Recipes

For me, summertime has truly started (yah!) I am really loving it. Nothing is better than trips to the beach, picnics in the park with new wonderful new friends, and even sometimes the occasional sunburn. Somehow I can never remember to put sunscreen on before I go running. I also love the abundance of delicious produce and that was the inspiration for this summertime cake. It starts with a basic lemon cake recipe and that gets jazzed up by four cups of berries, yes four. I used strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and cherries. Now technically I don’t think that cherries count as berries, but let’s go with it anyway. Three Berry and a Cherry Lemon Cake is too much of a mouthful for a title. Then it is all topped with scrumptious lemon glaze. A perfect cake for summer.

Four Berry Lemon Cake
Servings: 12
Serving Size: 1 slice
Nutritional Information: 267 calories, 7g of fat, 47.3g of carbohydrates, 1.8g of fiber, 5.3g of protein * 7 P+

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus 2 tbsp
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 4 cups berries (I used blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cherries

Lemon Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy using a mixer. Begin to add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add the lemon juice, zest, and vanilla extract and mix in.
4. Add about 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Then add the buttermilk and remaining flour and mix until just combined, being careful not to over mix it. Set aside.
5. Take your berries and toss them with 2 tbsp of flour. Then gently fold them into the batter – it will be very thick. Tossing the berries with flour before adding them helps them to stay suspended in the cake while it cooks so that everything doesn’t sink to the bottom.
6. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool completely before adding glaze.
7. To make the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and buttermilk in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the cake.

*Adapted from Cooking Light