Recipe: Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

I strongly dislike measuring. If I didn’t give a rat’s ass about how any replications of my recipes came out, they would be littered with ‘half a palm-full of this’, ‘a splash of that’, and ‘enough red pepper flakes so it’s spicy but not eye-watering nose-running hot’. And really, that wouldn’t be a complete disaster for virtually un-ruinable dishes like guacamole and Caprese salad.

But then there’s baking.

While I may stick to my anti-measuring guns for fresh basil and parsley, I solemnly swear never to leave you to your own hand-measuring devices when baking. Especially for this cake – because it is PERFECTION. Every leveled cup, fraction of a teaspoon, bit of it. This crowd-pleasing cake highlights fresh, seasonal fruit, isn’t too sweet, and gains unbelievable moisture from the buttermilk.

Note: I’ve used The Pure Pantry and Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose gluten free flour mixes for this, both to wonderful albeit slightly different results. Feel free to substitute your favorite GF mix and let me know how it works out!

[Recipe from Smitten Kitchen]

Ingredients

1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour mix (or regular flour if you're not GF)

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

½ stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup + 1 tbsp sugar

½ tsp vanilla

Zest of 1 lemon

1 egg, room temperature

½ cup reduced fat buttermilk

Approx.1/3 lb strawberries (about 7), tops sliced off and quartered (can substitute raspberries, blueberries, peaches, etc.)

Recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9-inch, round cake pan with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together butter and 2/3 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. (Can also whisk by hand, it’ll just take more time/effort.) Add vanilla and zest, and mix to combine. Add the egg, and mix once more.

Add a third of the flour mixture to the large bowl with the creamed butter, and mix. Add half the buttermilk, another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour – Mix well in between each addition.

Using a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the greased cake pan. Evenly spread out the batter. Arrange strawberries (or other fruit) on top of the cake, and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes, until the cake is set and the top is golden brown.