Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Strawberry Basil Compote – layers of lemon olive oil ricotta cake, strawberry basil compote and mascarpone frosting.
Inspiration
Last week when I was in New York for the Today Show, Ryan and I were able to join my dad and stepmom (who were also in town for work) at ABC Kitchen in West Village. My sister, who just moved away from New York, has raved about this restaurant for years now. I was so excited to finally go and see what the hype was all about.
ABC Kitchen is a farm-to-table, seasonal, American restaurant. The dishes all taste so fresh and flavorful. And while I loved everything we ordered, one dish in particular stood out to me: the housemade ricotta with strawberry compote and grilled bread. I couldn’t stop myself from going back for seconds and thirds. The flavors were both light and decadent. And there’s really nothing better than homemade ricotta. Have you tried it? It’s so creamy! There was also the most delicious strawberry compote with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of herbs. I literally took one bite, closed my eyes and immediately envisioned these flavors in a cake.
If you remember, you know I’m one to throw any kind of cheese into my cakes, like my Gingerbread Cake with Whipped Mascarpone Frosting and my Honey Fig Goat Cheese Cake. I know it may sound weird, but cheese (well, certain kinds) and cake are made for each other!
As I downed my second and third slices of the ricotta strawberry toast, I started coming up with my cake.
I’ve never done an olive oil cake, so that seemed like the perfect place to start.
Recipe Development
At this point, when I develop a new recipe, I usually start with one of my other basic cake recipes as a base. My white and yellow cakes are great bases for a cake that I want to be tender and fluffy. My vanilla bean cake is a great base for something I want to be more dense. For this cake, I knew I needed some of that density to hold together all the ricotta I wanted to add, so I worked off my vanilla bean cake.
In the vanilla bean cake layers, I have a cup of buttermilk and a cup of yogurt. I replaced both of those with ricotta cheese. Yup, there’s two full cups of ricotta cheese in the cake layers! I then replaced the butter with oil and added lemon zest.
The texture of this cake is incredible. It’s slightly more dense, but not quite like a pound cake, and it’s super moist. There’s definitely not a strong olive oil taste, just a hint.
Strawberry Basil Compote
For the compote, I used fresh strawberries, a bit of sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, a little cornstarch and some finely chopped fresh basil. There’s just a 1/2 teaspoon of basil. You don’t need a lot to make an impact. Plus, too much will make the compote taste bitter.
You’ll want to make this compote a day or two ahead of when you decide to assemble your cake. It needs to cool and sit in the refrigerator for a bit to thicken. But remember, even though it thickens a little, it’s still not solid enough to hold your cake layers on it’s own. Don’t use too much of the compote between the layers and always pipe a rim around the edge of each cake layer as you stack so it prevents the compote from spilling out. Save the remaining compote to serve on the site of each slice of cake.
Frosting
And finally, for the frosting, I used mascarpone so we could have a little more of the tart cheese flavor with the sweet compote. Instead of whipped mascarpone frosting like I’ve used in the past, this is more like a cream cheese frosting, but with mascarpone. It’s sweetened with some powdered sugar and given the slightest hint of lemon with some lemon extract.
As you dig into this cake, I hope you enjoy every single element of it on it’s own, as well as an ensemble of flavors. I think each element pairs so well with the others, but is equally decadent on it’s own.
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Enjoy!
I’m excited to make this! Just wondering why all purpose flour vs cake flour for this recipe? Thank you.
I used all purpose in this one because I wanted it to be a little denser than what cake flour can do. It holds up better with all that ricotta too.
Hi Courtney! It’s Tonya from Happy Nesters. I am so excited because I am making your olive oil ricotta cake right now and see that when making the frosting the directions say to add the whip cream, lemon extract and salt, yet your ingredients don’t include salt. How much should I add?
Thanks so much!
Just a pinch
I’ll let you know tomorrow. Cake layers are in the fridge with the compote!!
Hands down the BEST cake I’ve ever had, EVER. Let alone made. The only substitute I made was substituting gluten free flour for regular, in a 1 to 1 substitution, so that my two friends with celiac could also enjoy.
They didn’t believe it was gf, and honestly, if I hadn’t made it I wouldn’t have either. The texture was so good! Not sure if it was the olive oil, or ricotta – but you’re certainly onto something!
Will 100% be making again this summer for family – curious to see if using regular flour will make it even better, because I honestly don’t see room for improvement!
Thank you, Courtney!!!!
This is so wonderful to read! Thank you!
Would dried basil work for the compote? 🙂
Yes
Made this cake last week for my fathers birthday and it was an absolute hit. I just bought cake strips so I don’t have to level my cakes after baking. However, I was wondering if I can use these on your recipes and if I need to change the time or temperature for baking. Thanks!
I’m so glad you liked the cake! With the bake strips, I’ve noticed that you have to bake longer than my usual time. I’m not sure on the exact change for each cake, so just keep an eye on them.
Do you worry about draining the liquid off of the ricotta first?
After assembling cake does it need to be refrigerated or left out room temperature.
Thanks
You’ll want to refrigerate it.
Sounds divine! Can you freeze this? Would like to send to my daughter-in-law for her birthday!
This one doesn’t freeze great because the mascarpone frosting doesn’t set like regular buttercream.
Hi there! Should I plan on using light or extra virgin olive oil? Thanks!
Either will work.
This cake was excellent! My husband and I enjoyed making it and eating it. I did have some difficulty keeping the filling in. Despite piping a nice moat, the filling spilled out just above the first cake layer. I shoved strawberries into the side, and ended up putting the rest of the filling in a cute little jar to drizzle on top of a cake slice. Highly recommend this cake! Also, I ended up using normal olive oil – not EVOO and not extra light.
Ridiculously, absolutely, delicious!
Can I make this a 6”, 3 layer cake? If so, what do I change in the recipe? Baking time? You also mention in one of your steps that once the cake has cooled (10-15 mins) we can wrap it up and put it in the fridge. Do we have to do that after it cools? Or can we just assemble it right away (assuming the compote was already made a couple days prior) Thank you!
This recipe will convert to a 4 layer 6 inch cake. You don’t have to change anything in the recipe. It is best to let you cake freeze for at least an hour after it cools for the crumb coat. It can fall apart easily if its warm.
Once all the ingredients for the cake layers are mixed in, what is the consistency of the batter supposed to be? My batter was thick and the layers did not rise very much – one didn’t rise at all. Could the reason for that have been the baking powder?
Aside from those issues, the cake tasted amazing – definitely a new favorite of mine 🙂
Was your baking powder old? That could be why it didn’t rise. Or if it was overmixed.
Hi Courtney! The frosting measurement for the unsalted butter reads as 1 cup, but has 118 grams in parentheses. Which one is correct?
It should be 1 cup or 226 g. I will change it. Thank you!
Sounds yummy! If you were doing the compote as a drip on the outside would you leave the cornstarch out?
I just made the compote and used it as a filling on a simple egg-less vanilla cake. Yummy!
However when I delivered it to my friend all the layers slide through.
The jam was the culprit. Any tips?
I didnt use much of it and rimmed it with a vegan buttercream frosting.
It might have gotten too warm! You can always insert some straws next time to stabilize.
My friend made this cake and my daughter loved it. She wants it for her Birthday, so I made it for a dinner so I could get the techniques right. It was amazing. Loved it. Everyone did, My 14 year old daughter said this is the one she wants for her Birthday for sure.
Thank you so much! Love to hear it!