Like Strawberry Wine...

Do I need to say anything more?  The name of this cake sounds delicious enough.  So summery and light – god, I wish I could have tasted it!  This month’s recipient of my Baking GALS treat has a birthday in a couple weeks so I thought it was only appropriate to send some sort of cake rather than cookies.  Everyone needs cake on their birthday…only problem is- no samples.  I hope it’s good!  Though from the little bit of batter I tried when I licked the beater (come on, who doesn’t lick the beaters?), it was pretty damn good.  I will definitely be making this for myself and my friends soon.

The best part about this cake is that it’s actually quite healthy – the recipe only uses a few tablespoons of butter and even incorporates whole wheat flour, which I try to sneak into most baked goods anyway.  The worst part of the whole thing is the amazing sounding cream cheese glaze.  I subbed this out for a traditional glaze (powdered sugar and lemon juice in this case) only because I was shipping it and who knows how long it takes to get to its destination.  When I make this again, I’m definitely trying that cream cheese glaze – that alone makes my mouth water…

Try this recipe, and tell me how it is, will ya?

Recipe adapted from www.ambitiouskitchen.com.

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup AP flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour (I use white whole wheat, it’s a little more tender)

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 cup skim milk (or whatever milk you have on hand)

¾ cup fat-free plain greek yogurt

1 pint fresh blackberries

Zest of 1 lemon

Glaze:

4 oz cream cheese, softened (recipe calls for reduced fat – use what you like)

½ tsp finely grated lemon zest

⅓ cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350º.  In a bowl, whisk both flours with baking powder and salt, set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla, beating well.  Add lemon zest.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together milk and lemon juice; add in yogurt and stir to combine.  Next, combine all wet ingredients together.  Slowly add flour with mixer on low.  Mix just until combined.

In a bowl, gently smash blackberries (I left some whole for more texture in the cake) into smaller pieces and mix with a teaspoon or two of flour.

Coat a 12-cup bundt pan with cooking spray.  Here, the recipe calls for layering of batter and blackberries, but I opted to just mix the blackberries into the batter and pour it all in and it worked out just fine.

Bake cake in lower half of oven until a toothpick/knife comes out clean.  About 40-50 min, depending on your oven.  Mine took about 44 min.  Cool in the pan for 20 minutes then invert the cake onto a rack to cool completely, rounded side up.

For topping – dust with powdered sugar or drizzle on glaze.  Serve once glaze is set!