lori @ Foxes Love Lemons says
Haha, I totally hear you about putting stuff in the freezer for a few weeks or months, and THEN throwing it away. That's my strategy as well, even though I generally hate throwing away food. But once it's languished in the freezer for awhile, I feel a lot less guilty 🙂
Marissa | Pinch and Swirl says
Happy Birthday, Paula! (a few days late) - BTW you are NEVER too old for a pajama party. 🙂 These ricotta berry squares look like they have a wonderful texture + I had fun clicking through all of the past recipes that you mentioned. So many I want to make! (especially those boozy brownies)
bananachocolate says
Happy birthday Paula, and thank you for sharing my recipe!
yummychunklet says
Delicious! Happy Birthday!
Patty Price says
Happy Birthday!! I think these summer berry ricotta squares look like a prefect way to celebrate-enjoy your special birthday week 😉
thelittleloaf says
Happy birthday! And how juicy and delicious do these little squares look?
Nancy @ gottagetbaked says
Paula, one is NEVER too old for a pyjama party! And haven't you heard, 45 is the new 30 😉 It sounds like you had an utterly fabulous day, which you absolutely deserve. You've gone through a lot this past year and I mean it when I say that I'm hoping your 45th year brings you only bigger and better things. You're one of the sweetest, toughest ladies I know and I'm honoured to call you a friend. One day we'll meet and we'll drink, and laugh, and talk, and eat, and drink some more! Until then, I'll bake these delicious ricotta squares and eat it in your honour.
Pink Patisserie says
Happy Belated birthday to you Paula! Hope it was a lovely, lovely day. Sounds like it was shaping up to be! Thank you for all of your delicious recipes and sweet thoughts!
Cocoa and Lavender says
¡Feliz cumpleaños, mi amiga! What a wonderful way to celebrate with close friends. If I had ricotta in my fridge, I would have been baking these instead of the summer berry cake that is in the oven now... I wish you a year of good fortune, happiness, culinary adventure and the love of good friends and family... ~ David
Cocoa and Lavender says
You are right! Why make it an 'either/or' situation!
Kathy says
Happy Birthday, Paula! I adore Ricotta and know I would love these squares! Every time I visit you, I find something else I have to make! These just sounds incredible! A perfect summer dessert! Have a great weekend!
Munatycooking says
Happy Birthday Girl! I love the taste of fruits in desserts, and these squares look amazing and colorful 🙂