Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake

This vanilla cake recipe is the same as the vanilla cupcakes that I just posted. I've never found a vanilla cake recipe that I liked enough to make it again. I'm hoping this cake comes out as good as the cupcakes because they were not dry at all and were so good! I'm not making this full recipe today though - I'm just making the vanilla cake, but I wanted to post the full recipe because it sounds delicious! I love berries and mascarpone so this is definitely my kind of cake!

This vanilla cake recipe is for 3 8" round cake layers. You could also make it into 2 9" round layers or a 9x13" cake instead, which is what I made today. You just have to adjust the baking time.

The whipped mascarpone frosting sounds delicious, but unfortunately I don't have any mascarpone and it's snowing pretty heavily so I can't get to a store today. I'll be pairing my vanilla cake with this whipped frosting that I've made before and already have the ingredients for. It has cream cheese instead of mascarpone, but the general idea is the same. It's a light frosting that is so good paired with fresh fruit. Even though I'm making this in the winter, this recipe sounds perfect for spring or summer!

This is one of the easiest cakes to make. It doesn't have butter in it so you can make it last minute without waiting for butter to soften. The batter comes together so easily. I used my hand mixer for it, but you could even just use a whisk and spatula.

The bake time for my 9x13" cake was about 40-42 minutes. My cake had a big crack in it - I'm not sure why, but it will be covered with frosting anyway so it doesn't matter.

Update - I brought this to a big family celebration and everyone seemed to enjoy it, so I think I've finally found a vanilla cake recipe that I will keep making!

Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake

Recipe from “Life, Love and Sugar” Website

 

This Berry Mascarpone Layer Cake has layers of fluffy vanilla cake, fresh berry filling and mascarpone whipped cream frosting! It’s light, fruity and perfect for spring!

 

VANILLA CAKE:

2½ cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup water

 

BERRY FILLING:

1½ cups mixed berries (I used strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)

3 Tablespoons water

¾ cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

 

WHIPPED MASCARPONE FROSTING:

2½ cups heavy whipping cream, cold

1½ cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

16 ounces mascarpone cheese, chilled

 

 

CAKE LAYERS

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare three 8 inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper in the bottom. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit, so I strongly recommend the parchment paper in the bottom.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large mixer bowl and combine. Set aside.

Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.

Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 24-28 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Remove the cakes from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling. These cakes can have a tendency to stick to the pans a bit so jiggle them a bit to loosen from the sides of the pan before turning the cakes out to cool.

 

BERRY FILLING

To make the berry filling, add the berries and water to a food processor and puree until smooth. You should end up with about 2/3 cup puree.

Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Stir in the berry puree.

Cook over medium heat, stirring consistently until mixture thickens and comes to a boil, about 8-10 minutes.

Allow to boil for 1 minute, then remove from heat. Refrigerate and allow to cool completely.

 

FROSTING

Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until soft peaks form.

Add the mascarpone cheese to the whipped cream and whip until stiff peaks form. It will happen fairly quickly.

 

ASSEMBLY

To assemble the cake, use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the top of the cakes.

Place the first layer of cake on a serving plate or a cardboard cake round. Pipe a dam of frosting around the outside of the cake. I use Ateco tip 808 for the dam so that it’s tall.

Spread half of the berry filling evenly on top of the cake layer, inside the dam. It should fill the dam about half way full.

Add some additional mascarpone frosting to the top of the berry filling and spread into an even layer to fill in the remaining dam space.

Add the second layer of cake and repeat the filling layer with the remaining berry filling and additional mascarpone frosting.

Add the final layer of cake on top, then smooth out the frosting around the sides of the cake.

Frost the outside of the cake, then use an icing decorator (I use an Ateco Icing Smoother) to add a striped pattern to the sides.

Finish off the cake with some swirls of frosting and fresh berries.

Refrigerate cake until ready to serve. Cake is best for 2-3 days.

 

Yield: 12-14 Slices

Combine wet & dry ingredients separately

Mix together

Add water, mix again

Pour in greased & floured pan

Bake

Frost & enjoy!

Mascarpone Cream Filling

Several years ago I posted a recipe for a Maryann Cake with Mascarpone and Berries. It is one of my favorite desserts. I am re-posting the recipe just for the Mascarpone Cream Filling because it can be used with other types of cake - pound cake, shortcake, with fruit and no cake, or even just eaten by the spoonful - it's that delicious! It tastes so good with summer fruit like berries and would even be good with cut up peaches. I absolutely love mascarpone (even just plain) so this cream filling always hits the spot for me. 

I used my hand mixer with the wire whisk attachment to whip the heavy cream, and used a mini spatula to mix everything else together. I just bought new spatulas and I love them - they are Tovolo Flex-Core All Silicone Spatulas and Spoonulas. I found these while looking for a jar spatula after my OXO one disappeared, but I didn't like how the new OXO ones are made. I love that these spatulas are all one piece and are a dark color (I got them in blue) so they won't get stained like some of my white ones have. I ended up buying all of them except for the deep spoon, which I'll probably get as well. I'll mostly be using these for baking, but they can be used for cooking too and will be perfect for using in my Le Creuset enameled cast iron pieces.

Mascarpone Cream Filling

Recipe courtesy Williams-Sonoma

Mascarpone is a soft fresh Italian cheese made from cream, with a texture reminiscent of sour cream. Delicate in flavor, this rich cheese pairs deliciously with fresh fruit.

FRUIT TOPPING:
2 cups mixed berries, such as blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

FILLING:
½ cup chilled heavy cream, beaten to soft peaks

6 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)

Prepare the fruit topping: In a nonreactive bowl, combine the berries and 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar and stir until well blended. Set aside.

Beat the heavy cream to soft peaks.

In a small bowl, using a rubber spatula, gently combine the mascarpone, sour cream, vanilla and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Fold in the whipped cream.

Serve the mascarpone mixture on top of pound cake or short cake. Arrange the berries on top of the mascarpone mixture.

Serves 12 to 16.

Whipped Heavy Cream

Finished Mascarpone Filling

Fruit Topping

On top of pound cake

Triple Berry Pie

I love dessert and sweets, and pie is one of my favorites. Cherry pie is my absolute favorite, but anything with berries is a close second. We went to visit my father-in-law for Father's Day weekend and I had a bunch of berries in the refrigerator that I didn't want to take with us, but that would have definitely gone bad sitting until we got back home. I decided to freeze them for smoothies, but later thought I should make a pie out of them. I've only made a berry pie once and I remember it being a bit runny, so I searched online for a new recipe that specifically uses frozen berries and came across this one that looked promising. In this recipe you cook the berries down and then add cornstarch to thicken the juice. The recipe calls for raspberries, blueberries and blackberries but I used strawberries in place of the blackberries. You can use any combination of berries you like most. I'm not very good at making pie crust, so I bought a Pillsbury one and made the pie yesterday.

I used my Le Creuset 3.5-qt. Round Wide Dutch Oven to make the filling and it was the perfect size to fit everything. I tasted the filling once it was ready and it was delicious! I think the store-bought pie crust made this pie not live up to its full potential, so next time I will have to just try a homemade one. It wasn't bad at all, but homemade crust just tastes so much better. I think this berry filling would also taste great with a cobbler topping. Remember to bake your pie on top of a large cookie sheet in case the filling spills over a bit! Overall this was a very easy pie to make and tasted great - it's a perfect summer dessert!

Triple Berry Pie

Recipe courtesy “Tastes Better from Scratch” Blog

 

You just can't beat this easy and delicious homemade Triple Berry Pie! It holds together perfectly every single time, and you can use fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

 

Homemade pie crust for a 9'' deep dish pan. This recipe makes 2 crusts: one for the bottom and one for the top

7 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, blueberries and strawberries (about 2 1/3 cups of each type of berry)

1 cup granulated sugar (plus a little extra to sprinkle on top of the pie)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

4 Tablespoons cornstarch

2 Tablespoons butter

1 large egg white beaten with a fork

 

Cook berries: Add berries, sugar and lemon juice to a large saucepan over medium heat. 

 

Simmer, until warm and juicy, about 5-10 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. (You can taste it at this point and see if it's sweet enough for your liking. I don't like to make mine too sweet, but if you want it sweeter you can add ¼ cup more sugar.)

 

Thicken filling: Spoon out about ½ cup of the juice from the pan into a bowl. Stir cornstarch into the juice until smooth. 

 

Bring pot of berries back to a simmer and slowly pour in the cornstarch. Gently stir mixture (being careful not to mash the berries), until thickened, about 2-5 minutes.

 

Cool and add to pie shell. Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell (in a 9 in deep dish pan).

 

Add lattice top or a whole top with holes pricked on top for steam to escape.

 

Pinch the edges of the top and bottom pie crusts together and crimp the edge, if you like. Brush a thin layer of beaten egg white over the top of the pie and sprinkle lightly with sugar (optional). 

 

Bake at 400° for 40-45 minutes. Check it after about 25 minutes and place a piece of tinfoil over it if the top crust is getting too brown. 

 

Remove to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool for several hours. Once cooled completely, you can cut into it or cover it and refrigerate it overnight to serve the next day.

 

NOTES:

*I LOVE Costco’s bag of frozen berries. It already has all three types of berries and they are big and beautiful and you can't beat the price!

To make ahead: This pie can be prepared completely 1 day ahead of time. You can also prepare the filling up to 3 months ahead of time and store it in the freezer. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before pouring in unbaked pie crust.

To freeze: You can freeze the baked pie for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Red, White, and Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

I recently bought a tart pan that I've been wanting to use, and I also owed my sister a cheesecake, so I searched online and found a few cheesecake tart recipes so I could do both at once. She didn't want berries on the cheesecake, so I simplified the topping of one recipe I found and just used canned cherries instead. I am curious how the topping of this cheesecake would taste since I've never baked with plums before. It looks and sounds pretty good and I hope to give the topping a try another time. This cheesecake was very easy to make - the dry ingredients for the crust can be mixed in a small food processor. After mixing that with melted butter it is very easy to spread in the bottom and around the sides of the tart pan (especially by using a flat-bottomed glass to spread it evenly). While that freezes, you can make the cheesecake filling, which is also very simple. The cheesecake baked perfectly in 35 minutes. After it cooled I added the canned cherry filling and refrigerated it for a few hours until after dinner time. Simple and delicious!

I've never made a cheesecake in anything other than a springform pan before, but this tart pan worked perfectly. I can't wait to try more recipes using it!

Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

Recipe courtesy Martha Stewart

This is the ideal grand finale for a Fourth of July dinner. The fresh plums might be yellow inside, but cooking them will bring out their crimson color. Take advantage of red plums at their prime: Double the ingredients used in the plum mixture, and spread the extra on toast, or spoon over vanilla ice cream. After cooling the mixture, refrigerate in an airtight container up to 1 week.

Crust:

6 graham crackers (2½ by 5 inches each)

1/3 cup whole almonds

¼ cup sugar

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

2 (8-ounce) packages reduced-fat cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup reduced-fat sour cream

½ cup sugar

1 large egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch salt

Topping:

4 red plums (1 to 1½ pounds total), halved, pitted, and cut into ½-inch dice

½ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 pint (2 cups) blueberries

Make crust: Preheat oven to 350˚. In a food processor, grind graham crackers, almonds, and ¼ cup sugar until finely ground; add butter, and process until moistened. Transfer to a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Using the base of a dry measuring cup, press mixture firmly into the bottom and up sides of pan. Freeze at least 15 minutes.

Make filling and bake: Carefully wipe processor blade and bowl clean. Place cream cheese, sour cream, ½ cup sugar, egg, vanilla, and salt in food processor; blend just until smooth. Place tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet; fill with cheesecake mixture. Bake until filling is just set, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer tart pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make topping: In a medium saucepan, combine plums, ½ cup sugar, and lemon juice. Cook at a rapid simmer over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is jamlike and moves around pan in a single mass when stirred, 15 to 25 minutes (time will depend on ripeness of fruit). Reserve 1 tablespoon cooking liquid (no solids) for blueberries; cool remaining plum mixture.

Assemble tart: Leaving a 1-inch border, spread cooled plum mixture over tart. Reheat reserved plum liquid (on stove or in microwave) until liquefied. In a medium bowl, combine with blueberries, and scatter on top of plum mixture. Chill until ready to serve, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Remove from pan before serving.

Tart pan

Dry ingredients for crust

Dry ingredients mixed with melted butter

Spread and flatten out with a glass

Freeze crust while you make the filling

Cheesecake filling ingredients

Fill crust & bake

Right out of the oven

Let it cool completely (cheesecake may sink a little)

Cherry pie filling

Add filling & refrigerate for a few hours

Photos by JoJo

Berry Fruit Pie

August has been a busy month and unfortunately I haven't had much time to try new recipes, but now I have a great summer dessert recipe to share. All summer long I've been wanting to make a pie and finally got the chance to today. I had some leftover strawberries, blueberries and raspberries from a dessert I made yesterday so I made a mixed berry pie. If you like berries you will love this! It is very juicy but I don't mind that - I just spoon a little of the berry juice over my ice cream. This is a simple pie to make because aside from the strawberries, you don't have to peel and cut the fruits as with other pies (apple, peach, etc.). I had some trouble forming with my pie dough but the crust came out tasting great. My lovely new pie dish is a little deep so I used more filling and it was the perfect amount.

Berry Fruit Pie

Pastry for Double-Crust Pie

1 recipe filling for Blackberries, Blueberries, Raspberries, or Mixed Berries (below)

2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Milk (optional)

Sugar (optional)

Prepare and roll out pastry for Double-Crust Pie. Line a 9-inch pie plate with half of the pastry.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar and flour for desired berries, according to the amounts given below. Stir in berries and lemon peel or cinnamon. Gently toss berries until coated. (If using frozen fruit, let mixture stand for 45 minutes or until fruit is partially thawed, but still icy.)

Transfer berry mixture to the pastry-lined pie plate. Trim bottom pastry edge of pie plate. Cut slits in remaining pastry or make a lattice top; place on filling and seal. Crimp edges as desired.

If desired, brush top crust with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar. To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of pie with foil. Bake in a 375° oven for 25 minutes (or 50 minutes for frozen fruit). Remove foil. Bake pie for 25 to 30 minutes more or until filling is bubbly and top is golden.

Cool on a wire rack. Serve with ice cream.

Makes 8 servings.

VARIATIONS:

Blackberry: 5 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, ¾ to 1 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour.

Blueberry: 5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, 2/3 to ¾ cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour.

Raspberry: 5 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries, ¾ to 1 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour.

Mixed Berry: 2 cups halved fresh strawberries or whole unsweetened frozen strawberries, 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, 1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries or raspberries, ½ to 2/3 cup sugar, and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour.

Ruffled Pie Dish

Baking Mat for the dough

Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries

Chilled butter and Crisco added to flour mixture

Pulse until it's a coarse mixture

Add ice water and pulse more

Form into two discs and refrigerate

Berries mixed with sugar, flour and lemon zest

Dough wouldn't quite cooperate

Add the filling

Top dough wouldn't cooperate either

Bake a total of about 50 minutes

Enjoy!

Photos by JoJo