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!