Raspberry Love

I do believe that raspberries are my favorite fruit. Soft little pillow of bright pink sweet-tartness that practically dissolve in your mouth. Very sexy. Even the word is sexy. A raspy berry. Growing up my mother grew raspberry bushes in our yard, and when she would send me out to pick some I would very rarely return with any. Warmed from the sun and freshly picked, it was so hard not to pop them directly into my mouth.

It was also very hard for me to get this box home from the farmer's market yesterday without eating them all on my T ride home.



I was so sad that my blueberry crumb bars were no more, and wanted to make another delicious dessert with these guys. But, I did not want use the 2 sticks of butter that went into the crumb bars. I was feeling the need to go a little lighter this time. I decided to make a classic French yogurt cake, but slightly more virtuous than the traditional. I used white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose, non-fat organic yogurt, and heart healthy olive oil instead of vegetable oil. And I used meyer lemons, which are a little less tart than regular lemons and worked well with the tart berries.

The result was a delicious and moist showcase for my sexy little berries. I baked the cake in a loaf pan, and the berries all sunk to the bottom as it baked. I expected that. I also expected the bottom of the cake to stick to the pan, which it did. So the finished product was a little messy, but we'll call it rustic.




Raspberry Yogurt Cake

adapted from Barefoot Contessa

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tsps baking powder

pinch of kosher salt

1 cup low fat or non-fat organic yogurt

1 cup of sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

zest of 1 - 2 meyer lemons

1/2 tsp good vanilla extract

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 pint fresh raspberries

• Preheat oven to 350º
• Butter a loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (I didn't do this but you probably should). Butter parchment and dust pan with flour
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
• In a large bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.  
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, whisking constantly until combined.
• Using a rubber spatula, fold in olive oil until just combined.  Carefully fold in raspberries
• Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until thin knife inserted in center comes out clean
• Cool for about 5 minutes in pan and then invert onto rack to cool completely.

Last night for dinner I grilled some of our striper and topped it with mango salsa house made at Ring Brothers Marketplace.

On the side I served a warm potato and sugar snap pea salad tossed with a lemon, mustard, and garlic vinaigrette.


Guess what dessert was...