Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake

The cake we had at Easter was so spectacular, it deserves its own entry - so here it is !

We've had a version of this cake at various local restaurants...the restaurant version, I found later, is one made by Sysco, a supplier to the restaurant industry. Luckily, it turns out the cake is also pretty easy to make at home. Mark found a great version of it at a great blog called Let's Get Cooking . The recipe we used was here :

Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake

My one minor quibble - a recurring theme, this week - is that there was no recipe ingredient list. Mine is shown below, with a few minor tweaks. This is a great, great cake...and easy, I promise !

EDITED 6/14/2017 : wow, this is by far the most visited recipe on this blog - I'm so humbled !! Based on reader comments I've tweaked the crumble a little bit; some lemons are juicier than others, resulting in the crumble being a bit too wet to work with. Otherwise, carry on as written !! K

Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake

3 cups flour
1 and 2/3 cup sugar
Zest and juice of two lemons
6 tbsp of melted butter, plus one stick of butter at room temperature
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
2 cups mixed berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries…)
500g mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup half & half
4 - 6 tbsp powdered sugar, plus more for topping

Start by making the crumb topping. Combine one cup of the flour, 2/3 cup of the sugar, half the lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice to start., Stir in 6 tbsp of melted butter with a fork until crumbly. (If you feel the crumble is too dry, add a bit more lemon juice until it's the consistency you like) 

Move on to the cake portion. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Butter two 8″ cake pans (to make things even easier, you can fit a round of parchment paper into the pans as well…this is a pretty sticky cake ! I did it without, though…)

In a small bowl, sift together the remaining 2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp baking soda.

In mixer bowl, cream the 1 stick of softened butter and the remainder of the lemon zest and juice.  Add the remaining 1 cup sugar and mix well.  Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Mix in about half the dry ingredients, then half the sour cream, then the rest of the dry ingredients, then the last of the sour cream. Beat until well combined.

Divide batter between prepared cake pans. Sprinkle one cup of berries over the top of each cake pan. Divide the crumb topping mixture evenly between the two pans and press down gently. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes, or until cake tester (or toothpick) inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Let cake cool completely in pans.

When you’re ready to assemble, prepare your filling. Beat together the mascarpone cheese, half & half, and powdered sugar to taste. Place one cake layer on your serving plate, crumb side up, and spread all the filling on top. Top with second cake layer, crumb side up, and dust with powdered sugar.

Refrigerate the cake until the filling is firm, a few hours at least.  Serve cold or at room temperature. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.