You don’t need frosting or glaze on this delightful Meyer lemon ricotta pound cake. Sweet and salty, soft and moist, it’s perfect with your coffee in the morning or your favourite tea in the afternoon.
Can you smell that? Spring is in the air! Well, at least a preview of spring.
We had a glorious weekend – sunshine and double-digit temperatures. I’m sure the wind chill and gloom will return but hey, for now, smiles all around. So how about we continue with our lemon journey?
Because lemons remind you of warm days and sunshine. And also because I got carried away and bought more Meyer lemons
than I know what to do with. Teehee.
So come and bake a Meyer lemon ricotta pound cake with me! It is delicious and I promise it will brighten up your day no matter the season.
No ingredient wasted
You might remember from some of my earlier posts that we have a slight bulk buying…situation (really, who can resist grabbing that bag of Meyer lemons when it’s cheaper than buying them by piece? No matter that I end up with 15 extra lemons. Lemons are great. I love lemons).
So we’ve learned to be creative in the use of ingredients and in finding ways to preserve them so they don’t go bad on us.
Related: 22 Delicious Ways to Use Leftover Buttermilk
Freezing lemon juice and lemon zest
Take lemons, for example. I’ve mentioned when I shared how to make homemade lemon curd that I freeze extra lemon juice and zest. It’s so convenient and that way I have a stash of Meyer lemons months after they’re gone from the stores.
What I do is measure 2 tablespoons of juice, put them in ice cube trays then once they’re frozen, transfer them to Ziploc bags
. The zest just goes straight into a smaller bag. And that’s it!
Of course fresh is always best but frozen is not bad at all. Like I said, nothing is wasted in the TUB household.
What to do with extra ricotta cheese
That container of ricotta cheese escaped our notice though. It was a few days past its “Best Before Date” (what does that mean anyway) but I’ve found that unless it smells funky (or funkier, in the case of cheese) or has mold in it, then it’s still good.
Note that this has no scientific basis at all; just nose logic. Like Gandalf (did you get that reference? Let’s be BFFs!).
Related: What to do with Leftover Ricotta Cheese
Meyer lemon ricotta pound cake
Anyway, Red didn’t want to make lasagna (which was what that ricotta cheese was for in the first place) so I had to find a way to use it. Enter this Meyer lemon ricotta pound cake.
I already have my go-to Classic Buttermilk Pound Cake Recipe which I am perfectly happy with but this new recipe needed just the right amount of cheese that I had on hand. So off we go.
Lemons vs. oranges
This recipe was originally made with oranges. It’s a recipe from one of my favourite chefs, Giada De Laurentiis (like this lovely Lemon Ricotta Muffins Recipe) and you can find the original recipe here.
But since, you know, I have a borderline obsession with lemons I made it a lemon cake and it turned out wonderfully!
1 pound cake, 2 pound cakes
The texture of this Meyer lemon ricotta pound cake is crumblier than my buttermilk pound cake; it’s also softer. The cake has a nice crunchy crust while the inside remained light and very moist.
It also has the sweetness of Meyer lemons and the saltiness of ricotta cheese. Sweet and salty – always a winner in my books!
Check out this video to see how easy it is!
So now I have two lovely pound cake recipes in my collection: one I can make when I have extra buttermilk, another when I have extra ricotta cheese. Awesome. Watch the video to see how simple it is to make.
Try it! It’s lovely with coffee, tea or on its own. No frosting is needed, it’s delicious.
Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cups ricotta cheese
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 pcs large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Meyer lemon zest see note 1
- 2 tbsp Meyer lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9×5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper and generously grease with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat ¾ cup butter, 1 ½ cups ricotta cheese and 1 ½ cups sugar on medium-high speed until incorporated, 2-3 minutes. The mixture will look like scrambled eggs at this point and that’s OK!
- Switch to low speed and add the eggs one at a time until combined. Then add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon lemon zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.
- Once your wet ingredients are incorporated, add your flour mixture a little a time until just combined. Do not over beat.
- Transfer your batter into your pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with minimal crumbs (see note 2).
- Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- You can substitute the same quantity of zest and juice from regular lemons.
- If you notice that your cake is getting too brown too fast, you can cover the top loosely with aluminum foil midway and continue baking.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Happy baking!
Did you make Meyer lemon ricotta pound cake? How’d you like it? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
And let’s get social! Find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Carola
I’m ready for Spring! I love Spring :). And this cake looks delicious! Lemons do remind me of warm days and sunshine. I love the creative way of using ingredients! I love Ricotta and I love lemons. So this is the best cake for me!
Jolina
Oh my, I am so done with winter and cannot wait for warmer weather! For now, lemon ricotta pound cake 🙂 Hope you like it Carola!
Suchi
Darn Jolina! Now all I will crave is this whole day… I wish u lived nearby. These kind of recipes are perfect! No waste.
Jolina
LOL that’s funny Suchi, that’s how I feel when I see YOUR posts lol! Let’s just do a bake exchange already haha!
Suchi Modi
Next time I visit Toronto, I will let you know!
Neely Moldovan
My husband LOVES ricotta! I bet he would want me to make this for him!
Jolina
Awesome! Do you guys usually use it for savoury dishes? This would be a nice sweet treat 🙂 Hope you guys like it!
lisa
My husband is a huge fan of lemon desserts! I love surprising him with something like this on special days and our anniversary is coming up!
Jolina
Nice! This would be a great breakfast/brunch option too 🙂 Have a most wonderful anniversary Lisa!
Gina
This looks great. How can you go wrong with the lemon, butter, and ricotta. I don’t often do dessert but might have to make this for an event and try a bite or two…
Vicki
Yum! I love lemon desserts. This looks delicious!
shannon
This so incredibly moist!! I never would have thought to add ricotta to pound cake.
jenna
This looks great!! I would love to try to recreate this recipe making it dairy and egg free, due to allergies 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Dominique
This cake is just beautiful!! I imagine myself eating this with some fresh berries and whipped cream. YUMMMMMMM
Lisa Sell
I’ve been looking for a decent lemon cake recipe. Thanks for finally providing it!
Elle
This looks the perfect spring time dessert!
JoAn
This looks soooo good! I love anything made with lemon. I’m pregnant and won’t be able to stop thinking about this until I have some. 🙂
Sophie
I would never have thought of adding Ricotta to a cake! Thank you for the unusual but delicious tip.
T.M. Brown
Hmmmm this sounds interesting. First, I love the ideas of saving everything. Freezing lemon juice, etc. Then, when it comes to the recipe, I love the idea of ricotta in the mix of ingredients. I love ricotta cheese, so this would add a nice flavor to the pound cake. Going to have to try.
Jolina
We freeze lime juice and zest too! I somehow always buy more than what I need lol. Hope you like the cake T.M.!
Dawn
Waste not, want not, right? Too bad Red didn’t make the lasagna, but you ended up with a wicked cake, so all is good 😉 I would have used the ricotta too! You know my love for lemons and sometimes I tend to go a little overboard in buying in bulk. I usually always buys lemons and limes in bulk and usually always use them up before they are not so great. Other stuff, not so much. Live and learn 🙂 A big hunk of this with coffee would be so awesome right now. That cake looks super moist and because there is no glaze, totally acceptable for breakfast 🙂
Jolina
I blame it on Costco, why do they always have so many awesome things? LOL! And yes, totally acceptable for breakfast this cake is 🙂