Adam Liaw’s lemon and ricotta cake

Name: Adam Liaw’s lemon and ricotta cake
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Ingredients: 150g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing; 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting; 300g caster sugar; 375g smooth ricotta; 3 eggs; 60ml olive oil; 1 tsp vanilla extract; grated zest and juice of 1 lemon; 2 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp salt; icing sugar, for dusting; dollop cream, to serve

Adam Liaw

March 21, 2025

Serve this lovely lemon and ricotta cake with a dollop of cream.William Meppem

easyTime:1-2 hoursServes:4

This simple “mix and bake” cake is deliciously moist thanks to the combination of ricotta and olive oil, with the lemon adding a lovely lightness.

Ingredients

150g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
300g caster sugar
375g smooth ricotta
3 eggs
60ml olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
icing sugar, for dusting
dollop cream, to serve

Method

Step 1
Preheat oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional). Grease a 22cm-diameter, round, springform cake tin with butter and dust with a little flour, shaking out any excess.
Step 2
Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and cream on medium-high speed. Add the ricotta and beat at medium-high speed for 3 minutes until fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time on medium-low speed, then add the olive oil, vanilla and lemon juice and zest. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and fold the dry ingredients through the wet ingredients by hand. Pour into the cake tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Step 3
Cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust liberally with icing sugar and serve sliced with a good dollop of cream.

Adam’s tip: Dollop cream is a thickened single cream that’s thicker than ordinary thickened cream. Thickened cream is thickened with guar gum and carrageenan, dollop creams are often thickened with pectin and carrageenan.

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