Cyndee's Neiman Marcus Cake

Ingredients

for the cake layer:*

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature

1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 lemon, zested

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

*(Instead of making the cake layer from scratch you can also use a vanilla/ yellow box cake mixed with 1 stick melted butter and 2 beaten eggs instead making the cake layer from scratch. This is what my neighbor Cyndee does.)

for the topping:

1 8 oz softened cream cheese

3 + 3/4 cup powder sugar (1 box)

2 eggs well beaten

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.

To make the cake layer from scratch, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

On medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed.

Pour the batter evenly into the prepared baking pan.

Mix the ingredients for the topping and spread evenly on top of the batter.

Bake for about 30 -35 mins and let the cake cool before removing it from the pan.

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About

The other week my son brought some cherry poppy seed cake over to our neighbors across the street. The recipe for the cherry poppy seed cake makes a big sheet and I knew that it was way too much for us to eat. A few days later they returned the dish the cake was delivered in with another treat inside. The neighbor’s son told us it was called Neiman Markus cake. A handwritten note by his mom, Cyndee, on the dish said that you never return a dish empty. The note made me smile, since sharing some cake brought back more to our house, which was really not my intention at all, but how nice of her. Sure enough, we had to try the Neiman Marcus cake right away. It was still warm, had a vanilla cake bottom, and a sweet crunchy creamy cheese topping. It was absolutely fantastic. I called Cyndee the next day to thank her for the cake and ask her for the recipe.

I am sure many of you have heard of and eaten Neiman Marcus cake before, but to me it was something new. My favorite part was the topping that reminded me of a German cheese cake with its creamy, but light consistency.