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This blueberry, lemon & ricotta olive oil cake is simple to whip together, bursting with citrus flavours and takes advantage of blueberry season for all my Southern Hemisphere friends! This cake is perfect served just as it is as the blueberries create the most rich and sweet jam throughout. 

Blueberry, Lemon & Ricotta Olive Oil Cake

I absolutely adore a simple cake that can work as both a breakfast cake with a side of coffee or a dessert cake with a side of ice cream. This is that cake. It uses minimal ingredients but does not skimp on flavour. It’s also a light and fluffy cake as it uses olive oil as opposed to butter. When the cake is baking away, the blueberries burst open and create the most lovely purple jam throughout. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, but it’s also extremely tasty! 

There are strong notes of citrus throughout from the use of both lemon juice and zest. To take the citrus flavour even further, I have rubbed the sugar and lemon zest together to infuse it with that lemony taste.

Olive Oil in a cake?

Yes! You read correctly. This cake uses olive oil making it extremely moist, fluffy and light. Olive oil based cakes also have a fruity flavour and tender crumb. Another bonus about baking with olive oil as opposed to butter is that you don’t need any fancy equipment to make this cake. There is no need for a stand mixer! All you need is a spatula and large bowl. And while it’s a simple cake to make, it is by no means simple tasting. It’s fancy and sophisticated enough to take to a dinner party and just as easy to dress down and serve with a cup of coffee for breakfast.

How to make this cake the best it can be

Pick the right olive oil – Olive oils come in all shapes and sizes from a more robust and heavy flavour to a more light and fruity taste. It really does come down to personal preference and while most cakes call for a light and fruity olive oil, I do like to use Rich Glen Frantoio Olive Oil as it has notes of green fruit and herbaceous apple and is of high quality. 

Infuse your sugar – to take that citrus flavour to the next level, it’s crucial to rub the lemon zest and sugar together to further infuse it with a lemon taste. You can do this by rubbing the sugar and zest together with your fingertips

Keep it simple – olive oil cakes are more dense and rich and do not need an icing. I like to dust my olive oil cakes with icing sugar and sprinkle some extra lemon zest on top!

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View more of my sweet and dessert recipes.

This recipe was sponsored by Rich Glen Olive Oil.