I love quick recipes that do not need a lot of time and products, but bring a pleasing and surprising result. And if the spring is finally right around the corner, while my soul craves for fresh flavors, today is about such recipe – a Fragrant Lemon Bundt Cake with Berries. Simple, fast and very tasty. It’s time to drink tea!
This fluffy, summer-smelling lemon bundt cake with berries is a prime example of how new baking recipes are born! It all started when I decided to defrost and clean my refrigerator. I found some frozen berries and I decided to cook something with it right away. When frozen, the berries like any other fruit or vegetable, lose some of the natural aromas. Defrosted fruits will never carry the original summer taste. Now imagine how blunt products become when repeatedly frozen. Therefore, always avoid sending back to the freezer already thawed products.
Well, inspecting my fridge I found some lemons that were waiting for their turn to be eaten and a good reserve of cream cheese. Actually these ingredients never miss from my fridge!
It’s a simple recipe but the result, however, is dreamlike. From yesterday until today, only two slices of cake left and, to our shame (me and my husband), I must confess that I had no guest. It is so aromatic, moist in a pleasant way, sweet & sour and with a taste of summer, that we could not coexist for too long under the same roof. I counted the calories per serving just today. Probably if I did the counting yesterday, I would have held back a little and the cake life would have been longer.
So, meet a delicious and Fragrant Lemon Bundt Cake with Berries!
What is a bundt cake?
Actually, it is pretty simple – a bundt cake is a cake baked in a Bundt Pan! This pan has a distinctive ring shape with fluted sides and a hole in the center. This pan shape was inspired by European cake Gugelhupf.
Ingredients for Lemon Bundt Cake with Berries:
Lemons – are my latest discovery in the bakery. The fresh lemon flavor gives a generous drop of sunshine and refreshing taste in any cakes. And in combination with berries, lemons taste amazing. An important thing is to use freshly squeezed lemon juice and just grated lemon zest for its delicious flavor.
Berries can be used either fresh or frozen. Definitely, the most delicious cakes are obtained from fresh berries, but qualitative frozen fruits/berries will not ruin your cake for sure. I do not defrost frozen berries ahead time as they lose their shape and turn into a mash when folding into the batter. The sweet and sour taste of berries perfectly complements the taste of this bundt cake.
Cream cheese – in many recipes instead of cream cheese it is used the sour cream. I think in this recipe this replacement is welcomed too in case you didn’t find any cream cheese in your fridge. But from my experience cream cheese make the cake batter tenderer, lusher and extra moist. You will also need one pack of full-fat cream cheese for melting-in-your-mouth lemon cream cheese frosting.
Light vanilla notes will load your cake with more flavor.
And some more key ingredients without which neither classic cake is completed:
- cake flour
- eggs
- unsalted butter
- sugar
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
Please do not forget that all ingredients should be at room temperature, so you can easily and evenly mix the batter.
How to make Lemon Bundt Cake with Berries?
Now when we have all our ingredients ready to hand we can start. First in a bowl mix together 2 ½ cup cake flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, ½ tsp of baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
With a mixer (or hand blender set with a whisk) on medium speed in a separate bowl, beat together 8 oz of cream cheese and 8 oz of unsalted butter until completely incorporated. Then, continuing beating gradually add in 1 ½ cup of sugar and beat until fluffy. Now we can add zest from one lemon and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Whisking constantly add 5 eggs. Beat well at medium speed for 2-3 more minutes. Now lower the speed (or change electric mixer to hand whisk) and combine wet mixture with the flour mixture. When you see the flour well-incorporated, add juice from one lemon and mix it again. I like cake more lemony and I add juice from 1 ½ lemon. At the end fold in about 2 cups of berries. You will get a creamy and fluffy cake batter.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease generously the bundt cake pan with butter or nonstick spray. Transfer the batter in a pan and bake for about 60 minutes. If you see your bundt cake is getting deep golden color before the time elapsed, check it with a toothpick by inserting it in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean then it is time to remove the cake from the oven.
Leave it to cool on a cooling rack. Once it is cooled down remove it from the pan.
How to glaze Lemon Bundt Cake with Berries?
This Lemon Bund Cake with Berries does not require any complicated decorating. You can serve it naked. Anyway, some more tasty calories will make it even more delicious. Before icing cake, be sure you cool it completely.
Meanwhile, let’s prepare the icing. Again we will need a mixer. So beat together until fluffy, 5 oz of cream cheese and 2 oz unsalted butter. Then add 1 cup of icing sugar and zest from one lemon. Beat 2 more minutes and optional add juice from ½ lemon. Beat one more minute. Spread icing over the top of the cake and decorate with fresh berries, mint leaves or confetti. Infuse your favorite tea and serve with pleasure.
Tips:
- Using different berries, each time you will get a new taste and appearance of the cake. Optionally, instead of berries, you can add jam as a filling.
- Always sift the flour, so you assure that the cake will be fluffy and smooth.
- If you are using bundt pan an important rule that we should follow is to fill the pan with batter with no more than ¾.
Enjoy your creation!
Fragrant Lemon Bundt Cake with Berries
Equipment
- Bowl
- hand blender
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 8 oz unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 2 cups berries
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- lemon zest from one lemon
- lemon juice from 1 ½ lemon
For the glaze:
- 5 oz cream cheese
- 2 oz unsalted butter
- 1 cup icing sugar
- lemon zest from one lemon
- lemon juice from ½ lemon
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together 2 ½ cups cake flour, 1 tsp of baking powder, ½ tsp of baking soda, and a pinch of salt. Set aside.
- With a mixer on medium speed in a separate bowl, beat together 8 oz of cream cheese and 8 oz of unsalted butter until completely incorporated. Then, continuing beating gradually add in 1 ½ cup of sugar and beat until fluffy. Now we can add zest from one lemon and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Whisking constantly add 5 eggs. Beat well at medium speed for 2-3 more minutes.
- Now lower the speed and combine wet mixture with the flour mixture. When you see the flour well-incorporated, add juice from 1 ½ lemon and mix it again. At the end fold in about 2 cups of berries. You will get a creamy and fluffy cake batter.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease generously the bundt cake pan with butter or nonstick spray. Transfer the batter in a pan and bake for about 60 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and leave it to cool completely.
- Spread icing over the top of the cake and decorate with fresh berries, mint leaves or confetti.
- Infuse your favorite tea and serve with pleasure.
Glaze:
- Beat together until fluffy, 5 oz of cream cheese and 2 oz unsalted butter. Then add 1 cup of icing sugar and zest from one lemon. Beat 2 more minutes and optional add juice from ½ lemon. Beat one more minute.
