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.
Leah
I love anything lemon, and a perfect lemon cake like this sounds wonderful! A great treat coming into the spring! Yum!
Jolina
Ah spring. What a lovely thought 🙂 Thanks Leah!
Belle
Yum! That looks good! I am always on the lookout for a cake recipe. I’m going to have to try this!
Jolina
Hope you like it Belle!
Jessica Sheppard
Omg, lemon ricotta pound cake sounds amazing. I def love sweet and salty food, this sounds delish! Can’t wait to try this recipe…yummy!
Rachel
I love lemon and this recipe looks amazing.
Kim
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ricotta cheese…it probably makes this pound cake so moist and yummy!!
Jolina
It does! It provides a wonderful texture. And, of course, that distinct and lovely taste 🙂
Megan Campbell
This looks so good! I am saving this for later!
Dana
Yum! That sounds so good! I’ll have to try making my own lemon curd sometime. I never even thought to look up how.
Jolina
Thanks Dana! And yes, making lemon curd is super easy 🙂 Hope you like it!
Bonnie Marrow
We love lemon as well! This sounds great for a spring evening!
Alexandra
My husband adores anything lemon and the ricotta will put him over the moon. Already pinned this!
Jolina
Awesome hope you guys like it! And thanks for the pin 🙂
Alicia
This looks so good. I love a good pound cake, but have never had a lemon flavored one. I will have to give this recipe a try!
Jolina
I think you’ll like this one! Lemon and ricotta is a magic flavour combination 🙂
Val
That pound cake looks amazing! I tend to have a hard time finding Meyer lemons around here when I want them, I use them for one of my cheesecake recipes.
Cait Weingartner
Yum! There is nothing I like better with my tea, than a nice big slice of pound cake. This one looks amazing too. I bet the lemon and cheese combination is wonderful. I can’t wait to give it a try!
Robin
This pound cake will definitely brighten up my day. It looks so soft and moist.
Liz Mays
The texture of this pound cake sounds so nice and I’m definitely a fan of that flavor. I think this sounds like a winner. It’s great that you had a use for the cheese!
Jolina
Absolutely! Would be a shame for such a magical ingredient to go to waste 🙂
Annemarie LeBlanc
Looks like a winner in my book too. I love lemon cupcakes and a lemon pound cake would be even better. The addition of ricotta cheese in the recipe is interesting. Never thought of doing that until now. Thank you for the recipe.
Jolina
My pleasure! Hope you like the addition of ricotta!