Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but this cake is lousy with strawberries.  Andy and I picked up a pound of berries from the farmers' market (they were picked yesterday!).  So springtime-y wonderful.

This has become one of my very favorite cakes.  I made it for the first time a couple months ago and have made it three times (!) since then. I, um, like cake.  The first time I made it, I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand (most are standard pantry ingredients), including a fresh pint of raspberries because I like to snack on them, and buttermilk because I had just made chicken fried steak and cream gravy with cube steak from the farmers' market.

This cake comes together in no time.  Really, it is profoundly simple.  And when you're finished baking and cooling it there's nothing more to do than to devour it- no stacking/frosting/dusting.  It is delicious and perfect just as it is. Next time you have a hankering for a lovely country cake, give it a go!


Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
via Smitten Kitchen via Gourmet magazine

Makes one nine-inch round cake

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 cup fresh raspberries, halved strawberries, or other berries (about 5 oz)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. 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, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.
3. 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 berries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.
4. 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. Eat feverishly.