Lemon~Raspberry Marble Cake

One of my favorite cakes to make with my mother, then, with my girls, was a marble cake.  I felt like it  brought out the artist in me, swirling the batters to make a perfect design and marriage of flavors.  It didn't need a fancy frosting, just a dusting of confectioners' sugar and a glass of milk...or cup of tea.

The concept of marble cakes (or as they might have been know, Harlequin cakes) showed up in the first part of the 19th century.  It's a mixture of light and dark batters that are dolloped in a baking pan, then, swirled together--usually it was vanilla and chocolate, but as I've come to know, nothing is written in stone.

I've used freeze-dried fruit before and this time, I used "Just Raspberries."  These 100% crunchy little fruits pack a lot of flavor and provided the raspberry marble to this cake.  For the lemon,  I used half of a lemon for zest and juice, and some Lemon Bits.   However, if you don't use the Lemon Bits, increase the zest and juice from the whole lemon.

Lemon~Raspberry Marble Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup Queen Guinevere Cake Flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 cup sour cream

Lemon:
juice and zest of one-half lemon
1/3 cup Lemon Bits

Raspberry:
1 - 2oz pkg. "Just Raspberries" finely grind in a food processor
1/4 tsp. Cran-Raspberry flavoring (optional)
2 T milk

Preheat oven to 400F-degrees.  Lightly butter and flour an 8-inch round (or square) baking pan.

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the vanilla extract,  dry ingredients and the sour cream and mix to combine.  Mix 1-minute more at medium speed.

Divide batter in half.  Stir in the lemon zest, juice and Bits to half of the batter and to the other half, stir in the Just Raspberries, flavoring and milk.  

Place dollops of the lemon in the cake pan (4 or 5).  Next, add dollops of raspberry batter in between.  Use a knife to swirl the two batters together carefully--you want a marble to show off both flavors!

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350F-degrees and continue baking for another 25 to 30 minutes.  A wooden skewer tested in the middle of the cake should come out cleanly.  Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes.  Remove from the pan and place on a serving plate to cool.  Before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar or make a simple glaze.

Aren't these hydrangeas beautiful with their touch of green!

Do you have memories of baking marble cakes?  I'd love for you to share because this is a big memory for me, both with my mother and impressing my daughters the first time we baked it together.  Enjoy!


 

Raspberry~Lemon Snack Cake

Inspiration just abounds when summer comes and all the beautiful fruit is available at the farmer's markets. 

I bought some raspberries, not necessarily knowing what I'd make with them until I got an email from King Arthur Flour with a recipe for "microwaveable" Lemon Curd!!  Oh yeah...you heard me.  Can you believe it?  I have to say I was a little skeptical too until I made some up last evening and then the light bulb went on what I'd make with the raspberries:-D

Lemon and raspberries are just a perfect combination and the curd in the batter, well, even I was surprised how wonderful it turned out!

Isn't it just scrumptious looking.  If you're a lemon-person, like myself (my mother and my sister, Barbara) then this is for you and it's so easy that you will never hesitate again to make up a batch.  It's great on scones or biscuits, use it as a filling for cupcakes or a lemon-poppy seed muffin, or sandwiched between meringue shells or shortbread cookies.  Here is the link for Microwaveable Lemon Curd.  I do suggest making it up several hours (or even the night before as I did) so it thickens properly.

Raspberry~Lemon Snack Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup + 3T granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup Lemon Curd (homemade or store bought)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 cup milk
3 to 4 cups fresh raspberries

Confectioners' sugar to dust the top

Preheat oven to 325F-degrees.  Brush a 9" x 13" baking pan (I use my springform pan) with melted butter and set aside.

Wash and pick over the fresh raspberries.  I like to dry them "stem-side" down on double paper toweling to make sure all water is removed.

In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar thoroughly.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as need.
Add the vanilla, lemon curd and sour cream and mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and then, alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.

Spread half of the batter into the bottom of the baking dish.  Arrange half of the raspberries (1 1/2  to 2 cups) on top.

Repeat, spreading the rest of the batter, gently over this layer and top with the remaining raspberries.

 Bake in preheated oven 40 to 45 minutes.  If the sides look like their darkening too fast, cut a sheet of aluminum foil in half and "tent" the sides.

The cake is done when a wooden skewer (or cake test) inserted in the center comes out cleanly and the cake is a golden brown.

Allow to cool in the pan about 1 hour before serving.  After about 30 minutes, I removed the "sides" of the pan so it would cool a little quicker (the kitchen smelled so good and I couldn't wait any longer to try a piece!)

Lastly, once cool, I dusted the top of the cake generously with confectioners' sugar before cutting it into squares.

What I like about this cake is that it turned out moist and yet held up to being picked up and eaten...hence the "Snack Cake" name.  Enjoy!