Raspberry Crumb Cake

I had a container of blackberries that was about a day from going bad, so I found this recipe and just substituted the raspberries with blackberries .

Ingredients:

2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. corn starch
3/4 c. water
2 c. fresh raspberries (or your favorite in-season berries)
1 tbsp lemon juice

Crust:
3 c. ap flour
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp mace
1 c. cold butter
2 eggs
1 c milk
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 c ap flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold butter
1/4 cup slivered almonds

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, water and raspberries. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil for 5 minutes or until thinkened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice. Cool.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the first 6 crust ingredients. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat eggs, milk and vanilla; add to crumb mixture and mix well. Spread two-thirds of mixture into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan. Spoon raspberry filling over crust to with in 1" of edges. Top with the remaining crust mixture.
For the topping, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until lightly browned.

Lemon Cake

This recipe came from my husband's awesome grandmother, Fira. This is one of my favorite desserts. I made it for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm making it again tonight.

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 milk
1 tbsp plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
grated rind of 1 lemon (save the juice of the lemon)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Cream together the butter and sugar.
2. Add the eggs, one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture.
3. Add the lemon rind.
4. Sift the flour with baking powder and gradually add it to the above mixture.
5. Add the milk and yogurt

Bake in a greased and floured loaf pan for about 45 minutes or until golden brown. It should spring back at the touch of a fingertip.

While still hot...

Mix the juice of the lemon with 1/4 cup of sugar in a small sauce pan. Warm the mixture up, but do not boil.

Poke holes in the cake, pour the syrup on top all over and let it penetrate.

Let cool before serving. Freezes well when wrapped in aluminum foil and then in a zip-lock bag.