Week 6: Raspberry Yogurt Cake

We didn't plan it this way, but summer so far has been as busy as the school year, chock full of work, volunteer obligations, family gatherings, and camp preparations. I have plenty of washing and labeling and packing left to do, but I'm putting it all aside for a moment for a nice glass of iced tea and a slice of cake.

Not a fussy cake, mind you. Nothing heavy; no buttercream frosting. (I'm saving that for fall.) Just a humble, single-layer cake studded with summer fruit.

We are delighting in raspberries from the farm, so raspberry cake it was, but it could just as easily have been a strawberry or blueberry cake. This is a fine cake for a picnic or a beach outing -- or for just sitting around the kitchen table avoiding the laundry.

Raspberry Yogurt Cake
(adapted from Gourmet, by way of Smitten Kitchen.)

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1.5 Tbsp sugar, divided use
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 egg
1/2 cup plain, non-fat yogurt
1 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, lemon zest, and egg. With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the yogurt, until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the cake pan and smooth the top. Scatter the raspberries over the cake batter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is golden and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack and cool another 10 to 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving platter.