If your preference leans toward a strawberry sauce, make that instead. Improvise! Note: The cake can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen. If you have only a smaller pan (9 inches instead of 10), use the excess batter to make cupcakes. Recipe by Lee Svitak Dean. Tested at Denver’s altitude. Serves 12.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting pan
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
Finely grated zest from 2 lemons
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
Blueberry Sauce (see recipe)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch springform pan, tube pan or 2 loaf pans.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is smooth and creamy. Slowly add the sugar, while continuing the beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and lemon zest and continue beating.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream, beating until smooth after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan(s).
Bake until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes for 10-inch pans (40 to 45 minutes for loaf pans). Cool and serve with Blueberry Sauce and fresh berries (like blackberries, above) or whipped cream.
Blueberry Sauce
Makes about 2 cups.
Ingredients
1 pint blueberries (or about 12 oz. frozen and thawed)
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, strained
1 tablespoon water
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Directions
In a stainless steel pot, combine blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high heat until the blueberries burst.
Combine water and cornstarch into a paste and whisk into blueberries. Cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Cool and refrigerate.
