Every year, I get annoyed with myself for not making the most of blackberry season, and then it’s gone before I’ve had a chance really to enjoy them. They’re such great berries to bake with, and here I’ve scattered them in a simple ricotta cake. It’s a quick, one-bowl bake with a perfectly squidgy crumb that’s bursting with fruit.
Ricotta, blackberry and lemon cake
Prep 10 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 8-10
170g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
2 large eggs
70g olive oil
125g ricotta
130g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
150g blackberries
To finish
125g ricotta
1 tbsp lemon juice
½ tbsp icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4, and grease and line a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and use your fingertips to rub together until fragrant. Add the eggs and oil, whisk until frothy, then mix in the ricotta. Finally, sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, and stir gently to combine.
Pour the batter into the lined tin, scatter the blackberries on top, and bake for 28-32 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool completely in its tin, then turn out and dust with icing sugar.
For the whipped ricotta, whisk all the ingredients in a bowl until smooth and creamy; alternatively, for a super-smooth result, blitz it in a food processor.
Serve slices of the cake with a dollop of the whipped ricotta.
