May Roundup

Buttermilk! Who knew? Thank you Gerri for the May pick. I love all the variety this month. Looking forward to next month!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

Posted by - Nancy

First, I apologize for the lateness of this post. I was having a hard time thinking of a good buttermilk cake that I wanted to try. I was intrigued by the fruity versions of the cakes posted however none of them made me want to break out my pans. I thought the brown sugar version might be good, but just not what I was looking for. Then I realized I was craving some chocolate cake. I had seen some at a little bakeshop and wished I had eaten a piece. So after a quick search I came up with a pretty good recipe and decided to give it a stab. Of course I put things off, then baked the cake late one night. It was delicious, and I was all ready to post when we had to head out of town for the holiday weekend. But now we are back and here is my post with partial pictures*

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

First, I prepped my pans. A layer of cooking spray, a layer of waxed paper, another layer of cooking spray and a dusting of cocoa powder.

Next was the measuring of the dry ingredients.

I didn’t take pictures of the buttermilk I made, but it turned out well.

After mixing I poured the batter in the pans and baked them.

*Now this is where you have to use your imagination. My camera had a run in with a sippy cup full of water and is no longer working so I haven’t been able to rescue the final product photos yet.

Since I thought it was a good idea to bake this cake at night I had to wait for it to cool so I could frost it. After an hour or so I thought it would be cool enough so I mixed up the cream cheese frosting listed on the recipe but I only added about ¼ of the sugar. I filled the middle and stacked the top then realized the cakes were still a bit too warm so I quickly frosted the cake before it slid apart. After some photos, I cut 1 piece out and quickly refrigerated the rest. It was nice and warm and delicious. Yum!

MANGO CREAMZ in a BLOOMING DREAMZ.......

BUTTERMILK MANGO++++ CAKES

Now im a total Mango lover and love those Cakes and Cupcakes, Mango Jam and jellies, Mangada and Mango Dollies and Mango Candy but dont fancy
[ie dont like at all] Mango ICecream and Mango Mouse , yet am gaga over this MAngo CUrd.... well but aint here to figure my taste buds ,but only indulge them ...and hope to indulge urs too , ALONGWITH mine!!!

FOR MANGO CURD ,CLICK HERE

A buttery mango BATTER WITH A LAYER IN BETWEEN AND TOPPED WITH
MANGO BATTER and some MANGO CURD...

A super delicious Absolutely buttery mango cake with a fresh mango layer in between and topped with MAngo and doted with salted butter too!!!!!!!!!!

Why MAngo +++, coz there's Mango everywhere, in the batter, in between and atop.....u jus cant miss the large mango bites...delicious......

When HAVE d CAKE, one of d wonderful groups am a member of, chose ButterMilk Cake , well Gerri and Rena thanxx for the wonderful Choice, i was more than jus happy....coz ,most of the buttermilk cakes i loved ,had fruits and am totally donnuty at the moment for fruity delights.
HAve quite a few more bookmarked and another baked too, and maybe i'll post another one Jus about soon...

U can sub Sour cream for buttermilk ,but i prefer buttermilk:-))
And added lods of Mango Curd too:-))

BUTTERMILK and MORE
What exactly is buttermilk? [as far as my knowledge, exprnce and reading goes:-)]
Well the only commercial one we ger readily here, is a lightly spiced watery one:-)
Really good for marinating meats though, But the water i strain after draining yogurt thru a cheese cloth is also butter milk[BM] to me, but thats talking of the low fat kinda buttermilk.

Now for the sake of the word Butter in BM [lol], lets get to the thicker version of BM, i normally would use some yogurt [almost always make buttermilk at home] with half&half and whole , let it stand in a warm place for a thick buttery BM...
Not convinced???????????????
Well then i love the CRUZE's BM story as muc as their Delicious good BM pound Cake too....

There's lods to learn about buttermilk all around the place too, and i loved reading about BM here , here and here too!!!

What i did was whisk some yogurt [Nestle curd], add some warm half and half[lite cream] and let stand for 3 hours...perfect!!

Before we get back to our buttery MANgo BM Cake, featured here [yummmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!]

For the MANGO CAKE HERE , i read this recipe at Trini GOurmet , a good mango cake, and GELs Kitchen Mango Cake

Buttery Yummy Delicious MAngo Cake
Adapted From NY times ,a butter cake by MArgaret Brauns

Ingredients

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/2 cup for sprinkling
• 4 large eggs [or 6 if u skip the mango curd]
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract [i used 3 whole vanilla beans]
• Finely grated zest of 4 lemons (for lemon cake, but i do love what it did to the mango cake]
• Juice of 1 lemon (for lemon cake-optional]
• 1.5 cups sour cream
• 1.5 cups Mango chunky mango bits with juice
• [as i chopped a few mangoes, i had pieces from the cups and thick puree from the seeds]
• 3/4 cup mango curd[am sure i added a bit more:-)]

Mia's Notes
~~~this quantity makes quite a bit of cake, i halved it and still had lods of cake
~~~if making a few cuppys too, tip the tops with some mango Curd ...delicious!
~~~love the crust that forms atop with the sprinkled sugar:-)
~~~the original called for 6eggs but since i had mango curd ,i cut it down to 4:-))

Preparation

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Butter and flour two 10-inch round cake pans.

I buttered a few heart shaped cuppy cakes moulds and a large mould.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2.In another bowl, cream the butter and 4 1/2 cups of sugar until fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir in the vanilla or scrape the vanilla seeds into the batter.

Add the lemon zest and juice and the cubed mango pieces and puree mash.

3.Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the buttermilk and mango curd.

Scrape batter into prepared cake pans.

A few cakes , were half filled, a mango slice inbetween and then covered with batter again!

4.Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the sugar on top of the batter or a mango slice if u want too or both!

Bake until set, when a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean (about 1 hour).

5.Let the cakes cool in their pans, and then invert them onto a rack.

Right outa the oven , we popped a few ,right into our mouths....warm and tender and so so soft......

Delicious and butterly so.....flavor sure develops the next day!!!

Some part of the cake was almost like a pudding cake....

While some was soft and tender.......

• nOTE -With this dessert the Lees suggest a dry Champagne, like Veuve Clicquot.

Now for the GIveAway.... avery pretty Giveaway......

FOR THE MANGO CURD RECIPE AND BAKE IT PRETTY GIVEAWAY AND MORE PICTURES HOP HERE.

Upside-down Buttermilk Berry Cakes

Posted by Gerri

I had a great time making this cake. It was the perfect recipe because we were leaving for Mexico in a few days. I see that everyone had fun putting their own spin on it.

Fresh blackberries and raspberries made this cake so refreshing.



I took photos of the final product but couldn't find them in time for the wrap up. My berries ended up on the bottom of the cake, so I made them Upside-down Buttermilk Berry cakes. Still delicious; still tasty and very yummy with vanilla gelato on top!

Chai spiced buttermilk cake

Posted by -Sue

I made this cake fairly early in the month, but between gardening, reading and knitting am only now getting around to posting. And the fact that this was a not-so-succesful challenge for me may also have come into play! BTW- everybody else's cakes look great.

I thought I had found a perfect recipe - it was from Cooking Light, was low in fat and was flavored with Chai. Yum!! Wrong!

The recipe started out by brewing 6 chai teabags in 1/2 cup boiling water, which was later added to the cake mixture. The only problem was that the tea didn't really add much flavor, but gave the cake a funny, tannin-y aftertaste. The only other spice was cinnamon, which also didn't add much flavor.

My other problem was with the leavening; it had neither baking soda nor baking powder but relied on meringue to lighten it. The finished cake was rather dense and gummy. I may have under-baked it, but I suspect the meringue was the problem. The recipe called for "stiff peaks" and I'm not sure I beat it enough. I also repeated a mistake that I've made before by folding in the meringue with a silicone spatula rather than a thin metal spoon, thus losing some of the air in the meringue.

All in all, not one of my better efforts. I'm not even going to include the recipe, since I wouldn't recommend it to anyone!! Ah, well, better luck to me next time!

Guava Buttermilk Cheese Crumb Cake

Posted by -Angela from Soap Mom's Kitchen

I am so excited to be able to particpate in Have the Cake.  I had my first challenge for the month of May which is a Buttermilk Cake. Well, it just so happens I have an old standby that has been in my family for as long as I can remember. Folks, this is really a delicious buttermilk cake. The cake is moist and tender, the cheese filling is yummy and who doesn't like crumb topping.

Recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Butter and Grease a 9 inch spring form pan and use a cookie sheet to double pan your cake

It is best to have all your components for this cake already mix, and ready for assembly when you start the baking process.

Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup butter milk room temperature

Beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, Add eggs and continue to beat until fluffy. Sift flour with salt and baking powder. Alternate your flour mixture with your buttermilk mixture. Put into springform pan and smooth out. Put a cookie sheet on the bottom of springform pan, (double pan) Bake for about 20- 25 minutes until it is slightly firm to touch.

Cheese Filling
8 oz. room temperature, soft cream cheese
3 T. very soft butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 T. Flour
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In your mixer with paddle attachment, cream your cream cheese, sugar, butter until creamy. Add your egg yolk and buttermilk. Add flour and vanilla, continue to beat until smooth.

OPTIONAL: 1/4 cup, smooth preserves with spoon  (any flavor, guava, raspberry, blueberry, etc.) I have done this cake without preseves and it is still delicious.

Crumb Topping
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 stick very soft butter
2T. water optional, only to bring crumb mixture together, into large and small lumpy crumbs.

In mixer with paddle attachment, add flour, sugar, salt, baking powder mix until well incorporated. Add butter continue to mix. If butter does not form small and large crumbs add a little cold water as necessary to get the crumbs to form.

Powder sugar to decorate.

Assembly: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Use a 9 inch spring form pan, butter and flour, well.
Bake your cake for 25- 30 minutes. Take out of oven. When a  firm top is formed, smooth your preserves gently onto the warm cake than smooth your cream cheese filling, as well, return to oven and bake for 15 minutes more, remove from oven. Add your crumb mixture and bake for another 30 minutes. If cake is getting to brown, put a piece of foil on top. Let cake cool for about 6 hours or over night. Do not remove from pan until fully cooled. Your can turn cake on to another plate to remove the bottom of the spring form pan. Sprinkle with powder sugar and serve. This cake will keep well for 3 days if covered well.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Curd Sauce

Posted by Vivian Thiele Let's Try These

I am pleased to be part of another blogging challenge hosted by Rena of Have The Cake. This month we were challenged to make a buttermilk cake. I had no idea there were so many variations of buttermilk cakes! The opportunities were endless and it was only my recent cravings of lemon that lead me to prepare this cake based upon a recipe at grouprecipes.com

The original recipe calls for taking the baked bundt cake, poking holes in it and drizzling lemon juice over it. I have this aversion to soggy cakes so I opted to just add that lemon mixture to the batter before baking. It was just the lemon intesity I was looking for so I am glad I made it this way!

Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Curd Sauce:

adapted by Vivian Thiele

1 cup butter-softened

2 1/3 cups sugar-divided

3 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoon fine breadcrumbs

lemon curd Sauce:

2 cups sugar

6 large eggs-lightly beaten

1/4 grated lemon rind

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup butter-softened

Directions:

1. Butter a 12-cup bundt pan and coat with breadcrumbs.

2. In a large mixing bowl,beat butter until creamy. Gradually add 2 cups sugar. Beat well.

3. Add eggs one at a time,beating after each addition.

4. Combine flour,soda,and salt. Add to butter mixture alternating with buttermilk,beginning and ending with flour. Mix at low speed after each addition.

5. Stir in rind and1/2 cup lemon juice.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until inserted wood skewer comes out clean.

8. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto wire rack. Cool completely.

To Make Lemon curd sauce:

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in top of a double boiler. Bring water to a boil.

2. Reduce heat to medium and cook,stirring constantly,until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.

3. Add butter one tablespoon at a time. Whisk until blended.

4. Chill if desired. Serve with Lemon Buttermilk Cake.

This is definitely going to be a keeper recipe!

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Strawberry Whipped Cream

Posted by - Joanne

On Saturday morning I told Sophie. That's it. I am getting my beach body back.

(It's amazing what not running 40 miles a week while still going to the gym the other three days a week will do to your beach body.)
So I made a plan for myself. (In my head. If I had written it down, I might have had proof that any of this had happened. And then I might have had to stick to it. And that might have been a shame.)

Which included adopting Mark Bittman's vegan-before-dinner diet. And a whole lot of Greek yogurt.

That virtuosity lasted all of about three hours before she found me in the kitchen knee-deep in a buttermilk-infused cake batter.

It has blueberries! I replied indignantly to her arched eyebrows.

Mmhmmm.
Maybe I'll just forget the bathing suit. Go with a really nice (loose) sundress instead.

This month's pick for Have the Cake was Gourmet's infamous buttermilk cake that has made the rounds on just about every blog imaginable since it was published in June 2009. And with good reason. One. It is easy. And delicious. Two things I look for in a cake. Two. It pairs well with just about any berry. So no matter what you have sitting in that bowl on your counter. Throw it in. Mix. Match. Experiment. This cake is a survivor. It will prevail. Three. It goes really well with strawberry whipped cream. Which is my new obsession. And my own little twist to the cake. An attempt to kick all of the living virtuosity out of it. If you will. Totally worth it.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake
Makes 1 9-inch cake, adapted from Gourmet

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp sugar, divided
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Grease a 9-inch cake pan.

2. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a larger bowl, cream together the butter and 2/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract and lemon zest. Add egg and beat well.

3. In three batches, add the flour, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the cake pan. Scatter the blueberries on top. Then scatter the 1 1/2 tbsp sugar on top.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Strawberry Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup pureed strawberries

1. In a large mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream until it has the consistency of whipped cream. Add in the sugar. Add in the strawberry puree. Whip until it again reaches desired consistency.