A Tribute to Kathleen Kennedy

I am dedicating today's blog to Kathleen Kennedy, a dear, dear friend who passed away on Friday. She faced many health issues over the last few years. Kathleen, Kathy to many, was indeed one of my biggest cheerleaders on the Ever Ready site. Without fail, she commented every single day on my blog posts as well as on Instagram, sending me daily, heartwarming messages of friendship. She was definitely a bright spot in my life, and will be missed by all who knew her.  Kathleen valued her friends and remained fiercely loyal to each. She loved parties, entertaining, and learning new things. She was a mother, grandmother, former history teacher, and former employee of Sun Country. Her faith was a central core. 

I met Kathleen around 2011 when we both belonged to the Minneapolis chapter of the League of Catholic Women, where we volunteered for a non-profit organization called Tuesday Club. Each month, isolated seniors from different care facilities and other places in the Twin Cities came together for conversation, prayer, bingo, lunch, and entertainment. Kathleen and I co-hosted Tuesday Club and found our "happy place" planning meals and entertainment for seniors every month. Over the years, these lunches and entertainment became legendary throughout the organization. Since we were both former teachers, we found this venue another way to use our talents to help others. We found it gratifying when some of the seniors even asked for our recipes.      

Kathleen and I bonded over all things literary, traveling, and cooking. Even after she moved away to WI two years ago, she still found recipes sending them to me to try.  She stayed true to her roots and loved all things Irish, whether it was food, books, poems, quotes, or her treasured Belleek china. 

She will be missed by many.

It seems fitting that I try a new recipe in her honor to share with you. 

Raspberry Lemon Yogurt Cake

The recipe was adapted from juliasalbum.com

What you will love about this recipe

• Quick and easy recipe. It takes only 20 minutes to prepare and about 45 minutes of baking (idle) time.
• Flexible and versatile! You can use any berries you like: blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and, of course, raspberries! 
• Great for making ahead. Raspberry lemon cake keeps well for about 4 days and can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Cooking Tip:

When folded into cake batter, fresh raspberries will break. If you prefer to keep them intact, use frozen ones or freeze the fresh ones before adding them to the cake.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour or baking flour, sifted or aerated 
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 4 oz salted butter, melted (½ cup)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, low-fat
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pint raspberries, fresh or frozen (see note below)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• Optional-1/3 cup almonds

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of the 9x3-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Grease the sides and the bottom of the springform pan with butter or cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder.
• In a large bowl, combine granulated sugar, melted butter, and eggs, and beat using a whisk for about 1 or 2 minutes until the mixture turns light in color, smooth (not grainy), and fluffy.
• Mix in Greek yogurt and vanilla extract, and whisk just until combined.
• Add the flour mixture gradually, whisking 1 cup of flour at a time with the wet ingredients until combined. Do not over-mix.
• In the same bowl where you mixed the dry ingredients, toss ⅓ of the raspberries with 1 tablespoon of flour.
• Carefully fold in the flour-coated raspberries and 2 tablespoons of lemon zest into the batter. It's OK if some of the berries smudge or break.
• Pour the cake batter into the parchment paper-lined springform pan. Arrange the other ⅓ of the raspberries on top of the cake batter in a circular pattern.
• Place the springform baking pan with the cake batter on the middle rack and bake for about 30 minutes- the tester (or toothpick) inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean. If not, bake 5 or 10 more minutes, checking the cake every 5 minutes for doneness.
• Remove the cake from the oven. Let it cool in a springform pan on a wire rack. After cooling the cake for about 30 minutes, release the cake from the springform pan. If the cake is cool enough, slide your hand (or a large, wide spatula) under the cake, between the parchment paper and the cake, and transfer the cake without the parchment paper onto a cake plate.
• When serving, dust with powdered sugar and top with the remaining ⅓ of fresh raspberries.
  
  
  
  

• •