Raspberry Ricotta Cake

I make cake. I like cake. I especially like simple cake. I saw this recipe in the Fast, Easy, Fresh section of the March issue of Bon Appétit and immediately dog-eared it. Apparently, I was not the only one. 

First time I made it, it was good but needed some brightness and more berries. (I don't think I've ever come across a recipe that I thought, "This could use less berries.") So, I made it again. I added some lemon zest and doubled the berries. 

This is really good cake. 


Raspberry Ricotta Cake
adapted from Bon Appétit, March 2015

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1  cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups ricotta (I used part-skim, but feel free to use whole milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 cups frozen raspberries, divided

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Spray a 9" diameter cake pan with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper and spray the paper.

In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, vanilla and lemon zest until smooth. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until blended. (It will be really thick at this point.) Fold in the melted butter until blended. 

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Scatter 1 1/2 cups of the berries over the batter, pressing some of them into the batter. Spread the rest of the batter evenly over the berries, then scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of berries over top. 

Bake 55-60 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool to room temperature before removing from the pan.

Do ahead: Cake can be stored for 2 days at room temperature tightly wrapped.