Mom and a bunch of her coworkers went out to a retirement dinner for one of the teachers at her school. Barbara (yes, she and mom have the same name and both teach music!) had been teaching at the school for years. Since we live so close to the restaurant, my mom invited everybody back for coffee and dessert. She asked if I would mind baking a cake for the occasion. Not at all!
I then realized I had no idea what kind of cake to make. Chocolate? Cannoli?
The weather has been gorgeous lately and I wanted to embrace that summer feeling so I decided on something light and refreshing. I had some extra mascarpone cheese in the fridge I had to use up and knew I had some frozen berries in the freezer–Bingo!
The Lemon Cake with Mascarpone Cream and Berry Compote Filling was born!
Lemon Cake with Mascarpone Cream and Berry Compote Filling
Ingredients:
Lemon Cake:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 1/2 sticks melted unsalted butter
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
rind from 1 lemon
juice from 1 lemon
Mascarpone Cream:
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Berry Compote:
1 1/2 cups mixed frozen berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. corn starch
Buttercream Frosting
3 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (room temp.)
3 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions
First, make your Berry Compote. This is ridiculously easy. You can even make it a day before. Don’t worry if you end up having extra, it’s great on toast, in yogurt, or on ice cream!
Mix the berries and sugar together until the berries are no longer frozen. You can also use fresh berries if you want. Once the berries have thawed and the sugar is dissolved, add the corn starch.
Just make sure you add it into the pot and not all over it like I did.
Incorporate the corn starch into the berry mixture and let the whole thing simmer for a bit, stirring occasionally. You know the mixture is done when you do the “spoon” test. Run your finger down the back of your wooden spoon. You should have a nice clean line when it’s ready.
Remove the compote from heat and let cool.
Next, prepare your cake. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a mixer until fully incorporated.
Add your wet ingredients (eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, lemon rind, lemon juice) and beat on medium-high speed for about 3-4 min. until the mixture is thick and creamy.
Pour into three 9 inch cake pans and bake for about 15-20 min. or until the center is no longer wet.
Remove from oven and let cool.
While the cakes are baking, make your mascarpone cream filling. Mmmm mascarpone….
Add the mascarpone, heavy cream and powdered sugar to the mixer.
Whip until the mixture looks like whip cream! (I wish I could eat that whole bowl….)
While the cakes are cooling make your buttercream frosting. Beat the butter until a pale yellow and slowly add the powdered sugar, half a cup at a time (unless you want to be covered in a cloud of sugary goodness). Add the milk and vanilla, mix until incorporated and then set aside.
Once the cakes have finished cooling, even out the layers. (You don’t want an uneven cake!)
Save the shavings for cake pops or give them to your brother like I did. Ok, you’re allowed to have them too ::geesh::
Place one of the leveled cakes on a cake stand and take about a cup of the buttercream frosting and put it into a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a Ziploc bag. Cut a half-inch hole at the tip and pipe a border of frosting around the first layer. This will keep your mascarpone cream and compote from spilling out of the cake.
Once you’ve piped your border, fill with your mascarpone cream and then top with your berry compote.
Repeat with the remaining two cakes. Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream frosting and put in the fridge to chill for a bit.
Remove from the fridge once the crumb coat has hardened and finish frosting the cake. Garnish with fresh berries. Of course in our house we need to have a whole table setting, otherwise my mother would have a conniption.
Enjoy!
