Buttery Raspberry Lemon Cake

As evidenced by last week's pecan sticky bun post, I am on a bit of a baking spree! As soon as the last sticky rolls were gone and the final drops of caramel sauce cleaned (licked) from the pan, my brain was thinking ahead to the next treat that I could make. Hey, don't judge me - it's my birthday tomorrow! A girl's allowed to bake uncontrollably during her birthday month, right?? I landed on this buttery raspberry lemon cake soon after discovering it in the Cook Taste Savor cookbook I picked up at last month's Sunset Magazine event. It is light and fresh, with just the right amount of lemon flavor. I found it perfect for breakfast, or served as a dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

 

This is a unique cookbook as it organizes recipes by ingredient, a bit differently than most cookbooks. So for example if you are craving something with berries, flip to the berries section of the book and find recipes like this one, or the intriguing spareribs with blackberry sauce recipe. This cake is great for several reasons: 1) it's very fast and easy, with minimal tool cleanup 2) it's not too sweet 3) it's super moist, not even dry after several days stored on the counter 4) you can easily customize it to use blueberries or blackberries instead of raspberries, or make muffins instead of a sheet cake (just shorten the bake time and check more often for doneness). Go forth and conquer!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup lemon curd (find with jams at the grocery store; $2.99 at Trader Joe's)
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 3/4 cups raspberries (about 18 oz. – can substitute blueberries or blackberries)
Powdered sugar

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325° and butter a 9- by 13-in. baking pan. 
2. In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, salt, vanilla, yogurt, milk, and lemon curd until mostly blended.
3. Add flour, baking soda, and baking powder to bowl and beat until smooth. Spread half of batter in pan and scatter half of raspberries on top. Gently spread remaining batter over berries. Scatter remaining berries on top.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour; if cake begins to brown too quickly, tent with foil. Let cake cool about 1 hour, then dust lightly with powdered sugar.

I used a double-pack of raspberries from Costco for this recipe - the perfect amount. If you wash them, just make sure you let them dry as much as possible before adding to the batter.

 

Lemon curd was the only ingredient not already in my pantry. I found it by the jams at Albertson's, but afterwards I saw it for a better price at Trader Joe's above the freezer items. 

 

 Add some powdered sugar, and you're looking fancy! Excuse my somewhat messy application here. I'd love to have one of these powdered sugar dusters for prettier application!

 

 

Not pictured with: vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream. Delicious.