The other night my girlfriend Elaine and I decided it was time for a girl’s night out. She took me to her favorite local restaurant and we enjoyed a fabulous meal together. I generally don’t order desert at restaurants. It’s not because I don’t love dessert, it’s just that restaurant portions are usually so big that by the time I’m finished with my meal, I’m just too darn full for desert.
If it had been up to me I probably would have gravitated to a chocolate dessert on the menu. My husband is more of a white cake and white frosting lover than I am. But this cake has converted me! I think I am more of a vanilla girl than I ever thought! Move over chocolate, this dessert will give all you chocoholics a real run for the money!!!
Elaine ordered a serving of the mixed berry Mascarpone cake. I feebly protested that I was much to full for dessert but after just one taste, I’m embarrassed to admit that I polished off probably more than my share of the cake. Sorry Elaine, but it was so stinking good!!!
I HAD to get the recipe. Cue our waitress. To my surprise she told us that the cake was purchased from Sysco, one of the largest restaurant food distributers in the country. That didn’t deter me, I came home and scoured the internet for a recipe that sounded similar. I scored when I found this fabulous recipe at cakescraps.wordpress.com. This cake is just as moist and wonderful as the cake we had in the restaurant. Don’t let the rather long list of ingredients scare you away from making this cake! It’s actually very, very easy to make and amazingly delicious!
There are four parts to this cake; the crumb topping, the cake, the filling, and the whipped cream topping. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I am going to break it down into manageable easy to follow steps so you can make this cake too. Trust me, it’s not hard to make this cake when you break it down into easy to follow steps.
Start by making the Crumb Topping. Zest and juice 2 lemons.
Mix together 1 cup flour, ⅔ cup sugar, half the lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice.
Add 6 tablespoons melted butter and stir with a fork until you have a crumbly mixture.
Add more lemon juice, a teaspoon at a time if the crumble seems too dry. Set aside.
This is the consistency you want.
Next it’s time to prepare the cake.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease two round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl sift together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1 tsp. baking powder. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together, 1 stick softened butter with 1 cup sugar.
TIP: Be sure to beat the butter and sugar together for a minimum of 2-3 minutes on high speed. You want the butter to get nice and fluffy. It will lighten in color slightly. Properly creaming the butter and sugar will result in a lighter, more tender cake.
Once butter and sugar are fluffy, add remaining lemon zest and remaining lemon juice. Mix on high to incorporate.
Add the 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one is added.
Reduce speed on mixer and add in half the dry ingredients along with half the sour cream.
Once well combined add the remaining dry ingredients and the remaining sour cream. Mix until well combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared caked pans.
Sprinkle the raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries evenly over the batter in both pans.
Reserve some sliced strawberries to use as garnish.
Divide the reserved crumb topping evenly between the two cake pans.
Use your hands to gently press the topping and berries down into the batter a little.
Bake cakes for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Remove cakes from the oven and transfer pans onto a cooling rack. Cool cakes completely in the pans.
Now let’s prepare the filling.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat together, the mascarpone cheese, half & half, vanilla and powdered sugar until well combined, smooth, and fluffy.
TIP: Because of the high fat content of mascarpone cheese it may separate if whipped using the whisk attachment on the mixer. For best results, make sure the mascarpone cheese is cold from the fridge and use the paddle attachment when mixing together the filling.
Now it’s finally time to assemble the cake. Place one cake round on a platter, crumb side up.
Don’t forget to peel off the parchment paper and discard it!
Top with all the filling. Spreading it out in an even layer out to the edges.
TIP: If your filling is runny pop it in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
Top with second cake layer, crumb side up.
Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar.
Cover cake loosly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until filling is firm, 2-4 hours.
When read to serve, prepare the whipped topping.
Add ½ cup heavy whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 4 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Whisk together until stiff peaks form. This only takes a couple minutes in a stand mixer.
To serve, tp each slice of cake with a generous dollop of freshly whipped cream.
Garnish each serving with a few reserved sliced strawberries. Make it extra decadent and add a drizzle of caramel sauce if desired.
See I told you that it’s not all that hard to make this cake. Yes it’s a little more involved than most cakes, but it is so worth the extra effort! Go ahead, give it a taste, I bet you will agree. I have to confess, hands down, this is by far my all time favorite cake. But I do love Carrot Cake too, and Lemon Coconut Cream Cupcakes are oh so delightful too…decisions, decisions…LOL.
Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake
Equipment
- (2) 9 inch round cake pans
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1⅔ cups sugar
- 2 lemons, zested & juiced
- 1 stick butter, at room temperature
- 6 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1½ cups sliced strawberries, reserve ½ for garnish
- 16 oz Mascarpone cheese
- ¼ cup half & half
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar, for topping
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 tbsp sugar
- caramel sauce, optional
Instructions
Make the Crumb Topping:
- Mix together 1 cup flour, ⅔ cup sugar, half the lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice.
- Add the 6 tablespoons melted butter and stir with a fork until you have a crumbly mixture. Add more lemon juice, a teaspoon at a time if crumble seems too dry. Set aside.
Prepare the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease two round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl sift together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 1 tsp. baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together, 1 stick softened butter with 1 cup sugar.
- Once butter and sugar are fluffy, add remaining lemon zest and remaining lemon juice. Mix on high to incorporate.
- Add the 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one is added.
- Reduce speed on mixer and add in half the dry ingredients along with half the sour cream.
- Once well combined add the remaining dry ingredients and the remaining sour cream. Mix until well combined.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared caked pans.
- Sprinkle the raspberries, blueberries and sliced strawberries evenly over the batter in both pans. Reserve some sliced strawberries to use as garnish.
- Divide the crumb topping evenly between the two cake pans and gently press topping and berries down into the batter.
- Bake cakes for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove cakes from oven and transfer pans onto a cooling rack. Cool cakes completely in the pans.
Prepare Filling:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to beat together, the mascarpone cheese, half & half, vanilla and sugar until well combined, smooth, and fluffy.
Assemble Cake:
- Place one cake round on a platter, crumb side up.
- Top with all the filling. Spreading it out in an even layer.
- Top with second cake layer, crumb side up.
- Dust top of cake with powdered sugar.
- Cover cake loosly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until filling is firm, 2-4 hours.
Prepare Whipped Topping:
- Add ½ cup heavy whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 4 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl. Whip together until stiff peaks form.
To Serve:
- Top each slice of cake with a generous dollop of freshly whipped cream. Garnish each serving with a few reserved sliced strawberries. Drizzle with carame sauce if desired.
- For and extra decadent treat, serve each slice of cake a la mode, with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream.
Did You Make This?
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