Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe with Lemon and Almonds
Published February 1, 2018. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
As I look to put my foot down on the foods I chose to make I can’t help but give tribute to the ones who came before us and have done it so well, and thank goodness to whomever created the Olive Oil Cake Recipe. Why on earth anyone ever thought about putting olive oil in a cake recipe is beyond me, but man did they know what’s up! There’s a reason the classic recipes are called the classics, it’s because they are ALWAYS delicious. While I am absolutely obsessed with a lot of these more traditional recipes, whether it be osso bucco or a homemade baguette, I always like to put my little stamp on things. I do this because I want my cooking techniques and everything I’ve learned over the last 23 years of cooking to slightly influence the dish.
When searching on how to make an olive oil cake, I went straight to BillyParisi.com and saw that I had done some cupcakes a few years back that were olive oil cornmeal based. Well using similar techniques while swapping out a few ingredients I figured I could at least get close to where I was wanting to go. I knew in this Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe with Lemon and Almonds I was wanting to use almond meal, lemon zest and ricotta cheese into the base as opposed to the mascarpone cheese I used in the other recipe. You must know that this is not a vegan or gluten-free cake, I use eggs, ricotta cheese and Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Flour to help stabilize the cake. However, with that being said you can absolutely take appropriate measures to use things like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
I’ve been using Bob’s Almond Meal since forever, seriously. I feel like back 5-7 years ago when I started using it, that it was the only one on the shelf. Bob’s Red Mill is a company that we use almost every day. They have tons of different flours, grains, legumes, etc. that are all based around the highest quality and health. All of their flours, including their almond meal, is super well-made and always renders amazing results when I use them in my cooking. The same goes for this Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe with Lemon and Almonds, it turned out perfectly!
Making an olive oil cake is actually incredibly simple, in fact if I didn’t have to worry about moving a camera around for all the different shots I would have been able to assemble this recipe in under 15 minutes. From there it’s as simple as transferring it to a spring form pan, or grease cake pan, and baking it. This olive oil cake recipe definitely is a little bigger than most but it’s because I like a thicker cake. Sorry, I’ve got a serious sweet tooth so no point in trying to hide it. I’m just telling you this, so you don’t put the batter into a shallow 9” cake pan and it ends up spilling over the sides.
The most difficult part about this Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe with Lemon and Almonds is having the patience not to eat it while it cools to room temperature. This part of baking cakes is often looked over but so very crucial to the success of your cake. When you pull a cake out of the oven it doesn’t magically just stop cooking. No, in fact it’s called carry over-cooking and this is the time and temperature you have to account for when cooking just about anything. I believe that if you cut open the cake as soon as you take it out of the oven, that it would be a little bit on the wet side because things have not yet completely come together. The resting part of the cake is so important, so be sure to give yourself enough time when making this.
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 get fancy and decorate it up with some whipped cream, lemon slices and fresh mint. When it comes to plating up any dish, you are only limited by your own creativity so be sure to have fun with this part, because before we eat with our mouth we eat with our eyes. Happy Baking everyone!
Video
Ricotta Olive Oil Cake Recipe with Lemon and Almonds
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 tbl baking powder
- 1/3 tsp soda
- ¾ salt
Instructions
- Preheat 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 and clumps are removed.
- Transfer the dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and whisk together just 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.
Nutrition
Elevate Your Every Day Cooking
Get Chef Billy’s go-to tips that transform “blah” into “brilliant” plus weekly newsletter!
I made this yesterday. My neighbor makes olive oil cake pretty often. Was curious with this recipe with the addition of almond flour. It came out very good. Cake was soft, flavorful and fragrant. I did make it with orange zest instead of lemon as that’s what I had handy. Cake baked up easily and the crust of it had a little crispiness to the texture. Was a big hit with the neighbors. Would make again either with lemon zest or orange zest. Thank you Chef!
Hi Billy! Love your videos and recipes and cooking lessons. I’ve just made the Riccata Olive Oil Cake. We have electric ovens, not my former gas one, which I prefer. I baked the cake at 350⁰ as you indicated, but my cake was verry brown 20 min early. I tested it and the knife came out with batter, so I tented it with foil and let it finish, tho tested at 45 min to be sure. I’d set timer for 55 min, and at that time the cake was done.
Is this an issue with electric ovens? Should I cook the cake at 325⁰ instead? It will be cooled completely!!
I’ll serve it tomorrow evening, so won’t add conf sugar and lemons till then. Wondering if I should put the cooled cake in an old-fashioned tupperware cake container with a sealed lid? Or wrap in foil to keep it moist?
Thanks for your thoughts.
It smells terrific!!
If I don’t have enough ricotta (10 oz instead of 12) can I substitute plain yogurt something else or just make it with a little less ricotta?
I think you could and it would be ok.
Can I leave out the almond flour if I do not have it and use all ap flour?
no
I served this for Easter dessert. What a hit! It’s easy to make & delicious! This recipe is a keeper! I did however, grease the springform pan (mine isn’t non-stick). I also found 1/3 t. of soda curious…all my teaspoons go from 1/4 to 1/2.
I made this cake this evening for Easter dinner dessert. I seriously have never eaten or made a dessert as decadent as this. This recipe is a masterpiece and I don’t say that lightly. My tongue did flips. It was so flavorful and yet subtle, so light and airy. The moistness made it melt in my mouth. This should win awards! I will always use this recipe as a new family heirloom. What a showstopper! My guests raved about it. Thank you for continuing to bless us with your God given gifts!
I made this cake and it was beyond delicious! Moist tasty easy to make a definite home run!
Do you have to grease the pan before adding the cake mixture?
no, because you use a springform pan which is already non-stick.
Can I use a 10″ springform?
yes, but you cooking time will likely need to decrease.
What a cake – I started out wanting to make cookies but I love baked goods with olive oil – amazing! I accidentally used 15 oz of ricotta – I guess the recipe technically calls for 12 oz. I also suggest adding in the juice of a lemon. Will make this again and again
So this is week 4 of me as a baker. I’ve been on a steep learning curve to fine tune my results. I couldn’t wait to try this recipe so this week I did. I swapped in cake flour for the all purpose flour but otherwise I followed the directions exactly. I’ve made some pretty fancy cakes before today but this one got RAVE reviews from my family. Best cake yet they tell me. I’m so thrilled. It is delicious and so easy. Will definitely make this again and again
Hi,
Do you think it would work out well if I substituted the ap flour for almond flour then the almond meal for coconut flour? I did a zucchini bread with a mix of both; it was incredible! and similarly I did less on the coconut flour only about 2 tbsp actually and it came out super moist and delicious and more fluffy than dense in regards to that type of bread…but I’m not sure if it might work here.
I’m sure you could, but the hydration amount would obviously change a bit.
I have both almond meal and almond flour (and, of course ap flour) in my pantry. Which of the almond (meal or flour) would you use to create the best texture for this cake? Thank you!
Both the meal and flour will work fine.
Thank you!
I cannot wait to make this….heading to the store soon! I am happy to see you using Bob’s Red Mill! I live in Portland, OR – lucky me!!
Have you visited his facility and store? Going there is like a school field trip for me!
Thanks for your easy to follow ways!
Yes, was there a few summer’s ago.
Can l use extra virgin olive oil or does it have to be olive oil?
you can use extra virgin if you’d like.
I am so glad you didn’t use metrics in your recipe♥️I had a recipe for ciambella but all the ones I had were incomplete by at least 2 or more ingredients. I love tjis one and made it in a ring pan which was perfect!🤗
Hi Billy,
I’ve made this cake several times and it is so delicious but it always seems a little sunken in the middle. I did test it before I took it out if the oven and it was done.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes!
Interesting. Sunken middle can mean over mixed or just needs a few extra minutes in the oven, or even something completely different. Glad you all like it!!
Can this cake be made in a square pan instead of a round pan!
I don’t see why not?!
I made your cake today, I halved the quantities as it’s just for my husband and I.
Half the quantities brought the ricotta cheese to 190 g and the olive oil to 68 g, I used 84 g of soft white flour (freshly milled) and 68 g of sugar, but I would reduce the sugar even more next time. I ground the almonds myself, skins and all, and used 2 eggs. Baked at 350F, ready after 37 minutes (checked with instant thermometer).
It’s really, really good, though a little oily… it rose beautifully in the oven, but settled back once cool (even thought I left it in the turned off oven to cool).
Overall, a good cake. I wonder what I can do to avoid the cake falling back. I like the texture although mine is a lot denser than the slice shown in your photo. This was my first time ever using olive oil in a cake.
Can this be made using only almond flour? Thank you
You probably could, just will most likely turn out a bit different as far as texture is concerned. Also may not rise as much.
I made this cake today and it was amazing. I used only ap flour (no almond since I’m not a fan of that flavor). My only downside comment is that the cake took well over an hour to bake. At 50 minutes it was still completely wet in the center. In fact it was an hour and 15 minuets before a cake tester came out clean. By then the top was overly brown. But no matter…it was still delicious and everyone loved it.
I thought it should’ gone into a larger pan but then later read your “thick cake “ comment and I agree with that. I have a good oven that’s fairly new, but now I’m wondering if it’s thermostat is off.
I adjusted the time a bit, but my oven runs kind of hot so that may have been a difference. In order to offset the browning try covering it with foil. Thanks for trying and I’m glad you enjoyed it!