The best Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake of your dreams, dressed with creamy layers of whipped mascarpone cheese, lemon curd, a lemon blueberry sauce and sprinkled with fresh blackberries. A Tiramisu like berry mascarpone cake but without coffee, simply Amazing!
Berry Mascarpone Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake
I present to you the first official cake recipe on CiaoFlorentina blog and the only cake recipe you need. It now goes by Florentina’s Cake and I’m so excited about this one which is big, because yours truly excited about cake just doesn’t happen.
Melt in your mouth layer cake, lemony and berrylicious, soft and rich with a custardy pudding like lemon curd layer.
Fuhgeddaboutit!
This Italian lemon berry mascarpone cake is also the most and greatest cake recipe ever stollen on the internet, and to that all I have to say is: I am flattered little ones!
It’s the perfect cake all year round, from summer garden parties to birthdays to the holiday table like Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. If you aren’t in the mood for creamy lemony luscious layers and summer berries you can just bake the cake and enjoy with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
Mascarpone Cake
Lemon Olive Oil Cake Ingredients
- Blueberry sauce – because lemon pairs amazingly with blueberries and blackberries I just had to make a quick stove top blueberry sauce that will ad tons of flavor and extra moisture.
- Mascarpone filling – basically I’m following the same principle for making authentic Tiramisu, whipped mascarpone cheese with sugar and egg yolks in which I fold stiff whipped cream. Out of this world!
- Lemon Curd – this homemade lemon custard is where the cake gets its bright and fresh lemon flavor. No extract, no limoncello, just pure zesty lemon.
- Olive oil – I prefer using a fruity cold pressed extra virgin olive oil for this but for a more neutral flavor use an extra light olive oil. In any case you won’t really be able to tell if the cake was made with butter or oil. You can’t really taste the olive oil itself, just a lovely aroma.
- Blackberries – fresh juicy blackberries are the perfect contrast to the cooked blueberry sauce and make a beautiful garnish as well.
Now close your eyes for a second and imagine taking a bite out of fluffy layers of lemon olive oil cake loaded with mascarpone, lemon curd and blueberry sauce. Then sprinkle blackberries all over the place, pretending you are the foodie Picasso or something.
Tell the truth! Can you even handle those luscious creamy layers?!
Italian Lemon Mascarpone Cake
It might seem like a very self involved recipe at first look, but it is really easy actually. There are a few simple steps you can do a day ahead:
- make the lemon curd.
- prepare the blueberry sauce.
- whip the mascarpone filling.
- bake your cake, cool it off then dress it nicely with all the goodies you prepared. EASY!
Garnishes – my lemon thyme was blooming so i just had to use the thyme blossoms for garnish; you can use pretty rosemary and even lavender flowers.
Storage – this cake must be refrigerated, ideally in a cake storage box if you have one. It taste better the second and third day so you can make it in advance.
Mascarpone Lemon Olive Oil Cake Variations
- replace the blueberries + blackberries with fresh strawberries, raspberries or cherries.
- cover with this blueberry glaze.
- use these balsamic figs as a sauce and decorate with fresh figs.
- make a chocolate glaze / frosting and sprinkle with coconut.
- garnish with candied oranges and rosemary blossoms.
- UPDATE 2019: you can now make this cake 100% Vegan, snatch the recipe from the VeggieSociety blog.
Italian Desserts
- Lemon ricotta cookies
- Blueberry ricotta muffins
- Cranberry bread
- Lemon blueberry bread
- Lemon muffins
- Sicilian ricotta cheesecake.
- Ricciarelli Almond Cookies.
Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake Recipe with Berries + Mascarpone
Ingredients
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- 5 eggs organic pasture raised
- 1.25 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- Zest from 1 lemon
- A pinch of sea salt
- 1 lb blackberries
- 1/4 cup edible flower blossoms
Blueberry Sauce
- 1/2 lb blueberries
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2-3 tbsp wild honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Mascarpone Cream
- 4 large egg yolks organic pasture raised
- 4 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 lb mascarpone cheese
- 1.5 cup whipped cream ( Stiff )
- zest from 1 lemon
Lemon curd
- 1/2 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 5 large egg yolks organic pasture raised
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 5 tbsp butter cut into 5 pieces.
Instructions
Make the Blueberry Sauce:
- Start by adding the blueberries with the lemon juice, vanilla and honey to a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for a couple of minutes, just until the blueberries burst. Remove from flame and adjust sweetness to your taste with more honey. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the Lemon Curd:
- To make the lemon curd, prepare a double boiler with 2 inches of water in the bottom pan. Bring to gentle simmer.
Add the egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice to the top pan. Whisk together over the steam until combined well. Keep whisking for a few minutes until the curd has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. About 5 to 10 minutes or so. Turn off the flame and whisk in the butter until melted. Transfer the curd to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cooled completely. It should be very thick at this point. - Preheat your oven to 325"F.
- Prepare a 10 inch spring form pan by lightly buttering it with a dab of butter. Place on a baking sheet.
Make the Olive Oil Cake:
- In the bowl of a mixer add the eggs, lemon zest and sugar and using the whisk attachment beat them together until well combined. A few minutes.
- Pour in the olive oil and continue whisking on medium low speed until all incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese and sea salt and whisk till combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and slowly mix or fold everything together until incorporated.
- Transfer the cake batter into the buttered spring form pan.
- Bake the olive oil cake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
- Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Make the Mascarpone Cheese Filling:
- Add the egg yolks and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Use a mixer with a whisk attachment to cream the sugars and egg yolks until fluffy and pale in color.
- Add the lemon zest and spoonfuls of the mascarpone cheese until incorporated.
- Using a spatula fold the whipped cream (must be stiff) into the whipped mascarpone cheese until combined. Make sure to not over mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. It should not be runny, it should be thick and creamy.
Assemble the Cake:
- Once cooled off, remove the cake from the spring form pan by releasing the sides first, then remove the bottom.
- Very carefully slice a thin layer off of the top to remove the top crust and expose the inside of the cake.
- Extra carefully slice the cake in half using a serrated knife.
- Place the bottom part on a plate or cake stand.
- Using a small spatula spread the chilled lemon curd on top of the olive oil cake. Spoon half of the mascarpone filling on top, or as much as you feel comfortable working with. If it seems like too much for you, simply save some for later use. Then top it with half of the blueberries from the blueberry sauce and some of the fresh blackberries. Reserve as much of the liquid from the blueberry sauce as possible for the next layer.
- Add the next olive oil cake layer and spoon all the remaining blueberries with the sauce on top. Add the remaining whipped mascarpone (or however much you feel comfortable working with) and with the back of a spoon or spatula rustically spread it over the top. Place the fresh blackberries all over the top, reserving some to decorate the sides of your olive oil cake.
- Garnish your lemon olive oil cake with edible flower blossoms and enjoy chilled.
Notes
- Make sure the whipped cream is Stiff not runny.
- If whipping your own cream, start with 1 cup of organic heavy whipping cream + 1 tbsp sugar. Whip with the whisk attachment until stiff, it should yield just about 2 cups of whipped cream.
Nutrition
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