Ingredients
for the topping
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
for the cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
1 1/8 cups plus 5 tablespoons sugar
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
4 teaspoons juice
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup mascarpone cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 9 inch spring form pan with baking spray
For the topping, mix both sugars, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl and whisk to blend. Add flour. Add in butter and using your fingers, knead in the cold butter. Work efficiently, as you don’t want the butter to get too warm. When you are done, the topping should look like course sand with come clumps in it. Set aside.
For the cake, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.
Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and lemon zest on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add 1 tablespoon vanilla and mix to combine. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of cream cheese, scraping down bowl as needed. Give batter final stir by hand.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the batter and set aside. Spoon remaining batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Return now-empty bowl to mixer and beat last half cream cheese, remaining 5 tablespoons sugar, lemon juice, and remaining 1 tablespoon vanilla on medium speed until smooth and slightly lightened, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup reserved batter and mix until incorporated.
Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over batter, keeping filling about 1 inch from edges of pan; smooth top. With butter knife or offset spatula, gently swirl filling into batter using figure-eight motion, being careful to not drag filling to bottom or edges of pan. Firmly tap pan on counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any bubbles. Spread remaining 1 cup reserved batter over filling and smooth top. Sprinkle topping evenly over cake.
Bake until top is golden and just firm, and skewer inserted in cake comes out clean (skewer will be wet if inserted in cream cheese filling), 45 to 50 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove spring form pan and let cool to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours, before serving.
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