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Thursday, April 28, 2011

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.


35 comments:

  1. mmmmmmmm....that was the sound of me having a culinary orgasm :)

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  2. Hello
    I was wondering can this cake be made by hand without any use of mixer? please let me know, thanks :-)

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  3. hmm...well, a wire whisk would probably work - you'd need to really beat it though ! Do make sure your butter is really, really soft as well, will be easier to whisk that way. Good luck and let me know how it comes out !

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  4. I have made the cakes and they are baking right now. I didn't know they would be so pretty BEFORE they were even cooked. Thankyou for sharing your recipe. I feel like a kid in a candy shop waiting for them to finish. :)

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  5. oh, cool - I'm so glad !! let me know how they turn out !

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  6. Hi Karen,

    I was writing to my Sister this morning to wish her a Happy Birthday. When she told me she was going to ""The SHIP"" for her Birthday, I was writing to tell her about the Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake but forgot the name, and did a ''Google'' search and found your site!!!WOW.

    The first time I had this was in NH (Conway) at the Metropolitan Cafe, and there are not many places that actually serve it. I found it also at the ""Village Inn"" in Ogunquit. I wish I could purchase it, directly but having your recipe is a good start... so, Thanks!!

    Bill

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    1. I live in Ohio and I can purchase it easily at any of the restaurants that sell it. Thankfully because I'm not much of a baker and I love it!!

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    2. I live in Ohio and I buy this cake all the time at local restaurants. Thankfully because I'm not much of a baker and I love it!!

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  7. Oh cool, and welcome ! I know, I actually haven't seen the cake in a while, guess the restaurants haven't been ordering it as much..next time through Ogunquit I may need to stop at The Ship :). This is a great version of it though and very easy to make...enjoy !

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  8. We just had this cake at Pere Antoine's in the French Quarter in New Orleans. it was great!

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  9. Just had this last week at Louis Hanover Square in Horseheads, NY. Spectacular cake and a great little restaurant.

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  10. I am sorry i made your cake as you said to and it did not turn out like it was suppose to. I have high expectations for this cake as i eat it once a week at a local restaurant here.

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  11. I am sorry to hear that...is it that the recipe didn't work, or that it wasn't exactly the restaurant version ? If something didn't work then please let me know; if it's that it's not the same thing you got in a restaurant, there's not much I can do about that. I didn't get the recipe from a restaurant, this is just my take on the cake, and one that my family and friends seem to love. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you !

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  12. My colleague and I shared this cake at the Eagles Nest restaurant in Lakeview OR (in the Oregon "Outback") last month, and have been raving about it ever since. Thanks for sharing this recipe !!

    Kelly Paige, Salem, OR

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  13. We love this cake when dining out. It's a snowing day here in Michigan and I tried your recipe to avoid cabin fever. Just pulled them out of the oven and I am getting so excited to finish it. They look and smell great. Thanks for sharing. D. Sears

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  14. I had this same cake at a local diner in Santa Cruz, CA (where I live) and was crazy about it. Then they stopped serving it and I asked the waitress who made the cake. She said Sysco...when I googled it, I found your blog!! Yay! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for the recipe! But not for the extra ten pounds I'm going to gain. So much better to make it myself and eat it while it is fresh (sometimes it wasn't so fresh at the diner). I'm going to make it for my 18th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day!! Hope it's as good!! Will have to work out a little longer each day in order to indulge in this delicious treat! Cynthia N.

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  15. Can't wait to make this cake myself. It is one of my favorite cakes but is no longer served at our local diner in Santa Cruz, CA. My 18th wedding Anniversary is Valentine's day...a perfect time to bake this cake for the love of my life. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Cynthia N.

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  16. Did anyone have problems with the "crumb" topping. Mine was very soft, not crumbly at all. Thinking maybe the lemon juice is the problem here?

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  17. Quick question bc my friend is dying for this cake.I have a huge bag of organic mixed blackberries raraspberries and blueberries but they are frozen. Would this be ok to use? Tha k u!

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  18. P.s. Karen I saw your location as Boston MA...im getting married there this year!

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  19. so sorry I'm just getting back to this, I had a problem with my notifications ! The crumbs should come out like a streusel/coffee cake topping; it probably works best with real butter, stuff like that doesn't seem to work as well with margarine (at least for me !) You can also definitely omit the lemon juice if that's more to your taste (I just liked the extra lemon kick) And yes, this works perfectly with frozen berries - that's what I used the first time I made it., Hope it all worked out !

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  20. As the cake sits setting in my fridge, I was very happy with the look of it. The parchment paper was a life saver I think.

    I also had issues with the crumb topping. I followed it precisely and it was still batter-life. I wonder if I can blame the lemon size. For some reason, we buy big lemons which would produce more juice. I kept adding flour and sugar to the mix, and more butter, until I got the crumbs. It tasted good raw, we'll have to see baked. Karen, maybe your lemons were more lime sized? Looking forward to trying this!

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    1. Yeah, I'm thinking big lemons are causing issues. I'm going to revise this...thanks for the feedback !!

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  21. We shared this cake at a restaurant in Bennington, VT last week, then on the drive home from VT (to the Worcester, MA area) we found it again at a coffee shop in Pittsfield, MA! I just had to find the recipe and try it myself. Can't wait to make it with the now available fresh strawberries and blueberries. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  22. I just made this and instead of using melted butter in the crumb portion of the recipe, I recommend using cold butter cut up into small cubes and work it into the sugar/flour mixture with fingers.This is how I mix most crumb topping recipes. Then add the lemon zest/juice to it, mix it with a fork and it will be crumbly, easy to divide over the two pans.
    The finished product is in my fridge setting up as I type and we can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing, Karen!

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  23. I had this cake last week at Revelations cafe in Fairfield Iowa my hometown. It was sooo good, thank you for the recipe#

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  24. My local coffee shop has this cake and its to die for. the right balance of decadence that cuts with a lemon berry freshness... DROOOLLL

    I made this cake last night for my companies summer picnic today. Lets just say it was there one minute and then gone the next!! I was lucky to get a sliver to try it! everyone raved about it!! not to mention the presentation was so perfect too!

    I did tweak it a bit by incorporating what others had commented on and my judgment.

    For the crumbles: def use cold chopped butter. lemons these days at the store are huge, I only used half the lemon juice, and it was perfect.

    The cake: def DO NOT over mix the wet and dry or your cake will turn out a little dry. I used a mix of fresh and frozen berried, it was perfect. make sure you butter the pan very well or you will have issues with getting the cake out. I took a butter knife and loosened the edges when the cake had cooled for 30 mins. to get the cake out, flip it on to a plate and tap, I cooled them in the fridge like that.

    I will def be making this again!! thank you for sharing!

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  25. I have a piece of the restaurant version (sysco) next to me. On mine the frosting goes around the outside and has cake crumbs pushed into the frosting. I do need to try and make this cake.

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  26. Replies
    1. Hi there....that's very odd...
      no heat is applied to the filling so there's nothing that would make it curdle...perhaps the mascarpone or half and half were bad ?

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  27. but, the crumb rcp does not make CRUMBS... it's goo! ?? Someone pls answer. I'm in the middle of making this! :/

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    1. Hi Patti - I've made this many times and have never had the crumbs turn to goo - I'm guessing too much liquid was added ? If your lemons are super juicy then it might be too much (and remember you're only mixing in half) To fix it try mixing in more flour and sugar; start with 2 teaspoons flour and 1 of sugar, repeat until you're at the consistency you like. Good luck !!

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  28. My filling curdled as well. I put it in the mixer and I think it was beat too much. Stuck it in the fridge and I hope that helps. If not,it is still going in my cake!

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  29. Thanks for sharing this keeper!! I had the honor of making this yummy cake into a "Naked Wedding Cake" in June of 2017. The bride and groom were very happy, along with the bride's Mom and Dad. The only thing I did differently, was added vanilla bean in the frosting/filling( which I "schmeared" lightly on the sides). I added fresh berries on each of the four tiers. Absolutely delicious!!

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