Sometimes Cake Is Just Cake: Roman Breakfast Cake

When The New York Times Magazine printed a Dorie Greenspan recipe for "Roman Breakfast Cake" on July 3 this year, the timing was perfect. I had promised to bring a dessert to a friend's Fourth of July barbecue but hadn't decided what to make yet. A lemon cake with blueberries and raspberries was close enough to the idea of red, white, and blue that it seemed appropriate for the occasion.

Dorie warns that this cake is "a sticker" and directs you to bake it in an assiduously buttered and floured tube pan or a Bundt pan with minimal crannies. Her explicit warnings made me a little paranoid, so I used a tube pan that I not only coated generously with a mixture of shortening and flour, but I also dusted it with more flour.

To make the cake batter, you rub lemon zest together with sugar until the sugar is moist and fragrant; add yolks and beat for several minutes; pour in canola oil and beat for several more minutes; mix in lemon juice, lemon oil, and vanilla; incorporate the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, and salt); fold in egg whites that have been beaten with salt to glossy peaks; and mix in berries (I used 150 grams of blueberries and 150 grams of raspberries). I poured the batter into my prepared pan.
After the cake was done baking I let it cool for a few minutes before turning it out. It released easily in a single piece, which was a relief. I waited until the cake was completely cool to slice it. All of the fruit had sunk to the bottom (which I had expected and didn't mind), and the raspberries in particular were quite wet. I loved the bright color from the berries, but I have to say that this cake was disappointing.

It tasted fine -- but just fine. The lemon flavor was not that strong considering that the cake contained lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon oil. And the texture of the cake was average -- not particularly moist, not particularly fine, not particularly light. Dorie specifically says that this cake has "spring and stretch." My cake didn't have any stretch whatsoever. I had been hoping for something with the texture of chiffon cake and ended up with something that was just cake.

This cake was popular with party guests, although I think its primary appeal was its bright color scheme. I shouldn't complain since there really wasn't any wrong with the cake per se -- but it didn't meet my lofty expectations.

Recipe: "Roman Breakfast Cake" by Dorie Greenspan, recipe printed in the July 3, 2018 The New York Times Magazine.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I agree. It’s very much a Costco blueberry muffin.
This is such a short and precise description! I love it!