I also spent a weekend not blogging and hanging out with my fiance whom I NEVER see in the summer because he travels for work constantly. So I took a whole weekend off (!!!!) and we went out to nice dinners and shopped and went to a cute little girl’s birthday party. I didn’t Facebook or Instagram or worry about pinning things on Pinterest.
And to tell you the truth… it was wonderful! It made me think twice about all the stress I put myself under for this blog. Which I love dearly but sometimes can be overwhelming. I’m always comparing myself to other blogs and what they’re doing and how many likes/double taps/shares/pins/traffic they are getting compared to me and it can be a bit much, especially when my 9-5 job (which has been more like a 7am to 7 pm job) is already crazy.
I’ve decided maybe I need to slow down and enjoy this a bit more, maybe not post as many times a week and focus on quality instead of quantity.
So that’s what I’ve been up to and today I’m sharing this delicious raspberry swirl pound cake with lemon frosting. Really I got this idea standing in line at Starbucks during that one wonderful weekend my fiance was home. Right there in their case with a beautiful swirl of raspberry pound cake. And while their swirl was more vibrant and pronounced, mine is au naturale baby!
This pound cake is incredibly easy and stays fresh and moist for days. It makes for a beautiful breakfast, the perfect friend to a glass of champagne or just the most delicious slice of sweetness.
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 2 tablespoons water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- zest from one lemon
- 2¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¾ cup to 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add all the swirl ingredients. Bring to a boil and then let simmer 5-10 minutes or until raspberries start to break down. Remove from heat and let cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until creamy and turn a pale yellow color. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.
- Stir in half of the flour mixture followed by the buttermilk, vanilla and almond extract.
- Stir in the remaining half of the flour mixture and mix just until just combine.
- Transfer ½ cup of the cake batter back into the medium bowl and add the cooled raspberry mixture. Mix well.
- Pour one half the remaining pound cake mixture into the prepared pa, top with the raspberry mixture, and then top with the rest of the pound cake mixture.
- Give the cake one additional run-through with the knife to create a good swirl.
- Bake for 90 – 100 minutes, or until a toothpick is inserted into the center of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs,
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool completely,
frosting
- To make the frosting, add confectioner’s sugar to a bowl and slowly add lemon juice until you get the consistency that you want. I went with a thicker, frosting like, texture but you could do a glaze. Add more or less sugar/lemon just as needed.
- Gently pour over pound cake and let dry.
- Keep in an airtight container.
