what’s better than raspberry and lemon to kick off summer, right? you’re probably thinking vacation, duh! okay, there’s nothing that can beat vacation, but what about a raspberry swirl lemon pound cake over memorial day weekend? you are combining vacation with the most summery flavors i know. now we’re talking.
i absolutely LOVE pound cake and it reminds me of my childhood every time i see it or eat one, two or three pieces. i grew up eating pound cake or “ponqué” as white cake. i don’t think there’s such a thing in venezuela. all cakes are pound cake and that’s why i’m crazy about them. i shall confess that pound cake is the only pastry i eat at starbucks …in case you’re wondering for some strange reason, haha.
speaking of which, this cake totally reminds me of the lemon pound cake from starbucks. yes, yes, yes, you read that right. this recipe has cream cheese, melted butter, real lemon zest and real raspberries. the difference between using softened butter vs. melted butter is huge. melted butter leads to a softer, moist and denser cake.
start by making the lemon sugar.
and follow with the easy raspberry swirl.
beat cream cheese until fluffy and creamy.
add melted butter, lemon sugar and eggs. your house should smell amazing by now!
alternate flour and milk. don’t over mix.
add cooled raspberry swirl to the cake.
and sprinkle with some sugar.
pour the remainder batter onto pan.
and here’s what the pound cake looks like after cooled and sprinkled with some powdered sugar.
i needed to taste this pound cake so i took a picture of my almost-gone cake piece to show you the flavorful raspberry swirl.
favorite raspberry swirl lemon pound cake
ingredients:
zest of two large lemons
2 and 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
One 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature {about 1 hour sitting on the kitchen counter}
2 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
6 large eggs, room temperature {about 1 hour sitting on the kitchen counter}
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature {about 1 hour sitting on the kitchen counter}
powdered sugar for garnish {optional}
raspberry swirl
1 and 1/2 cup raspberries {fresh or thawed if frozen}
2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
yields 1 standard pound {bundt} cake.
directions:
- in a large bowl mix sugar and lemon zest together with a fork. press fork against sugar and lemon zest to release the oils from the lemon zest. you want to do this until fragrant, about 3 minutes or so.
- make the raspberry swirl. in a saucepan over medium heat combine all ingredients with the exception of the 1 teaspoon of sugar and stir occasionally. softly mash the raspberries with a fork and cook until thickens, about 5 minutes. take off of burner and let it cool in the pan.
- preheat oven to 350F. butter a bundt cake pan. set aside.
- in a large bowl, sift flour and baking powder. add sea salt and mix well.
- in a bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese over medium-high speed {speed #6 in a kitchenaid} for 2 minutes until fluffy. stop mixer, add melted butter and sugar mixture and beat until fluffy and creamy over medium-high speed, about 1 and 1/2 minutes.
- reduce speed to medium {speed #5 in a kitchenaid} and add eggs one a at time mixing well after each addition. follow by vanilla extract.
- set speed to the lowest setting and alternate flour mixture with milk in three additions. make sure to start and finish with flour. do not over mix.
- pour half of the batter into prepared pan smoothing it out with a rubber spatula. make an indentation with the spatula and add raspberry mixture. sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of sugar. pour the rest of the batter and smooth top with rubber spatula.
- bake for 60 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.
- let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes on a cooling rack.
- take cake out of the pan and let it cool completely on the cooling rack. it can take up to one hour.
- sprinkle some powdered sugar if desired.
- store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days.
note: if cake browns too fast while baking, cover it with a piece of tin foil or parchment paper so the top doesn’t burn.
