Lemon Raspberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake

I used my heart shaped bundt pan for the first time and I am so happy everything turned out nice.  

For Valentine's Day, I thought it would be a romantic treat for the whole family to have a heart shaped cake studded with red berries.  Frozen raspberries were perfect for this cake.  

Bundt cakes have a dense, tight crumb.  It is great with tea, coffee or a tall glass of milk.  The batter was very thick.  Fresh raspberries would not be able to stand up to the batter while mixing, so the frozen berries were perfect.  Even if the berries were all bashed up, it would still be lovely.  

I had my reservations about removing the cake from the pan.  Would it stick?  

Whew!  I gently ran butter knife around the cake and slowly coaxed it out.  Luckily, it all came out in one piece.  I used melted butter to grease the pan.  This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen.  I love her recipes, but often it is very high in butter and sugar.  I usually decrease the sugar and butter to our milder, lighter palate. 

Wow!  The icing on the cake really makes it look so pretty.  I only made half of the glaze.  I thought that it was sweet enough.  You can taste the slight tangy bite from the lemon glaze and tart raspberries.  

Lemon Raspberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Cake

2 1/2 cups (355 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (20 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1 cup (8 ounces or 225 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used 3/4 cup) 
1 3/4 cups (340 grams) granulated sugar (I cut down to 1 cup)
Zest of 1 lemon (used 1/2 tsp lemon extract instead)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and fill with milk to 3/4 cup)
3 cups (350 to 450 grams) mixed berries (I used 3 cups frozen raspberries)

Glaze (I halved the amount of glaze:  1 cup powdered sugar, juice of half lemon & 1.5 tsp butter)  
2 cups (240 grams) powdered or confections’ sugar 
Juice of 1 lemon (half gram)
1 tablespoon (15 grams) unsalted butter, very, very soft

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 10-cup Bundt non-stick pan with butter or a nonstick spray.  If using nonstick spray, dust the pan with flour to ensure no sticking.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk or sift 2 1/2 cups flour (save the additional 2 Tbsp flour for the berries at a later step), baking powder and salt together.   

In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest (or extract) until light and impossibly fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then, with the mixer on a low speed, add your eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in vanilla, briefly. 

Add 1/3 flour mixture to batter, beating until just combined, followed by half the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and remaining flour mixture. Scrape down from time to time and don’t mix any more than you need to.

Toss the berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. With a silicon spatula, gently fold the berries into the cake batter. The batter will be very thick and this will seem impossible without squishing the berries a little, but just do your best and remember that squished berries do indeed make for a pretty batter.  Spread cake batter — you might find it easier to plop it in the pan in large spoonfuls, because it’s so thick — in the prepared baking pan and spread the top smooth. 

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, rotating the cake 180 degrees after 30 (to make sure it browns evenly). The cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean of batter. 

Set cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, before inverting the cake onto a serving platter to cool the rest of the way. Cool completely. Once cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and butter until smooth and very, very thick. (If you’d like it thinner, add more juice, but I like the thick drippiness of it, seen above.) Spread carefully over top of cake, letting it trickle down the sides when and where it wishes. Serve at once or keep it covered at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.

- Adapted from Smitten Kitchen:  Triple Berry Summer Buttermilk Bundt

This cake did not last long! It was a little on the tart side due to the raspberries and lemon glaze.  The kiddies prefer things that are not too sweet and slightly tart.  If you prefer sweeter, use the full amount of sugar or use a blend of sweeter berries.  

Enjoy!

Pin It

Red Bean Puff Pastries

Happy Chinese New Year and Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!  Last weekend, I drove down to Vancouver to spend Chinese New Year with family.  It was such a wonderful trip!  Yes, I drove all by myself with the three kiddies.  It was about 5-6 hour trip.  We had great music, the weather was gorgeous and the road conditions were clear.

Red Bean Palmiers (middle) and Dumplings (right)

Yesterday, it was "Everyone's Birthday".  Day 7 of the Chinese New Year Celebrations.   Chinese New Year is a 15 day celebration, where traditions dictate certain days for different activities.  We had another feast.  

Red bean pastries:  braided strudels, palmiers, dumplings and twists.

For dessert, I was inspired by traditional Chinese style deep fried dumplings with a sweet filling.  At a large chain Asian grocery store, they were filled with coconut, sugar and peanuts.  My grandmother always made them filled with red bean paste. 

Instead of deep-frying dumpling dough, I decided to use store bought puff pastry dough filled with red bean paste.  It was so much fun to play around with puff pastry!  

At my local grocery store, you can find frozen puff pastry in the frozen pie crust section.  I bought the red bean paste at an Asian grocery store.  I have also made red bean paste by cooking some dried aduki beans, mashing it up and then sweeten to taste, much like this recipe.   

Don't have red bean paste on hand?  You can use cinnamon sugar (3 Tbsp sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon), your favourite jam, chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella), or anything your heart desires!  This is the beauty of puff pastry:  you can be as creative as you like with the filling of your choice!

Red Bean (Heart) Palmiers

Spread red bean paste in a thin layer on a square piece of puff pastry.  Don't worry about being exact.  I made 6"x 6" for tiny and cute little cookies. 

Roll both sides to the centre of the square.   Make sure both rolls are equal in size.  It's not perfect, but it's still fun! Slice each cookie in 1/4" thick slices with a sharp knife.  

In the spirit of Valentine's Day, I tried to make them heart shaped.  I pinched the bottom part together and made each "half" look more like a heart.  

They didn't really look like hearts, but that was OK.  They were so yummy! 

Red Bean Crossover Braided Strudels

Cut a rectangle of desired size. In the middle of the rectangle, spread or pipe a strip of red bean paste (or desired filling) down the length.  On both sides of the filling, make 1/4" slanted cuts cuts down.  Take each strip and cross over the filling, alternating sides like a braid.   I forgot to make measurements of the rectangles I cut, but the method is quite straightforward.  Brush with egg wash (optional) for golden colour and bake for about 10 minutes or until golden.   

Red Bean Puff Pastry Twists

Spread a thin layer of red bean paste on a rectangle sheet (I made 6" x 12").   Cut strips 1/4" to 1/2" apart. 

Twist each strip around to get the spiral effect and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake around 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.  

Red Bean Puff Pastry "Gok Jai" Dumplings

My grandmother used to make deep fried sweet chewy dumplings for Chinese New Year.  I remember how she used her wok to deep fry these pieces of nostalgia.  She is approaching 90 years young with macular degeneration (no central vision).  She doesn't cook anymore and I miss her feasts.  

Using puff pastry, I tried to make similar shaped dumplings.  They were the same size as a perogy.  No, it didn't taste the same, but still delicious.  I'll bet children will look back at Chinese New Year with the same nostalgia when I make this again.    

These were a hit!  My son ate at least 4 of these last night in one sitting!  He proclaimed that they were "SO GOOD!"

Red Bean Puff Pastries

1 400g package frozen puff pastry, thawed*
1 cup (approximate) red bean paste, chocolate hazelnut spread, cinnamon brown sugar mix (3 Tbsp sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon)
Egg wash, 1 egg yolk + 1 tsp water, optional

*The amounts of these ingredients are approximate.  Be as creative as you like with your choice of filling and just go with it!  

Preheat oven 400F.  Dust work surface with flour.  Roll thawed puff pastry thin, about 1/8" to 1/4" thickness, in a square or rectangle shape.  I was able to roll it 1/8" (2mm) thin.  The thinner you roll, the more pastries you can make.  

Spread red bean paste (or desired filling) thinly with a knife or spatula.  Cut and shape pastries as desired.  Brush with egg wash for golden colour.  

Bake in oven for 7-10 minutes until golden brown.  Cool on rack.  Store in airtight container. 

Leftover red bean paste can be easily frozen and re-used again.  

- Adapted from What About Second Breakfast?: Cinnamon Sugar Puff Pastry Twists  

Happy Chinese New Year!  

Wishing you all Good Health, Happiness and Prosperity in the Year of the Snake!  

I think these pastries almost look like a snake!  

Enjoy!

Pin It