Saturday, May 1, 2010

May Challenge!

Posted by - Gerri (via Rena)

BUTTERMILK CAKE
(with Raspberries)



According to the poster on the Smitten Kitchen website, this is a good, basic go-to buttermilk cake moist and ever-so-light — a great jumping off point for whatever you can dream up. It's so simple you may want to experiment with other fruits or zests. Enjoy!

Adapted from Gourmet, June 2009
Makes one thin 9-inch cake
1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (146 grams) plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large (57 grams) egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)


Preheat oven to 400°F 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 (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. 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. Put raspberries evenly on top of cake, pressing them (gently) halfway into the batter. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons (22 grams) sugar.
Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

Make your own buttermilk: No need to buy buttermilk especially for this or any recipe. Add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk and let it sit until it clabbers, about 10 minutes. Voila, buttermilk!

9 comments:

Rena said...

Good pick Gerri! I love anything made with buttermilk and I love simple, good cake. Yum.

Well Dressed Cupcakes said...

This looks delicious - can hardly wait to try this recipe. Thank you!

Tina said...

I promise to get back on the HtC bandwagon with this one! YUM

And thank you for posting the buttermilk trick again. I've seen buttermilk come up in a few recipes lately and couldn't remember how to make it.

Can't wait!

Amber said...

Oh my goodness! A few weeks ago my husband and I went to a dinner party and this was the dessert! I asked the host for the recipe and this is the exact one she gave me :) I cannot wait to make this since I was planning on making it anyway! Thank you Gerri!

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

I love the tip about buttermilk, I've heard it before but I always forget. I tend not to make things that have buttermilk just because I barely use it and hate to buy a pint just for one recipe! Thanks!

Colleen said...

So many options out there! Good choice!

Marthe said...

A great pick for my first time at Have the Cake!!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

This is a great choice because there is versatility and one thing this group is, is versatile. I can never get over how different from each other, the recipes are.

I want to do some research on this cake and see how others use it. I was thinking peaches.

Jessica said...

Oh yummy! Now to figure out which recipe I want to do!