A wonderfully moist peach ricotta cake, that is full of fresh peaches and made without oil or butter. Lightly sweet, it’s perfect to enjoy any time of day.
I’ve shared a few delicious peach recipes recently, but this is the last one for a bit before I move on to some more varieties of the Summer’s bounty.
This fresh peach cake is wonderfully moist, but manages that without the need for butter or oil. Just eggs and ricotta, together with the usual suspects of flour and sugar. Into the lovely batter goes lots of fresh peach. Two of the peaches are cubed and folded into the batter, while the third is sliced and scattered on top. It’s all finished off with a sprinkling of brown sugar and salt and some sliced almonds.
This cake is lightly sweet, which makes it perfect to enjoy any time of day!
Ingredient Notes
Peaches: Firm, but ripe peaches are best here. I haven’t tried this with anything other than fresh peaches, so I don’t know if frozen or canned will work here. I left the peel on for mine (be sure to scrub well). You can certainly peel if you like.
Start with 3 large peaches or if your peaches are smaller, use 4 – 6.
Ricotta: Any variety of ricotta is fine here. I always use full-fat ricotta, so I haven’t tested this with “light”. Keep in mind there is no butter or oil in this cake, so the only fat (moisture) will come from the ricotta. As such, full-fat ricotta is recommended here.
Cook’s Notes
The perfect size springform pan for this cake is 9-inch. That will give you a cake with decent height. A 10-inch springform pan will work, though the cake will be thinner and may cook more quickly.
It can be tricky to know when this cake is cooked through. Be sure to test in the very centre of the cake and test in several spots, trying to avoid the peaches. When in doubt, leave it in the oven a few minutes longer, to be sure. The cake should be quite golden when done.
This cake keeps fairly well stored at room temperature or in the fridge. It is the kind of cake that will get more moist as it sits, due to the moisture from all the fruit.
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Get the Recipe: Peach Ricotta Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup ricotta cheese, full-fat recommended
- 3 large peaches, peeled or not, as you like
For topping:
- Flaked almonds
- Brown sugar
- Pinch salt
Garnish:
- Icing/Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (not fan assisted) with rack in the centre of the oven. Grease a 9 or 10-inch springform pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Set aside. *A 9-inch springform is the best option, if you have that size.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Prepare the peaches by peeling, if desired, then cutting 2 of the peaches into cubes and then cut the 3rd peach into slices. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs with the white sugar until light in colour and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the ricotta and mix in. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Using a spatula, gently fold in the 2 cubed peaches until combined well with the batter. Spoon the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Arrange the sliced peaches on the top of the batter. Scatter some flaked almonds on top, then sprinkle with a bit of brown sugar and and pinch of salt.
- Bake in preheated oven as follows: for a 9-inch springform pan, bake for 75-80 minutes. For a 10-inch springform, baking time will be shorter, about 60-65 minutes. In all cases, cake should have pulled away from the sides of the pan and the top should be evenly golden. You can test centre with a skewer to be sure it is cooked in the middle.
- Allow cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the outside and carefully remove the outside ring from the springform pan. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan base.
Notes
More peach recipes you might like …
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Hello, this looks delicious, can’t wait to try it! Would I be able to add blueberries as well?
Hi Adel and yes, you could certainly add blueberries here. Enjoy!
Looks delicious. Can I use sliced canned peaches?
Hi Jan, I haven’t tried it with canned peaches but I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t work.
Hi … this cake looks delicious but i really don’t like the 2 cups of sugar . Do you think I would be able to decrease the sugar to 3/4-1 cup and it would still turn out ok ? Thx 🦋
Hi Andrea, it is usually safe to reduce the sugar by 25% without too much issue (so 1 1/2 cups), but I suspect that reducing it further might have consequences on the structure of the cake, as well as the sweetness, of course.
This cake is fantastic, not overly sweet allowing the peaches to shine. It was a winner at dinner with friends last night. Since I tend to over bake cakes I decided to use a thermometer to test the internal temperature rather than using a toothpick, the article said 210 degrees, I pulled the cake at 213 and felt it was perfect. My oven s a bake convection combination, bake time was 73 minutes with a 9” springform pan.
So glad you enjoyed it, Cindy :) Thanks!
Came out so nice and fluffy and very pretty!
So glad to hear, Jola :) Thanks so much!
I am wanting to make this for company arriving in a week so wondering if I can freeze it?
Hi Terri, I have never tried to freeze it. I would be worried about the texture changing a bit, but I don’t know how significantly. Maybe someone can weigh in for you on this one.
This is a very nice and simple tasting cake. It took around 70 min to bake at 350F. Next time I would bake it at 325F since it got dark around the edges because my pan is quite dark. I used 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar because I let the cut up peaches sit in 1/4 cup brown sugar.
So glad you enjoyed it, Sunshine and yes, lowering the temperature will definitely help with that :) Thanks!
I just wanted to share my experience with this lovely cake! I believe it was done at the 60 minute mark but gave it a few extra minutes to be safe. I’ve learned over time that my oven requires less time when baking, so I think it is important that everyone keep that in mind since times have varied so greatly from 60 to 90 minutes in the reviews. I used three smaller peaches in the batter and I might add a little more next time. Also, I just tasted it again today and after sitting for 24 hours it is more moist and flavorful, so it is one of those cakes that get better with time! Overall it is really easy to make and so pretty to look at!
So glad you enjoyed it and thanks so much for sharing your review :)
The texture is dense yet light and fluffy. Wonderful. My springform pan was MIA so I used a 9″ cake pan and buttered it and I had no problems getting the cake out to serve. It only took an hour to cook. Lovely recipe – and so beautiful!
So glad you enjoyed it, Effie :) Thanks so much!
I made this recipe using gluten free flour (cup 4 cup brand) with peaches and mangos! I also did 1 tsp of baking powder. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly as described! Turned out amazing.
Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Good to know it works well with GF flour as well, Nicki :) Thanks so much!
I’m going to try gluten free flour next time and maybe Stevia too.
Let me know how it works out, Effie :)
This was wonderful! I used a 9′ springform and it was done at almost exactly 75 minutes. My peaches weren’t quite as flavorful as I’d like, so I added some ginger and a little cinnamon with the dry ingredients. Just an easy, delicious, super moist cake.
Also, I was really pleased that this worked with homemade (whole-milk) ricotta – I hadn’t tried baking with ricotta I’ve made myself before so wasn’t entirely sure it would turn out, but it worked perfectly. I have the bad habit of buying more milk than I can drink before it turns, so I’m going to be coming back to this recipe for a tasty way to use it up.
So glad to hear, Gina and a great use for your homemade ricotta! Thanks so much :)
Made this LOVED IT.
Added a few blueberries to the top just for added colour & a little lemon in the ricotta.
What a perfect light, not too sweet summer (or anytime :) ) dessert.
Thank you!
Cindy
Sounds lovely, Cindy! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks :)