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Gluten Free Lemon Ricotta Cake

This is the ultimate lemon cake! Layers of moist lemon ricotta cake, filled with whipped ricotta cream and lemon buttercream!
Prep Time4 hours
Cook Time35 minutes
Chilling time2 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free
Keyword: birthday, buttercream, cake, gluten free, layer cake, layers, lemon, lemon cake, lemon ricotta
Servings: 16 people
Calories: 500kcal
Author: Amelia Farber

Equipment

  • Three 9-inch round cake pans
  • Piping bags and tips
  • Cake scraper
  • Palette knife
  • Electric mixer
  • Three cake pan strips

Ingredients

For the cakes layers:

  • 4 large eggs plus one egg whites
  • 2 ½ Cups white sugar 596g
  • 1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp canola oil 300ml
  • 2 ¼ Cups ricotta 573g
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract 5ml
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice 30ml
  • 2 Tbsp lemon zest 9g
  • 3 tsp lemon extract 15ml
  • 2 Cups gluten free 1-1 flour mix (415g) with xanthan gum in it if your mix doesn't have xanthan gum, add 3/4 tsp now
  • 1 Cup almond meal/flour 67g
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 ½ tsp baking soda
  • ¾ tsp salt

For the lemon glaze:

  • 1/4 Cup lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp lemon extract
  • 3/4 Cup powdered sugar

For the ricotta filling:

  • 250 g ricotta
  • 300 ml double/heavy cream
  • ½ Tbsp powdered sugar
  • ¼ tsp vanilla

For the lemon buttercream:

  • 3 Cups salted butter room temperature
  • 5 Cups powdered sugar 132 per cupg
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon extract
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest
  • yellow food coloring optional

Instructions

For the cake layers:

  • First, preheat the oven to 350° and start soaking your cake pan strips in a large bowl of cool water. Then make the cake batter! In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil, ricotta, vanilla and lemon extracts, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. Add in the gluten free 1-1 flour mix, blanched almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and whisk until just-mixed. Add the yellow food coloring if using and mix to combine.
  • Squeeze the excess water from your cake pan strips then affix them to each of the three 9-inch round cake pans. Then grease the pans with butter or cooking spray and pour the cake batter evenly into the two pans. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely before turning out, then wash and dry the cake pans and carefully wrap each cake layer in two layers of plastic wrap and return the wrapped cakes to the cake pans, then freeze for at least two hours.

To make the fillings and frosting:

  • First, the frosting. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the room temp butter for 1-2 minutes until fluffier, then add 1 cup of the sifted powdered sugar, and the vanilla and lemon extracts, lemon juice, lemon zest, and yellow food coloring, and beat to combine. Then continue adding the remaining powdered sugar until the frosting is thick enough to frost with and the flavor is to your liking, then set aside.
  • Make the lemon glaze! Combine all of the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and stir until smooth, then set aside.
  • Make the whipped ricotta! Whip the heavy cream (or double cream in the UK) in a medium bowl until medium peaks form. Add in the ricotta, powdered sugar, and vanilla and whip to combine until stiff, then set aside.

Construct the cake:

  • Once the cake layers are frozen, carefully unwrap the plastic wrap, and prepare a cake decorating stand. Place one of the cake layers on a cake board on the cake decorating stand. Then frost the layer with a thin layer of the lemon buttercream, using a palette knife to smooth the frosting. Then scoop some of the buttercream into a piping bag and cut a 1/2 inch opening in the tip. Pipe a ring around the edge of the cake layer as a barrier and fill the circle with half of the whipped ricotta. Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon glaze on top of the whipped ricotta. Then place a second cake layer on top of this and repeat the layer and ring of buttercream, whipped ricotta cream, and lemon glaze. Then place the final layer on top.
  • Crumb coat the entire cake with more of the lemon buttercream, then freeze or chill the entire cake for 15 minutes to set the cake and the frosting. Remove the cake from the freezer and add a final layer of the lemon buttercream. Scoop the excess buttercream into a piping bag with a tip of your choice. Pipe buttercream around the top and bottom edges of the cake. Then freeze for 10 minutes to set the frosting.
  • Add any other decor desired like fresh flowers or lemon slices. Store in the fridge and then let it come to room temperature before serving. Store leftover cake in the fridge.