Strawberry Ricotta cake
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This gorgeous strawberry ricotta cake is simple to make, full of sweet strawberries, creamy ricotta, and hints of vanilla and lemon. It’s moist, juicy, and delish!
Published in May 2021/Updated in June 2026
Summer, when strawberries are at their peak – juicy, soft, and flavorful – this simple Italian strawberry cake is one of our favorite ricotta dessert recipes.
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The creamy, mildly sweet ricotta creates an amazing, dense texture that pairs beautifully with strawberries and vanilla. This fresh Italian cheese, with its delicate flavor, keeps the lovely crumbs moist for days.
I mean, just look at that beauty full of juicy Strawberries! All the things you want in the perfect summer cake, without a ton of sugar, food coloring, or artificial flavoring. Just fresh ingredients and cheerful strawberries.
And it’s not too sweet, not too heavy, not too wet, it’s just right and out-of-this-world delicious.
Lastly, it’s easy to make; it looks beautiful with a simple brush of jam on top, it tastes so good, and it makes a summer dessert that everyone will love!
List of the ingredients
- Strawberries
- Whole-milk ricotta
- All-purpose flour
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Lemon zest + vanilla
- Baking powder + pinch of salt
- Apricot jam (optional)
How to make this strawberry ricotta cake
(Note: this is a quick description, the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)
- Slice 3 or 4 strawberries for the top of the cake, and dice the others for the filling. Set aside.
- Whisk eggs and sugar together well until pale.
- Stir in the vegetable oil.
- Add the ricotta, lemon zest, and vanilla, and stir until smooth.
- Stir in the dry ingredients and mix just until combined (do not overmix).
- Pour half of the batter into a baking pan. I used this 9 x 3 inch deep.
- Scatter the diced strawberries, and top and level the rest of the batter.
- Arrange the sliced strawberries on top and bake for 40 minutes.
- To serve, brush the cake with warm jam or dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
RECIPE NOTES
Strawberry ricotta cake ingredients
Ricotta: Whole milk ricotta is best. Its fat and moisture content improve your cake’s texture. I used 1 cup/250 grams of ricotta (they don’t sell 15-oz containers here in the UK). But if you buy a large container of ricotta, check below for how to use up your leftovers!
Strawberries: The recipe is also great for using up your not-so-perfect or not-so-fresh strawberries. But if strawberries are out of season or too expensive for your tight budget, go for frozen ones; they work just fine.
Sugar: The recipe calls for only 1/2 cup, just a fraction of the amount used in regular cakes. But you can save yourself that extra sugar with such beautiful ingredients, and you won’t miss out on deliciousness!
Lemon zest + vanilla: their lovely flavors shine in this cake! You can use only zest or vanilla if that’s all you have, but don’t skip both.
Vegetable oil: I used expeller-pressed canola oil (rapeseed oil here in the UK).
Flour, eggs, baking powder, and a pinch of salt: as usual in cakes.
Jam (optional): I love brushing my fruit cakes with apricot jam or honey to add an extra touch of sweetness and a lovely shine. But powdered sugar works just as well as jam.
Baking tips
1. Use room-temperature ingredients to make a smoother and well-emulsified cake batter.
2. Do not overmix the batter. This can produce gluten, which creates a dense, rubbery cake.
3. Measuring the ingredients using a kitchen scale is always the best option. If you use cups, don’t scoop the flour into your measuring cup from the bag. Use a spoon to transfer the flour from the bag into the measuring cup, rather than leveling it off. I find this post helpful in explaining the spoon & level method.
4. Preheat the oven. The rising requires a stable oven temperature. And let me state the obvious: do not open the oven door for the first 25 minutes.
5. Gently tap the filled cake pan on the counter to release trapped air and avoid large holes in the crumb.
6. Use cake stripes (optional). To prevent the cake from developing brownish edges, especially when it requires a longer baking time.
Storage tips
This ricotta and strawberry cake stays moist and fresh for 4 days at room temperature when stored in an airtight container. However, I recommend refrigerating if the room temperature is too high. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month. To serve it, thaw it in the refrigerator or let it come to room temperature.
How to use leftover ricotta?
If you buy a large container of ricotta, I promise you won’t have leftover ricotta in the fridge. Check out more ricotta recipes below!
- Lemon ricotta pasta
- Crostini with ricotta
- One-pot tomato pasta with ricotta
- Pasta with zucchini
- Ricotta spaghetti
More ricotta dessert recipes?
- Raspberry ricotta cake
- Lemon ricotta muffins
- Almond ricotta cake
- Ricotta muffins
- Blueberry ricotta cake
- Ricotta cream
If you make this strawberry ricotta cake or have a question, let me know by leaving a comment. I would love to hear from you! x
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Strawberry Ricotta Cake
Ingredients
- 3 medium-sized eggs
- ½ cup (100 grams) sugar (caster or brown sugar)
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) oil (canola or vegetable oil)
- 1 cup (250 grams) whole-milk ricotta
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or essence)
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 ½ cup + 2 Tbsp (200 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 12 oz (350 grams) strawberries, top removed
- 2 tablespoons apricot jar or powdered sugar, to decorate (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry the strawberries; remove the tops. Cut 4 strawberries lengthwise into thick 3-slice pieces for the topping, and dice the others into 1.5 cm / 1" pieces for the filling. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F /180°C, place the shelf in the middle position, and grease and line a 23 cm / 9" cake pan with parchment paper (a loose-bottom cake pan is best).
- In a large bowl, stir sugar and eggs vigorously until well combined and pale. A hand or stand mixer would be g
- Stir in vegetable oil and mix well. Then add ricotta, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, and whisk or use a spatula to mix well until smooth.
- Mix flour, a pinch of salt, and the baking powder in a second bowl, then add these dry ingredients onto the liquid ingredients, stir until combined, and the flour is incorporated, but do not overmix.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared cake pan, smooth the surface, add the diced strawberries, then top evenly and level with the rest of the batter, and arrange the strawberry slices nicely on top, pushing them lightly into the batter.
- Bake for about 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven as soon as it's done.
- Let it rest on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes in the cake pan before removing from the pan. Brush it with warm jam while it's still warm, or dust it with powdered sugar before serving.
- Serve at room temperature (although we also like it cold in summer!). Enjoy!
can I replace the flour with almond flour?
Hi Meridith! I’m not sure, I’ve never tried it, unfortunately.
At 40 minutes, my cake ( used blueberries), was not nearly done. Just added another 15 minutes. I’ll have to review the recipe. Maybe I did something wrong. I thought I was pretty meticulous did weigh everything in grams except for to spoon the flour and level off. Maybe blueberries were too watery? Was I supposed to drain the ricotta first?
Hi Kim, sorry to hear that. I think the blueberries and ricotta were fine – but the ratio of flour to liquid seems to be off unfortunately.
Hope the cake turned out well, despite the long baking time. x
I made this today it is delicious, moist, and easy to make. Used a spring form pan worked like a dream.
That’s great to hear, Pamela! Thanks a lot for sharing your feedback. x
Thank you for the recipe for a really easy, yet impressive looking cake. Faced with rapidly deteriorating strawberries and a random tub of ricotta, this recipe jumped out of my search results. I switched the vegetable oil for olive oil and used orange zest (as no lemons to hand) and as an addition, one teaspoon of ground ginger to the batter. Worked well, cake enjoyed by family in one sitting, luckily I put aside a slice for my morning coffee time the following day. Greetings from Hungary.
I’m so pleased the whole family loved it, Bernard!
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your feedback. : )
Hi Katia
Greetings from Johannesburg!
It looked great and came out very light too. I used butter instead of oil as I prefer the taste.
I was looking for something like a gateau, so I chopped some of the strawberries into the dough, topped the rest of the strawberries as per your recipe and garnished with piped fresh cream.
(butter and fresh cream… yummy – next time I’ll be more health/calorie conscious).
It was delicious!
Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Karla
You’re so welcome, Karla! : )
I’m so pleased it turned out delicious, and thanks for sharing your lovely feedback.
Have a great weekend. x
How is this a “one bowl” recipe when the instructions clearly call for a SECOND bowl for the flour, salt and baking powder?
Yes, you have the option to use a second bowl to mix flour and baking powder, but you can also make the batter in 1 bowl if you wish, mixing all the ingredients there, it works just fine.
I will add a note to the recipe.
Cheers
Hi Katia , greetings from Collingwood, Ontario Canada. I wonder if I can use applesauce instead of oil. Thanks.
Ruth
Hello from London, Ruth!
Sorry, but I’ve never tested the recipe with applesauce, I’m not sure about the result.
Have a lovely weekend. x
This was easy to make and passed my husbands taste test. He was disappointed however that it was not cheesecake. I had repeatedly told him it was ricotta cheese CAKE but until he ate it, he did not get the emphasis🤣. My ricotta was homemade from the whey after making chèvre . The goat milk definitely had a different taste than one would get with cows milk ricotta. I used frozen raspberries because I had a very good season last summer and need to use them up. The ones that touched the edge of the pan burned some and created a lot of smoke. It did not affect the flavor of the cake but we had to run the fan the whole time so be sure to not let the fruit touch the sides of the pan. I would be inclined to fold them in the batter next time although the separate bite flavors were interesting with sweet chevre flavored cake and then tart raspberry.
Thank you, Sarah… I love your comment! You’ve used amazing ingredients, I wish I had fresh ricotta and raspberries from my garden!
I’m sure it turned out delicious, and I’m so glad your skeptical husband enjoyed it too ; )
Have a great week x
Hi Katia.
Love your site. Made this twice. The second time I was sure to let the ricotta come to room temp….was definitely better then the first time I made it. It’s such an easy recipe & I’ll be making it more often. I used frozen berries [ that’s all I had]. Will use fresh next time. Many thanks for your recipes. Nancy in New York
Hi Nancy, thanks so much for taking the time to share your lovely feedback!
I’m so glad to hear you love my site and this recipe. I remember when I took those pictures I was craving a slice of this cake, it was so moist and irresistible!
Hugs from London. x
This looks great! Would it work with olive oil instead of vegetable or canola oil?
Hi Stacey! Olive oil works too, its stronger flavor is usually mellowed out by the addition of vanilla and lemon zest (you might add a bit more of lemon zest just to make sure). It’s fine! x
I was wondering if coconut oil would throw the flavor? I try to bake with that or butter typically. Looks yummy and something to throw together quickly.
Thank from Ohio, USA
Hello Jen! I’ve never tested this recipe using these substitutions, but I think either butter or coconut oil should work. Please, keep me posted if you give it a go. : )
Greetings from London. x