Lemon Ripple Crunch Cake

Lemon Ripple Crunch Cake

It has been so cold and wintery here that I was looking for a taste of Spring and thought Elinor Klivans cake might be just the thing.  This is the dessert I chose to take along to book club tonight, so my daughter and I spent some time baking after preschool today.  It is a moist, tasty cake with a nice lemony flavor, but the ripple part didn’t quite work out for some reason.  I followed the directions exactly, but the filling part of the cake that is supposed to ripple throughout completely sank to the bottom.  I don’t know what happened there. It’s a pretty cake dusted with powdered sugar too (which I remembered to do after I took the picture).

- Shell

Recipe:  Lemon Ripple Crunch Cake

(from Fearless Baking by Elinor Klivans)

Crumb Topping:

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. packed light brown sugar

2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

3 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces

Lemon Cake and Filling:

2 large egg yolks

one 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 c. fresh lemon juice

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 3/4 c. cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

2 c. granulated sugar

1 c. canola or corn oil

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. pure almond extract

1 c. sour cream

powdered sugar for dusting cake

Mix the topping by blending ingredients together with a fork, pastry blender, or your fingers.  Mix until crumbs form.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and place oven rack in middle.  Oil bottoms, sides, and center tube of a 9 1/2- 10″ tube pan.

Stir egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and 1 tsp. lemon zest until smooth in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl.  Set aside.

Put the eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until mixture looks fluffy, has thickened, and turned a cream color.  Reduce speed to low and add oil, vanilla, almond extract, and remaining lemon zest.  Mix until blended.  Mix in flour mixture just until incorporated.  Add the sour cream, mixing until it is blended and no white streaks remain.  Pour 2/3 of the batter into the tube pan.  Leaving about a 1/2″ plain edge, spoon the reserved sweetened condensed milk and lemon mixture over the batter.  Dipping a spoon about 1″ into the batter, run it once around the lemon mixture in the pan to swirl it lightly through the batter.  Pour the remaining batter into pan and spread evenly.

Bake 35 minutes.  Gently sprinkle crumb topping mixture over the top of the cake.  Bake an additional 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes.  Run a thin knife around the sides and center of the pan.  Turn cake out onto a wire rack.  Invert the cake so the crumb topping is on top.  Cool completely.  Dust with powdered sugar.

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