RASPBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE
Saturday, June 04, 2016
Easy peasy, old-fashioned, moist buttermilk cake riddled with the tart sweetness of plump, ripe raspberries. Humble deliciousness.
This unfussy, rustic-ish cake comes together almost effortlessy and boasts that moist, kind of coarse crumb finish, like the cakes our grandmas made in the olden days. And those beautiful berries make it pop with a taste of summer.
It's the kind of cake that you don't need the excuse of a special occasion to whip up. Well unless you count morning coffee, or a mid-afternoon break, or a lazy Sunday evening. You might say it's a pull-up-a-chair-and-make-yourself-at-home kind of cake.
And you know what else? It's been beautifully summery here in the Okanagan the last few days. Today we're headed for 36C. Bursting with those jewel-like puddles of raspberry goodness, I can tell you from very, very recent experience that this cake goes down with the refreshing deliciousness of a summer breeze, and leaves you craving for more.
But (...says she, excitedly wiggling with the goodness of the thought and the anticipation that lies therein) I'd bet you dollars to doughnuts that this Raspberry Buttermilk Cake would be the perfect comfort treat on a blustery winter day. Oooohhh yeah mama!!
Could it be, could it really be, that this simple little cake is a definitive Cake For All Seasons?
This homespun cake, with it's sugary, crusty exterior is so good, just as it is. Almost bewitching in it's simplicity.
But, boy oh boy, I just found out that it is oooh-la-la delicious all dressed up with more berries and whipped cream. A rather flawless shortcake that would have dinner guests smiling, foolishly.
Next time I'm going to make it with blackberries.
Or wait, maybe strawberries.
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Big, big, big thank-yous, yet again, to Deb of Smitten Kitchen
for another crazy good recipe!! I simply love the way you rock the kitchen!
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RASPBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE - Makes one thin 9-inch cake.
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar, plus another 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk**
1 generous cup fresh raspberries
Preheat oven to 400F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest. Add egg and beat well.
At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries (some upside down, some right side up) evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.
Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into centre comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool to warm, 10-15 minutes more. Invert onto plate. Serve.
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Makes one thin 9-inch cake that might just serve 8, unless of course you and your best friend start nibbling.
Scatter raspberries over batter. The ones with their round-bumps up were almost all swallowed by the batter. The ones with their little 'o's on top mostly stayed empty, like little cups. Both were delicious.
Sometimes you just need cake. It's the berries.
(sorry I didn't get a photo of the full-out raspberry shortcake version, all smothered with Grand Marnier laced raspberries and wee mountains of whipped cream. I was busy, um, really, really, busy with important, um, yeah, super important stuff, to get a photo.)
**Make your own buttermilk - No need to buy buttermilk, if you don't have it on hand. Add one tablespoon of lemon juice to the 1/2 cup of milk and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Magic, buttermilk!::
THE END