Berries and Cream Cake
Description
Summertime in a 9 x 13! Decorate any way you wish, but as NYT Cooking assures, the results will be stunning. I didn’t change a thing – enjoy!
Ingredients
Sour Cream Cake
1 1/2 c. (300 g) sugar AND 3 eggs, room temperature
1 T. lemon zest – one large lemon should do it
3/4 c. (170 g) butter, melted but warm, not hot
1 1/2 c. (360 g) sour cream, room temperature
1/4 c. (45 g) canola oil AND 1 T. vanilla
1 t. EACH almond extract AND kosher salt
1 T. baking powder AND 1 t. baking soda
2 1/2 c. (313 g) flour
Topping
1/2 c. (125 g) cream cheese, room temperature
2 T. sugar AND 2 t. vanilla
1 c. (240 g) cold heavy cream
~4 c. assorted berries, whole or sliced, for decorating
Instructions
For the cake – preheat the oven to 350, butter a 9 x 13 cake pan and line it with parchment so that there are 2 over hanging ‘handles’ along the long edges. Butter the parchment as well and prep your ingredients.
In a large bowl (I used my mixer with the whisk attachment), vigorously whisk together the sugar, eggs and lemon zest for a couple of minutes until the mix is pale and foamy. Scrape in the melted butter, sour cream, oil, vanilla, almond extract and salt and whisk again until smooth. Finally whisk in the baking powder and baking soda. Switch out the whisk to a sturdy spatula and fold in the flour until there are no traces – the batter will be a bit lumpy.
Pour all into your prepared pan and smooth the top then bake for about 35 minutes until the top is puffed and golden and an instant thermometer comes out of the center at 200 degrees. Leave the cake on a rack to cool completely before adding the topping and berries.
For the topping – get started once the cake is completely cool and make sure your berries are as dry as possible. In a large bowl (I again used my electric mixer with the whisk attachment), whisk together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. While continuing to whisk (or with the mixer on), slowly stream in the cold cream and keep whisking until soft peaks form. This will take a few minutes!
Use the parchment handles to lift the cake out onto a serving board or platter (or decorate it in the pan), and use a spatula to generously apply the frosting (I used all of it) and then decorate as you wish with your berries of choice. Super dreamy cake – keep in the fridge before serving and if there are any leftovers!
