Blackberry Buttermilk Cake
You can tell a lot about a person by the way they pick berries.
Some show up fully prepared with sunscreen, sun hat, gardening gloves and Tupperware containers with smartly, matching lids. These are the people you can count on in the event of a black-out, natural calamity or when you accidentally lock your keys in your car.
Others show up chic and cool in pale summer pants and pretty dresses, and are sincerely shocked to learn that a) blackberries grow on prickly bushes, b) there is d*i@r!t*$! in the fields and c) bees and bugs are part of the experience. These are the people you might trust to solve your hair and mascara crises…. but little else, I’m afraid.
Some lament the lack of berries and their small size without noticing the juicy ones hanging from branches just a few steps away. These are the people who will miss the smallest, most significant moments of joy, simply because they are too preoccupied to notice.
Some eat a fistful of berries for every one they pick, determined to maximize the juiciness out of their experience, while others place each and every berry carefully into the bottom of a shiny pail, saving them for a feast later. (Question my friends: Who would you prefer to manage your finances? And who would you prefer to manage your life?)
And then there are some who wander on their own to the farthest corner of the berry field, picking quietly but steadily, dreaming about this telling Blackberry Buttermilk Cake…
{RECIPE} BLACKBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE
{MAKES} one thin, fluffy, buttery, 9 inch cake
{INGREDIENTS}
1 C unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
2/3 C white sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 C buttermilk
1 C freshly picked blackberries (or raspberries or blueberries or strawberries)
{DIRECTIONS}
one. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9 inch round pie plate or cake pan.
two. In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
three. In a separate, larger bowl, beat the butter and sugar together into pale fluffiness, using an electric mixer at medium-high speed. Scrape the beaters as necessary.
four. At medium-high speed, beat the vanilla, lemon zest and egg into the butter/sugar mixture.
five. Using a spatula, gradually fold in the flour mixture and buttermilk. Start by adding a third of the flour mixture, then a third of the buttermilk, then another third of the flour, and so on. Mix until just combined.
six. Spread the batter into the pie plate or cake pan, smoothing the top.
seven. Arrange the blackberries on top of the batter. Take the time to arrange them one by one…
…or simply scatter them randomly. They’ll taste the same regardless.
eight. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Check back regularly, as the cake is sooooo thin that it bakes quickly!
nine. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a rack and cool 10 to 15 minutes more before inverting onto a serving plate.
ten. Serve on its lonesome, or with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream.
{INSPIRED BY}
Smitten Kitchen’s Raspberry Buttermilk Cake
