Raspberry Pull-Apart Cake with Lemon Glaze

This raspberry pull-apart cake drizzled with sweet and tangy lemon glaze is almost as fun to make as it is to eat! You won't be able to eat just one slice!

Things have been busy around here lately! We're moving into our new house this Friday (!!!), and our weekends leading up to the move have been filled with trips to the hardware store, hanging blinds and closet shelving, and scrubbing down kitchen cabinets so our house will be sparkly clean when we move in. With just four days to go, I couldn't be more excited!

So amidst all of the packing and cleaning, let's take a moment to relax with a slice of cake. Or two slices. Or three slices! It's easy to get carried away with these delicious slices of raspberry pull-apart cake!

It had taken me way too long to try my hand at making pull-apart cake. I love the idea (who doesn't love cake that you can eat with your hands?!), and now that I've discovered how much fun it is to make I'm dreaming up all kinds of pull-apart cake (and pull-apart bread) flavor combinations.

Of course I decided to start with one of my favorite, go-to flavor combos: lemon and raspberry. And it did not disappoint. The cake is only ever so slightly sweet, so the raspberry jam filling and lemon glaze pair with it perfectly to amp up the sweetness of the dessert. And as much fun as it is to make, this raspberry pull-apart cake is even more fun to eat!

[recipe title="Raspberry Pull-Apart Cake with Lemon Glaze" servings="8"]
INGREDIENTS:
for the cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 (¾ oz.) package active dry yeast (2-¼ tsp.)
½ tsp. salt
⅓ cup whole milk
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs at room temperature
5 T raspberry jam

for the glaze:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 T lemon juice
1-½ tsp. whole milk

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix together 2 cups of the flour and all of the sugar, yeast, and salt. Set aside.

Add the milk and butter to a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat until the butter has melted. Remove the pan from the heat and add the water and vanilla. Stir gently to combine. Let the mixture stand to cool about two minutes. (If you have a candy thermometer, use it to check the temperature of the mixture; let it cool to 115°F to 125°F).

Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a spatula. Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl; stir well to combine. Add the remaining 1 cup of flour and stir with the spatula to combine.

Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rest in a warm space to rise until it's doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Grease and flour a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.

Place the risen dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead 2 to 4 T of flour into the dough. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with the towel, and let rest for 5 minutes. Return the dough to the lightly floured surface and roll out the dough into a rectangle measuring 20 inches by 12 inches.

Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough vertically into 6 strips. Stack the strips on top of one another, and slice the stack horizontally into 4 rectangles. Place the stacks into the loaf pan, and separate them slightly so they fill the pan. Cover the pan with the towel and let the dough rise for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Bake the cake for 30 minutes or until the top is dark golden brown. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes.

When the cake is nearly cool, make the glaze. In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, and milk. Set aside.

To remove the cake from the pan, run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Then gently turn the pan to release the cake. Turn the cake right side up and place on a plate. Drizzle with the lemon glaze and serve. Eat immediately or store in an airtight container for up to two days.

Dough adapted from Joy the Baker.
[/recipe]