One of my favorite things to do on a free morning is grab a coffee and head to the farmers market down the street.

One of many colorful booths at the 3rd and Fairfax Farmers Market.

September is the end of berry season and since I love any kind of berry, I went a little crazy and bought more than I could eat before they went bad, so I decided to make them into a dessert. (They were $1 per pkg, how could I resist?) I started out with a recipe for classic vanilla cake, and added a raspberry compote and Neufchâtel cheese frosting. Neuchâtel is a soft French cheese, very similar in taste to cream cheese but with considerably less fat.

Vanilla Cake Ingredients:

1 1/2 C Sugar

3/4 C Butter

3 Eggs

1Tbl Bourbon Vanilla Extract (or alcohol free if you prefer)

2 C flour

2 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

3/4 C Milk

Cut room temp butter into sugar.

Add eggs and vanilla.

Fold in flour and baking powder.

Pour in milk.

Grease and flour pan- two round cake pans work best, but you can use 9×13 and have a one layer cake. Bake at 350 for 30-40 min.

Raspberry Compote Ingredients:

1 pkg Raspberries

1/2 C Sugar

1 Tsp Corn Starch, dissolved in 1 Tbl water

Splash of lemon juice

Add all ingredients into a saucepan and mash up berries. Heat and stir until thickened.

Frosting Ingredients:

8 oz Neufchâtel Cheese

1/4 C Salted Butter

1 tsp Bourbon Vanilla Extract

1 C Powdered Sugar

Mix well. Spread berry mixture over cake then top with the cheese frosting.

Have a few friends over, light a fire, and enjoy this end-of-summer cake.