Raspberry Citrus Morning Cake is creamy and filled with raspberries and citrus zest. The perfect companion for your morning coffee.
Is it just me or did June fly by? Poof! A whole month of summery goodness, gone. In New England, the growing season is relatively short, so every moment calls for a frantic, exciting sprint to the garden to see what’s popped out of the ground for dinner that night. Though June is my favorite summer month, I eagerly await July, when my raspberry thicket comes alive, dripping with tiny dark red berries and my children go wild. “Go pick Mamma some raspberries for cake” I call to them across the yard. They each take their little baskets, each basket is unique, just like they are. A while later, they come scurrying home, proud of the bounty they collected. Yet more often than not, there are only a handful of raspberries in the basket. The evidence is shmeared across their faces and stained on the tips of their fingers.
I know exactly where all the raspberries have gone.
Feeling much like the mother in Blueberries for Sal, raspberry edition, I go take my own basket and pick raspberries for Raspberry Citrus Morning Cake, an absolute favorite. Morning cake is made for those delicate moments where the sun is not quiet up and all you hear is the sound of the coffee pouring into your cup. I realize, if you are like me, these delicate moments come seldom, fast, and loose, but we can fantasize. The texture of this cake is closely related to a French clafoutis, with a creamy custard like texture that is firm enough to slice yet melts in your mouth. The bright acidity from the raspberries and the citrus zest cut through the creaminess. It’s light, intricate, dainty, wispy, take another sliver when no one’s looking type of cake that you will wonder how you have lived so long without it.
The Beauty in Simplicity
This is not a fancy cake. It’s a beautifully rustic cake that uses one bowl and minimal effort. You can artfully arrange the raspberries on the top if you are feeling cheffy, or sprinkle them on top, carefree. No matter how the raspberries fall, it will look perfect, trust me. I often serve this cake in the height of summer for an extra special weekend breakfast with my family. Cake for breakfast! Heavens to Betsy! It makes you feel a little rogue, living life dangerously…like I’m in college eating cold pizza for breakfast with leftover beer from an unclaimed Solo cup; but you can rest easy, this cake is light on the sugar and contains fruits and eggs….so we can pretend we are eating a full-balanced breakfast.
Raspberry Citrus Morning Cake can also be served in the afternoon as the centerpiece of your next afternoon tea party, or offer a slice (or two) when your friend stops in for an informal cup of coffee. You will find your friends (ahem….you know who are) will stop by more frequently when they know this cake is tucked away in your fridge.
Please note that this cake has two personalities. You can eat it at room temperature, about 1 hour after it has been baked and cooled on the counter. The texture is incredibly delicate. I really can’t put it into words, you need to try it yourself. Once fridged, Raspberry Citrus Morning Cake takes on more of a cheesecake style texture and taste. The raspberry flavor intensifies and the texture of the cake is firmer. Both ways are equally delicious; eat half the cake day one, eat the rest day two, eat it all in one sitting….remember folks, if you don’t slice a cake and eat it whole instead, it counts as one serving. The choice is yours.
Crash Course Baking School: Morning Cake
Fruit: You can swap raspberries for blueberries, or any berry you like.
Zest: You can also use lemon zest, or a combination of lemon and orange zest for this cake.
Flour alternatives: If you’re feeling kitchen frisky, you can sub half of the all purpose flour for almond flour. It will affect the texture and character of this cake, but it’s lovely nonetheless.
Flavorings and additives: If you add almond flour to the batter, consider a touch of almond extract.
Raspberry Citrus Morning Cake
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter melted and cooled
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ¼ rounded cup raw sugar
- 1 cup full fat ricotta cheese removed from fridge 20 minutes prior
- 1 cup full fat sour cream removed from fridge 20 minutes prior
- 2 teaspoons clementine or orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour see notes
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ cups fresh raspberries washed, thoroughly dried and torn in half, see note
- cinnamon and raw sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease an 8″ spring form pan and place it on top of a cookie sheet and set aside.
- Melt 6 tablespoons of butter and set aside to cool completely.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until fully incorporated.
- In a small bowl, rub the sugar together with the citrus zest with a fork until the sugar has taken on a slight orange hue and you can smell the zest. Then add in the ricotta cheese, sour cream and vanilla. Whisk until fully incorporated.
- Carefully add the melted, cooled butter and whisk to fully incorporate.
- Add the flour, almond flour, table salt, and baking powder and whisk to fully incorporate. Whisk this batter gently and do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepare spring form pan.
- Quickly (but don’t rush) scatter the torn raspberries over the batter.
- Put the cake (with cookie sheet) into the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and lightly sprinkle the top very lightly with raw sugar and a very light dusting of cinnamon.
- Remove the springform pan from the cookie sheet and place on a wire wrack to cool completely, about 40 minutes.
- Serve at room temperature, or store tightly wrapped with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.
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