If you like pudding and if you like cake, you most certainly will love Raspberry Pudding Cake.
Puddingish on the top and cakey on the bottom, the dessert is covered with a fresh raspberry sauce and is best when served warm.
Made-from-scratch English puddings are as homey as they get. Generally, egg whites are gently folded into a batter made with egg yolks, flour and sugar and then baked in a souffle dish, which is then set in a large dish with hot water and baked.
But with the all-American Raspberry Pudding Cake, you don’t have to worry about separating the egg or preparing a water bath. You just have to make a raspberry sauce with berries and jam and spread it over a cake-ish batter that includes milk and cook it in the oven for about 25 minutes. So basically you can pop the dessert in the oven just as your family or guests sit down to dinner, and the cake will be ready when you are through eating the main course.
The result is pure magic because you only put in the effort for making one dessert but get two treats in the same pan. The pudding cake is moist and springy, and gets a boost from its raspberry topping that is sweet without being cloying.
And just like that perfect summer dress, the Raspberry Pudding Cake is simple, light and pretty.
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RASPBERRY PUDDING CAKE
PG tested
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing pan
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 cups fresh raspberries
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Melt butter and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.
In a small saucepan over low heat, stir together 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, lemon juice and cornstarch, and bring to a simmer.
Add raspberries and raspberry jam and cook, stirring for an additional 3 minutes. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
Whisk together egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
Add dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
Spread batter into baking pan and top with raspberry sauce.
Bake until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool in pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes and serve.
Makes 6 servings.
— “The Pollan Family Table” by Corky, Lori, Dana and Tracy Pollan (Scribner; paperback, June 7, 2016; $20)
