This Mascarpone Mixed Berry Cake is extremely soft and moist, bake it and serve it straight from the pan. It’s excellent as a coffee cake for breakfast or as dessert with a scoop of ice cream on the side.
My love for mascarpone started when I discovered mascarpone ice cream quite a long time ago. Rich, buttery, creamy and smooth, the flavor of mascarpone is distinct and less tangy than cream cheese. It goes perfectly with fresh fruit in tarts and pies, and obviously excellent in a mascarpone cake.
How to make Mascarpone Mixed Berry Cake
This yummy berry cake is extremely easy to make. It does not require any fancy kitchen equipment except for a whisk and a spatula. I would actually discourage you from using a stand mixer (even though I love mine to death) for this recipe to avoid over mixing the cake batter.
- Be sure to let eggs and mascarpone, as well as melted butter come to room temperature before mixing them together with the orange and vanilla extract. I always like to use even just a hint of vanilla extract in everything despite it not being the main flavor to add depth and dimension.
- Use a whisk to mix until smooth and creamy.
- Add the dry ingredient mixture.
- Fold with a spatula until combined. It does not have to be absolutely perfectly smooth.
- Lightly fold in part of the berries. Try your best not to crush the raspberries, they are more fragile than the blueberries so you will mostly likely crush some.
- Add the cake batter to your buttered 8” cast iron skillet or a similar size baking pan.
- Even out the top of the batter and sprinkle the rest of the berries on top.
- Bake until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 45 – 47 minutes.
The cake rose just a smidge above the side of my 8” cast iron skillet with 2 ½” side, so don’t use anything smaller than that or risk the batter spilling over. If you’re using a larger pan, the cake layer will be thinner and will take less time to cook, so be sure to check the doneness of your cake accordingly. For a 9” pan, check around the 35 – 40 minute mark.
What I love about this Mascarpone Cake
- It’s super easy and quick to make, again no special equipment is needed.
- The final cake is really soft and moist. It stores well in the refrigerator and remain moist for days.
- It’s great as a coffee cake as well as a dessert.
- The mixed berries add a nice freshness to the cake.
What type of berries can I use for this cake?
Any type of berries will work. I used raspberries and blueberries because that’s what I have in my fridge at the time. I also like the different color in the mix, so strawberry and blackberry will make a nice substitution, or any combination you’d like.
Can I use frozen berries instead?
Yes, I think that will work fine but there are a few things to note.
- Frozen berries will release more juice than fresh ones. So I suggest you toss them with extra flour before folding them into the cake batter to help soak it up. This will also help keep them from sinking to the bottom. As for the one to be sprinkled on the top, you don’t need to coat those in flour.
- You do not need to defrost the frozen berries before baking.
- Baking time may need to be extended, check the doneness of the cake with an inserted toothpick at the 45 minutes mark and continue baking if necessary.
I’ve made this cake a couple times and each time is as delicious as the last. It’s also a great recipe to use up left over berries when you accidentally buy too much. I hope you enjoy this cake as much I did making it for you.
More Mixed Berry Recipes
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment, rate it and don’t forget to tag me @wildwildwhisk on Instagram. I’d love to see what’s cooking up in your kitchen. Cheers!
This recipe was originally published on 5/8/2017. The post has been updated with extra tips and process photos as well as a video to help you in the kitchen.
Mascarpone Mixed Berry Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour ((130 g))
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar ((120 g))
- ½ teaspoon salt ((3 g))
- 1 teaspoon baking powder ((5 g, rounded teaspoon))
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese ((226 g, room temperature))
- 2 large egg ((room temperature))
- 3 oz unsalted butter ((84 g, melted))
- 1 teaspoon orange extract ((3 g))
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract ((1 g))
- ½ cup fresh blueberry ((75 g, 2 ⅝ oz))
- ½ cup fresh raspberry ((65 g, 2 ¼ oz))
Instructions
- Leave the mascarpone cheese out on the counter to soften for 10-15 minutes. Also leave the eggs out to come to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, measure out flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, mix together thoroughly with a whisk and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl for 20-30 seconds.
- Brush an 8” or 9” cast iron skillet with some previously melted butter. Let the remaining cool to room temperature.
- Add mascarpone cheese, egg, the cool butter, orange extract and vanilla extract to a medium mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.
- Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a spatula.
- Fold in ⅔ of the berries, use light hand so you don’t smash them.
- Pour into prepared pan, sprinkle the remaining berries on top.
- Bake for 45-47 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool on a wire rack completely before slicing and dusting with powder sugar.
Video
Notes
2. Store in the refrigerator, this cake stays fresh and moist for days.
Nutrition
Inspired by and adapted from Easy Ricotta Cake with Fresh Berries.
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Amazing cake, made it tonight but mine also came out very moist, looked a bit undercooked at the bottom so kept it in the oven longer. I think my error was that I used frozen berries and I also made the mistake of not measuring my berries out…was trying to use up leftover berries. Therefore I have probably used too many and so there’s more moisture. I did mix the frozen berries with flour as you suggested so not sure what went wrong. Great and simple recipe, will definitely be making it again.
I made this cake yesterday and it was a great hit! Thank you Trang for this recipe. It could not have been easier to make and just delicious!
Amazing cake and yet so simple!
This recipe was awesome.. I made it today and it came out perfect.. everyone loved it.. I would put a picture of it but I don’t think it’s possible to put a picture here. ♥️
Turned out perfect. Substituted lemon extract for orange. Tastes beautiful. Great recipe ! Making a second batch .. Thank you ☺️
What’s the reason for having 3oz of butter in this cake when we’ve got so much fat from the mascarpone already. Please advise, thanks.
No reason regarding the fat except that the recipe was developed that way based on an adaptation as noted at the end of the post. If you are thinking about omitting the butter, I do not recommend it because it will throw off the ratio of the ingredients.
Thanks for your quick reply. I made the cake today, following the recipe as-is. It turned out great.
Glad to hear Karen!
Hello, I tried your recipe today and it tastes good, but it was undercooked somehow. I made the mistake of mixing all the frozen blueberries into the batter without leaving ⅓ for the top. It ended up looking undercooked and oily (the dark yellow kind) and wasn’t cake-like. I also used 1 cup of blueberries, no other fruits. Do you think that’s what caused it? 🙁 it looks like it was soaked in butter haha
Hi Michelle, it sounds like maybe there was too much liquid, did you read about my tips on frozen berries within the post? You probably needed additional flour in the batter to absorb the extra liquid. Was it dense and wet? How much butter and mascarpone did you use? And did you happen to weigh your flour?
Hi Trang. I had your cake at a friend’s house and it was delicious and moist. I took the recipe and made it yesterday, (tagged you on insta too) it looked exactly like yours but tasted quite dry. I’m so upset😔
Hi Fati, sorry that happened, did you make any substitutions? How did you measure your flour and other ingredients?
This cake is absolutely amazing! I’ve substituted lemon rind for orange extract and it works really well with blueberries and raspberries So glad I’ve found your blog.
Thank you Tonya! Lemon is the perfect substitution, so fresh with berries.
hi. thanks for the recipe. I would love to make one but i couldn’t find the video
Hi Irene, I’m not sure what you mean, the video is embedded in the post so you should see it when you scroll down a bit. Sometimes the jump to video button doesn’t work because the video moves position a bit. If you happen to scroll past it, the video should appears smaller in the bottom right corner of your desktop screen or top corner of your mobile screen. If you happen to close out the video player then, that could be why you don’t see it. However, the video is just an additional tool to show you how to make it, the recipe card has all the information you need, and the post has all the process photos and tips too.
thanks for the reply. I tried to view using handphone instead of laptop, it works well with handphone. Something is wrong with my laptop ^_^
Glad to hear it works now 🙂
I’ve got all the ingredients to make this cake but I dont have orange or vanilla, will it be ok without both?
Hi Chloe, you need at least vanilla extract or the cake will taste flat. Do you have any orange zest or lemon zest? That would help to give it some flavor.
This cake is the best! So easy to make and delicious. My family want it every week now……. highly recommend
Can I use a substitute for some of the Marscapone? I don’t have 8ozs. I have plain yogurt, sour cream or cream cheese which would be best
Hi Caitlin, cream cheese would be the closest substitution.
Very soft lovely cake, I used almonds extract instead.. very quick to prepare! Thank you !
I love almond extract, excellent choice! 🙂
Hi! I want to make this cake. It looks wonderful.
Can i used dried cranberries and dried blueberries in the cake?
Await your reply.
Hi Samita, I think fresh berries will be much better but if you can’t get fresh ones, try frozen, and if you can’t get frozen ones then I would resort to using dried fruits. I would also use half as much dried fruit because they will expand.
Thanks! I tried with the dehydrated ones and used only 1/4 cup of each vs 1/2 cup as mentioned. It still turned out yummy. Great recipe.
Thanks
This looks delicious! What are your thoughts about NOT using berries? I have all the ingredients except that, but I am worried the berries add necessary moisture. Thanks!
You can use other berries or skip without any issues. The cake itself should have plenty of moisture even without the berries.
Awesome thank you!! Can’t wait to try it!
Hi, I have a 10” spring foam pan. Can I increase the recipe by 20 % and use the same oven setting and time? Thank you!
Hmm 20% seems like a difficult ratio because the recipe calls for 2 large eggs, if you just go up to 3 eggs that would be 50% increase. So I suggest go up to 1.5x instead of 20% and that should fit into a 10″ pan. You can use the same oven temperature but I’m not entirely sure about the time. There is more batter but it may not be a whole lot thicker in the larger pan, I would check the cake at the 45 mins mark but let it go longer if needed, it could be 50 – 60 mins. Hope that helps!
By math the 1.5x is the correct proportion between a 10″ pan and an 8″ since the ratio is 10*10 to 8*8 and not 10 to 8. This way the 10″ cake will come out to about the same thickness so the baking time should be longer but not by a whole lot.
Thank you!
Thank you so much
Love it, it’s so delicious!👌
Thank you!😊
I’m so happy to hear you love this cake, Saiva 🙂 Thanks for trying it!
I made this mascapone mixed berry cake last week and it was absolutely delicious.
Thanks Mike! Glad to hear you enjoy it 🙂
If I don’t have orange extract but do have some small mandarins would zest of a mandarin work?
Yes, zest would be even better than extract!
Can I use frozen raspberries? I have fresh blueberries but not fresh raspberries
Hi April, yes you can use frozen berries or part frozen part fresh, please refer to the post where I address using frozen berries under the heading “CAN I USE FROZEN BERRIES INSTEAD?” the tips will still apply.
Would this cake be too soft for muffins?
I think if you want to bake it in a muffin pan, you can. It may not dome and give you the typical muffin tops but should still work to yield individual serving size. Let me know how it turns out if you try it. I would shorten the bake time, maybe 17 – 20 minutes.
So good! I substituted lemon for orange and used all blueberries. It was amazing. Thanks 🙂
Lemon and blueberries are perfect for each other 🙂 I’m glad to hear you enjoy this cake, Marie!
I don’t have a cast iron skillet. Can I use regular baking pan?
Yes, 8″ or 9″ baking pan will work.
Hi, I discovered this a few months ago before berry season. Now– raspberries and blueberries galore. Thanks for this beautiful treat.
Yay!! Berry season is the best, hope you’ll enjoy it!
Hello! I’m super excited to make this recipe! However I only have a 10.25 cast iron but I do have an 8in baking tin. Would you suggest either of these as a substitute to your 8in cast iron?
As long as your baking tin side is at least 2.5″, it should be fine. The larger one will work too but you’ll end up with a thinner cake. I think you should use the 8″ tin, but make sure the side is tall enough.
Thank you so much for your reply! I’ll give it a go 🙂
If your sides arent tall enough you can make a ring inside your pan along the side with parchment paper
That’s a great idea, or foil could hold up better!
I’m doing that right now! Thanks for the tips!
This cake looks delicious. I am going to make it this weekend. I am uncertain about the orange extract. Concerned that it might be too orange-y. Could I substitute orange rind (how much?) or fresh orange juice (how much?). Thanks so much!
Hi Nancy! The orange extract is actually really subtle, if you use orange essential oil, it would probably be too strong. If you don’t have the extract, use zest of half an orange (that should yield about 1 teaspoon, if you’re worry about the flavor being too strong, maybe use half that). Orange juice would not be enough to get the orange flavor through.
402 calories has a slice of cake ?
Yes assuming 7 slices. All calories are estimated using an online calories calculator, the accuracy depends on the calculator database. If you are to eat a Sprinkles cupcake, that is about 500 calories, just for comparison.
Absolutely delicious! I made this last night. The cake is light and so flavorful. I have a fan assisted oven, so I baked at 160c for 30 minutes and it came out perfect. The recipe was very easy to follow and so simple. Perfect cake for tea. Will be making this again.
Thank you Jessica!! I’m so happy you enjoyed this cake and truly appreciate your feedback 🙂
That looks so delicious it’s making my mouth water!;) I love mascarpone cheese too they’re so rich in flavor. I love how you added a video with your post! thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks Stephanie, hope you try it!
Have you made this using gluten free flours? Do you think a cup for cup substitute would work OK?
Hi Nanci, I have not made this particular recipe with gluten free flour, but cup for cup substitution is typical and should work. I think you will get a denser cake. If you try, come back and let me know how it turns out for you. I would appreciate that!
Mascarpone is a great twist. This cake looks lovely and also simple to make.
Thank you so much Marie, the mascarpone also keep the cake super moist 🙂
Hello! Can u tell me How many grams are 3 oz butter? I just work with grams ?
It’s 85 grams. If you have access to google, it can do all the conversion for you 🙂
Hello,
Can you tell me, how many gramms are 8oz.mascarpone cheese? ?
227 grams
This cake is right up my alley! Love that you used mascarpone in it!!
Thanks so much Sabrina! It’s one of my favorite easy cake 🙂