Lemon-Berry Bundt Cake with Ricotta and Cornmeal

Kristin Donnelly's lemon-berry Bundt cake from Modern Potluck is another cake I've been hoarding for myself for years. My notes from the first time I made this read: "amazing" ... underlined three times.

I didn't love the way my photos of it turned out at the time. Early morning light tinted everything blue and I didn't have time to wait for more photogenic light, which is one of those "I blog but I have a real day job" dilemmas. I don't mind apologizing for bringing cake to work with one slice cut out, but bringing one-day-old cake because I needed to retake my photos seemed like a step too far... so months passed without posting about it.

In the past two months alone, I've made this lemon-berry Bundt cake four times, so I really ought to share the recipe with you, even if I still haven't gotten any good photos of it. [Can you tell that something has gone wrong with my camera lens?] The flavors in Kristen's cake are a dreamy pairing of almost opposites: tangy citrus and sweet berries, with a moist interior given added textural interest via the addition of cornmeal.

As cakes go, this one is really easy, there are only two things to really watch out for: grease & flour or butter spray your Bundt pan really well otherwise the cake will stick and make sure you've fully folded in the batter at the bottom of the mixing bowl. This is the kind of batter that appears fully mixed until you're almost done pouring it into the pan and you discover there's ⅓-1/2 a cup of slightly separated batter you need to carefully work in. The baking time is wide here, as it really depends on your oven and if you're using convection. I don't have a convection oven, and this cake takes about 70-72 minutes in my oven.

Recipe from Modern Potluck, with Apt2B's suggestion for doubling the (optional) glaze noted below (conversely, I loved this without any glaze. I also love it with the glaze. It's just really really delicious).

Lemon Berry Bundt Cake

Use blueberries and/or blackberries for a purple-hued glaze or raspberries for pretty pink glaze. Make sure to generously butter and flour the interior (or use Baking Spray) for easy release.

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: modern potluck

Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Cooling time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

Cake

• zest of 2-3 lemons
• scant 2 cups (400 grams) sugar
• 1 ¾ cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (147 grams) cornmeal
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 ½ cups (314 grams) ricotta
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice from 2-3 lemons
• 3 cups (360 grams^) late summer berries blackberries, blueberries, raspberries (fresh or frozen; if frozen, don't defrost)

Optional Glaze*

• ½ cup late summer berries
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar

Instructions

Make the cake:

• Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Generously butter and flour a Bundt pan or use a baking spray (butter spray containing flour). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set a rack on top of the lined sheet for cooling the cake.
• In the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, rub the lemon zest with the sugar until the sugar becomes moistened and adopts a yellow-ish hue. The air around should smell very lemon-y. [You can does this up to a week ahead, and store the lemon sugar in an airtight container for even better results.]
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk the flour together with the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. If using frozen berries, reserve 1 ½ tablespoons of this dry mix to toss the berries in to keep them from sinking.
• Add the softened butter to the lemon sugar, then attach the bowl to the mixer base and proceed to beat the lemon zest-sugar with the butter on medium-low speed to start, gradually shifting up to medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and base of the bowl.
• Add the ricotta and beat on medium-low speed until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and base of the bowl.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on medium-low speed until each is fully incorporated, scraping down the sides and bottom periodically. Add the lemon juice and mix again to combine. Scrape down the sides and base of the bowl.
• Add the dry ingredients in 3 discrete additions, beating at low speed each time until well combined. If using frozen berries, toss them with the reserved dry mix now, then very gently, fold in the berries, being certain to incorporate the batter at the bottom of the bowl. Scrape the batter into the prepared Bundt pan.
• Bake for 60-75 minutes, until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan, springs back when you touch it, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to the prepared rack and let cool for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack, remove from the pan, and let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the optional glaze:

• In a small saucepan, combine the berries with the water and cook over medium heat, using a spoon to press on the berries, until they' re broken down and have released lots of juice, about 5 minutes. Strain into a small bowl, pressing on the solids to release as much of the color as possible (it's okay if a few seeds make it through).
• Sift the confectioners' sugar unto a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the berry juice and mix until a smooth glaze forms (you may need a little more juice to make a smooth glaze). When the cake is cool, drizzle the glaze on top and let it drip down the sides.

Notes

^360grams is less than a typical freezer bag size. Don't add them all; save the rest for the glaze.

Double* the glaze for a really moist and berry-forward dessert.

Potluck Prep: The unglazed cake can be covered and kept at room temperature overnight. Glaze within a few hours of serving.