The best Italian lemon olive oil cake of your dreams, dressed festively with layers of whipped mascarpone cheese, lemon curd, a honey lemon blueberry sauce and finished with juicy, fresh blackberries. Like a Tiramisu, but even better!
This Italian lemon olive oil cake is Everything and a bucket of organic blackberries!
Today I bring to you the first official cake recipe on Ciao Florentina. I don’t even know where to really start, because I am so excited about this you guys. I mean, yours truly excited about cake, is just never happens.
But today I have the real deal: lemony and berrylicious with a little bit of ricotta cheese in the mix of course, and a custardy pudding like lemon curd layer.
But what goes really well with lemon ?
Blueberries and blackberries. Oh my!
So I made a super quick honey blueberry sauce on the stove top, that is going to make your cake not just extra delicious but also add tons and tons of moisture.
Let’s talk whipped mascarpone filling. Basically the same exact formula I follow when making my Tiramisu cheesecake.
Hello beautiful: Lemon Olive Oil Cake!
Just imagine taking a bite out of fluffy layers loaded with whipped mascarpone, lemon curd and blueberry sauce. Then sprinkle sweet blackberries all over the place, pretending you are the foodie Picasso or something.
Oh wait, that’s me, I’m the foodie Picasso. Okay, more about that another time, because it is a long story and it’s the weekend and ain’t nobody got time for that!
Let me take you straight inside of this naked cake!
TaDa !!! Tell the truth: Can you even handle it ?
Look at those creamy layers! Excuse me a few minutes while I go take a big bite out of that.
Tough It might seem like a very self involved recipe, it is really easy actually. There are a few simple steps that you can do in advance, like a day before you can:
- make the lemon curd
- make the blueberry sauce
- whip the mascarpone filling
Then the next day, just bake your cake, cool it off and dress it really nice with all the goodies, like it’s going places.
note: I used lemon thyme blossoms to garnish, you can use rosemary or even lavender.
If you aren’t in the mood for creamy lemony luscious layers and summer berries, you can still bake the cake on its own and serve it with just a sprinkling of powder sugar.
Variations on this Italian Lemon olive oil cake include:
- replace the blueberries and blackberries with fresh strawberries, raspberries or cherries
- cover with this blueberry glaze.
- go for these balsamic figs as a sauce and decorate with fresh figs
- finish with a chocolate glaze
- decorate with candied oranges and rosemary blossoms
- UPDATE 2019: you can now make it 100% Vegan, snatch the recipe on VeggieSociety.
Best Italian Lemon Olive Oil Cake Recipe with Berries
Ingredients
- 1 c extra virgin olive oil
- 1/3 c ricotta cheese
- 2 c all purpose flour
- 5 eggs organic pasture raised
- 1 1/4 c 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 c 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 c whipped cream ( Stiff )
- zest from 1 lemon
Lemon curd
- 1/2 c lemon juice freshly squeezed
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 5 large egg yolks organic pasture raised
- 1/2 c 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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