Blueberries and lemon? Ricotta cheese in a pound cake? Yes, please! Sweet and lemony, with a delicate crumb, this cake tastes like summer.
It’s the beginning of blueberry season over here; let the parade of baked goods begin!
I had a basket of blueberries giving me the eye the other morning, as well as some ricotta cheese in the fridge begging to be used up.
Hmmm. Blueberry muffins, maybe? Blueberry pancakes? Or pound cake?
A lemon blueberry pound cake won the toss this time, a pound cake made even more dense and silky rich with the substitution of ricotta for some of the butter and flour.
This lemon blueberry ricotta pound cake was declared a winner by all who tasted it. Enjoy!
Tips for Making this Cake
- Room temperature ingredients: You’ll have better success with this cake if the ingredients are at room temperature before baking, specifically the eggs, ricotta, and butter. To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
- Fresh baking powder: The leavening in this recipe comes from the eggs and the baking powder. Make sure your baking powder is fresh! Baking powder older than 6 months tends to go flat.
- Keep your berries from sinking: Toss the blueberries in a little flour before mixing them into the batter. This will help keep them from sinking.
- Use fresh or frozen blueberries: No need to defrost frozen blueberries if that is what you are using. Just make sure they are separated before tossing with flour.
How to Store and Freeze this Cake
This cake will keep covered on the counter for 3 to 4 days. It also freezes well: wrap in foil, then place in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to three months, and thaw on the counter before serving.
More ways to love blueberries and lemon!
Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Pound Cake Recipe
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 10 to 12
To quickly bring eggs to room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes.
Make sure your baking powder is fresh! Baking powder older than 6 months tends to go flat.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (250 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (8 ounces, 230 g) ricotta cheese, left to stand at room temperature for a few minutes to take the chill off
- 1 1/2 cups sugar (300 g)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cups (140 g) blueberries
Method
1 Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Prepare a 9×5-inch loaf pan, smearing the inside with butter.
2 Whisk the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2 Toss blueberries with flour: Rinse the blueberries and toss them with a little flour to lightly coat them (this will help keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake).
3 Mix wet ingredients and sugar for batter: Use an electric mixer (you can mix by hand but will get better results if you use an electric mixer) to beat together the butter, ricotta, and sugar, on high speed, for 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed for one minute after each addition.
Mix in the lemon zest and vanilla extract. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little curdled at this point. It isn’t curdled; it just looks that way.
4 Add dry ingredients, then blueberries: Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir in the dry ingredients in 3 or 4 additions, until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Stir in the blueberries.
5 Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing out the top with a rubber spatula. Place on a baking sheet on the middle oven rack of the oven. (This will help moderate the temperature at the bottom of the pan.)
6 Bake: Bake at 325°F (160°C) for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, or if you press on the center with your fingers and lift up, the cake surface gently bounces back.
After the first 40 minutes of baking you may want to put a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the pan to keep it from browning further.
7 Cool: Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Then run a dull knife around the edge of the cake to make sure it is separated from the pan.
Gently remove the cake from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack. Let cook completely before slicing.
