This is a fabulous recipe for an uber-moist lemony sponge cake made with ricotta, almond flour and cornmeal with fresh raspberries mixed in.
It's topped with whipped cream and more fresh raspberries to make for the best light and delicious dessert!
How to make summer raspberry cake
Ingredients
- Oil. I use canola or avocado for baking (they are both neutral in flavor).
- Sugar. For this cake, I like granulated sugar best, but you could try it with brown sugar or honey.
- Eggs. You'll separate them - yolks and whites - and use the yolks to beat with the oil and sugar and the egg whites to whip into stiff peaks to help add volume to the cake.
- Ricotta. Adds moisture and richness to the cake. You can choose if you'd like to use part-skim or whole milk.
- Lemon. I use both the zest and juice for optimal flavor!
- Vanilla extract. Grab a bottle of pure. I always use a little extra in my baked goods!
- Almond flour. Or almond meal - they are the same thing.
- Cornmeal. You can use course - yellow or white will work.
- Baking powder. To make it rise, of course.
- Raspberries. Fresh or frozen will work - they are the star of the show either way!
- Cornstarch. Will get tossed with the raspberries so they don't bleed into the cake.
- Whipped cream. Make it from scratch using heavy whipping cream, granulated sugar and vanilla.
Equipment
- An oven for baking the cake.
- Parchment paper to cut into a 9-inch round.
- A 9-inch cake pan or 9-inch springform pan.
- A stand mixer with the paddle attachment or hand mixer with a bowl.
- Another 2 mixing bowls for the dry mixture and raspberry/cornstarch mixture.
- At least 1 spatula for folding and mixing.
- A wire rack to cool the cake. Or, set it on the stove top to cool.
- A knife to release the cake from the sides of the pan and to slice the cake.
- A serving spatula.
- Plates and forks for serving.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Next, prep the cake pan. Cut a piece of parchment paper in a 9-inch circle (to fit in the bottom of a round 9-inch cake pan).
- Line the bottom of an 9-inch springform or cake pan with the parchment paper.
- Coat the pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Mix together the wet ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the oil and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Next, add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating until smooth, creamy and fluffy.
- Turn the beater to low speed and add the ricotta, lemon zest and juice and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
- Now you'll mix together the dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt until combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the egg mixture, beating on low until incorporated.
- Next, whip the egg whites. Add them to the same mixing bowl used for the dry ingredients.
- Use the hand mixer to beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.
- Use the spatula to carefully fold the egg whites into the cake batter until just incorporated.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together ¾ of the raspberries with the cornstarch until the raspberries are coated; set aside the other ¼ of the raspberries.
- Carefully fold the cornstarch-coated raspberries into the cake batter, being careful not to deflate the whipped egg whites.
- Now, transfer the batter to the prepared springform or cake pan and smooth the top with the spatula.
- It's time to bake! Bake 40-50 minutes, until the top of the cake is no longer shiny and the cake is set.
- Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack and let cool at least an hour.
- Once it's cooked, run a butter knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake.
- If baked in a springform pan, release the bracket and lift off the pan sides.
- Use a flat spatula to transfer the cake to a cake stand. Slice and serve.
- If baked in a cake pan, simply cut the cake into wedges and use a flat spatula to serve slices from the cake pan.
- Garnish cake slices with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and the remaining fresh raspberries.
- Tip: Mash the remaining raspberries and spoon them on the cake.
- Serve! (Just a FYI - the summer raspberry cake is uber moist, so it will be kinda "sticky" - it's supposed to be that way!)
Recipe Substitutions & Alternations
- To make this gluten free: This cake is naturally gluten free, thanks to using almond flour and cornmeal as the base.
- To make this dairy free: You could try using a dairy free yogurt alternative instead of ricotta, although I haven't tested this. Also, skip the whipped cream or use dairy whipped cream.
- To make this vegan: You could try using a dairy free yogurt alternative instead of ricotta, although I haven't tested this.
- Also, skip the whipped cream or use dairy whipped cream.
- You could also try using an egg replacer or making flax "eggs", but I haven't tested this either.
- Instead of raspberries: Try it with blackberries, blueberries or strawberries.
- Instead of lemon: Try it with fresh orange zest and juice.
- Instead of whipped cream: Serve with vanilla bean ice cream or serve as-is.
Storage Instructions
- Store this summer raspberry cake covered, at room temperature, up to 24 hours.
- Or, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 2 days.
Other fabulous raspberry recipes:
- Spinach & Goat Cheese Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Chocolate Overnight Oats & Raspberry Chia Seed Pudding Parfaits
- Raspberry Mango Arborio Rice Pudding
- Italian Ricotta Cheesecake
Summer Raspberry Cake
A lemony sponge cake made with ricotta, almond flour and cornmeal with fresh raspberries and whipped cream.
- Prep Time: 25-30 mins
- Cook Time: 40-50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins-1 hr 20 mins
- Yield: Serves 8
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American, Italian
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- ⅓ cup oil
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, separated, divided
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- Zest and juice of 1 medium lemon (about ¼ cup)
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup almond flour
- ⅓ cup yellow or white cornmeal
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon coarse salt
- 12-ounce container raspberries (about 1 ½ cups), divided
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Whipped cream, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper in a 9-inch circle (to fit in the bottom of a round 9-inch cake pan). Line the bottom of an 9-inch springform or cake pan with the parchment paper. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the oil and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating until smooth, creamy and fluffy. Turn the beater to low speed and add the ricotta, lemon zest and juice and vanilla extract and beat until smooth.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the egg mixture, beating on low until incorporated.
- Add the egg whites to the same mixing bowl used for the dry ingredients. Use the hand mixer to beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Use the spatula to carefully fold the egg whites into the cake batter until just incorporated.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together ¾ of the raspberries with the cornstarch until the raspberries are coated; set aside the other ¼ of the raspberries. Carefully fold the cornstarch-coated raspberries into the cake batter, being careful not to deflate the whipped egg whites.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared springform or cake pan and smooth the top with the spatula. Sprinkle the top with the remaining raspberries.
- Bake 40-50 minutes, until the top of the cake is no longer shiny and the cake is set. Transfer the cake pan to a wire rack and let cool at least 15 minutes. Run a butter knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. If baked in a springform pan, release the bracket and lift off the pan sides. Use a flat spatula to transfer the cake to a cake stand. Slice and serve. If baked in a cake pan, simply cut the cake into wedges and use a flat spatula to serve slices from the cake pan.
- Garnish cake slices with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
Notes
Substitution Tip: Try this cake with blackberries, blueberries or strawberries.
Serving Tip: Try with vanilla bean ice cream instead of whipped cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛ of recipe
- Calories: 274
- Sugar: 19g
- Sodium: 196mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 81mg
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