Blackberry Swirl Pound Cake

I had tons of Blackberries left over after I made the Blackberry and Blueberry Pie. So one lazy morning, I googled around for a no-fuss, minimal ingredients-type of recipe and found this. 

I have never made a pound cake before, and this was my virgin attempt. I must say I was pretty pleased with myself with the outcome. 

I used a lot more blackberries than the recipe instructed, and was a bit worried that the extra water/juice in the batter would make the cake very damp, or very cardboard in taste (as it has done before, in the past). That did not happen - though I could have afforded it a bit more time in the oven! I was too excited to get it out after waiting over an hour. 

Also - I was bad at swirling the blackberry puree (that's why it looked like a watery mess when i pushed it into the oven!). The blackberries have completely separated from the bottom part of my cake! Turns out I was just making patterns on the top and not doing any actual swirling within the cake. Well, now I know. 

Recipe below!

Blackberry-Swirl Pound Cake
Recipe taken from Martha Stewart. Link to recipe here.

Ingredients

·      1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

·      6 ounces blackberries (1 1/3 cups)

·      1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar

·      1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

·      1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

·      1/4 teaspoon baking powder

·      2 large eggs, lightly beaten

·      1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

·      1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Steps

STEP 1


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; butter parchment. In a food processor, puree blackberries with 2 tablespoons sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder.

STEP 2


In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

STEP 3


Transfer half the batter to pan and dot with 1/2 cup blackberry puree. Repeat with remaining batter and puree. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, swirl batter and puree together. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 1/4 hours. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 30 minutes. Lift cake out of pan and place on a serving plate; let cool completely before slicing.