This is the BEST ricotta cake! It’s light and moist and it’s the best way to use up the last of your summer peaches. It’s a snack-sized cake (1 layer 8 servings) that’s sure to impress, but is actually SO easy to make and comes together in less than an hour.
What is a ricotta cake?
Ricotta cakes are a delicious cross between a cheesecake and a traditional sponge cake. They’re made with ricotta cheese instead of cream cheese like a traditional cheesecake that results in a light and moist cake. This raspberry peach ricotta cake incorporates fresh fruit, tart lemon, and toasty almonds and is the best way to use up the last of your summer peaches while they’re at their sweetest.
Ingredients
- Fruit. You can use any fruit you like in this cake. You could swap blackberries or blueberries or strawberries for the raspberries. You could do nectarines, plums, or apricots in place of the peaches. It’s very customizable to your preference. I like using fresh fruit in this cake, but frozen will do fine too. If you use frozen, don’t thaw the fruit before adding to the cake batter, or the color of the fruit will dye the cake batter – especially fruits like raspberries and blueberries.
- Ricotta. Grab the whole milk full fat ricotta for this cake, let’s not mess around with the “lite” version and end up with a cake that’s lacking in flavor.
- Vanilla & Almond Extracts. Vanilla makes an appearance in almost every bake, but we don’t see almond extract quite as much. It brings a lovely flavor that pairs so well with the fruit in this cake.
How to make this raspberry peach ricotta cake
Preheat your oven to 350 and line a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper. Spray with nonstick. If you don’t have a springform pan, a regular 9″ cake pan will work just fine. Just be sure to leave an overhang of parchment paper so that you can easily lift the cake out of the pan to serve.
In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and melted butter. Whisk until combined. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla extract, almond extract, and eggs and whisk to combine. Then, whisk in the ricotta.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a smaller mixing bowl, then add it to the wet ingredients and fold using a rubber spatula until just combined. Do not over mix. Add the diced peaches and raspberries and fold to combine being careful not to squish the raspberries. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
Decorate the top of the cake however you like. I sliced a peach very thin and laid it around the edges with each peach slice slightly overlapping the next. I also sprinkled on some sliced almonds. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached.
Serving the Raspberry Peach Ricotta Cake
Let the cake cool for 15-20 minutes before removing it from the pan. Then, serve the cake at room temperature or chilled. I like to serve mine with a dollop of whipped cream and a fresh peach slice. To make your own homemade whipped cream, simply add 1/2 C cold whipping cream to a bowl (it will whip faster if the bowl is also cold) along with a splash of vanilla extract and 3 TBSP powdered sugar. Use a whisk and whip the cream until it has soft peaks. This will take some muscle and about 5 minutes, but there’s nothing like fluffy homemade whipped cream.
Raspberry Peach Ricotta Cake
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 45 min
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 9″ Cake 1x
Description
Light and moist ricotta cake with fresh raspberries, peaches, and homemade whipped cream.
Ingredients
- 1 C (215 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 C (113 g) Salted Butter, melted
- Zest and Juice from 1 Lemon (2 TBSP fresh lemon juice)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
- 3 Lg Eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 C (385 g) Whole Milk Ricotta, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 C (200 g) All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 C (95 g) Fresh Raspberries
- 1 C (150 g) Diced Fresh Peaches + extra for topping
- 1/4 C Sliced Almonds for topping *Optional
- Powdered Sugar for dusting
Homemade Whipped Cream
- 1/2 C Whipping Cream
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 TBSP Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 and line a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper and nonstick spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the sugar and melted butter until combined.
- Add the lemon zest and juice, almond extract, vanilla extract, and eggs. Whisk to combine.
- Whisk in the ricotta.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet using a rubber spatula. Mix just until combined.
- Fold in the fresh fruit, being careful not to squish the raspberries.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer.
- Decorate the top however you like. I arranged thin slices of peach around the edges and sprinkled slices almonds on top.
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached.
- Let cake cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes, then remove and let cool completely. Serve chilled or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream and a fresh peach slice. Dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
Cake will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
If you loved the recipe for this Raspberry Peach Ricotta Cake, be sure to leave a star rating and review below, and tag @buuckfarmsbakery on Tiktok and Instagram. To save this recipe for later, click on the Pinterest icon on the recipe card above, or on any of the images throughout this post.
More cakes you’ll love –
- Caramel Apple Gooey Butter Cake
- Caramel Pretzel Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Classic Vanilla Birthday Cake
- Salted Caramel Banana Snack Cake
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