At the bottom of each of my posts, just before the recipe, I offer to you what I was making one, two, and three years ago. Why do I do this? Partly because other blogs I like do it, partly because I want to offer you other seasonal recipes that you might not have seen when I originally wrote about them, partly as a reminder to myself of the things I have made. Truthfully, it’s kind of a pain in the neck. Do you care? Do you click back to those old recipes?
In my last post, as I was scrolling through my three years ago recipes, I came across this cake. It was no surprise to see it there – I make it every August and have for the past nine years. As soon as decent raspberries show up in the market, I make this cake, usually multiple times. Looking at the old sad photo from that three years ago post, I knew I had to write about it again, this time with a better photo.
This cake is so simple and it shows off the raspberries beautifully. I find raspberries to be a delicate berry, you don’t want to overwhelm them in either taste or texture. This cake is sturdy but not dry and it has a subtle and yet diffrent (from the Marsala) flavor that allows the berries to shine. I’ve made the delicious side cream with both crème fraîche and sour cream and I have to say, unless you have made your own crème fraîche, save yourself a few bucks and just use sour cream.
One Year Ago: Rice Noodles with Marinated Tofu and Shiitake Mushrooms
Two Years Ago: Grilled Potato Slices with Salt and Vinegar
Three Years Ago: Olive and Jarlsberg Sandwich
Raspberry Cake with Marsala
Bon Appétit
Makes one 10-inch cake
I have made this cake in both a 9-inch and a 10-inch springform pan. Both work fine. I usually bake with a superfine sugar but used a coarser one for this cake and really liked how the top got a little crunchy.
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup Marsala
¼ cup fresh orange juice
14 tablespoons (1 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
4 cups fresh raspberries, divided
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Butter 10-inch-diameter springform pan. Whisk first 5 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Combine Marsala and orange juice in small bowl. Beat 12 tablespoons butter and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and lemon peel. Beat in Marsala mixture in 2 additions alternately with flour mixture in 3 additions. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups raspberries.
Bake cake until top is gently set, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Dot top of cake with 2 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Continue baking until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Release pan sides; transfer cake to platter. Cool to room temperature.
Mix crème fraîche and 2 tablespoons sugar in small bowl. (Cake and crème fraîche mixture can be made 8 hours ahead. Let cake stand at room temperature. Cover and chill crème fraîche mixture.) Cut cake into wedges. Top each with dollop of crème fraîche and fresh raspberries and serve.