Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

 

Iiiiiiitttt's summertime!  That means, iiiiiiittttt's fruit season!  Which really ultimately means it's baking with fruit season!  Let's kick it off with this Raspberry Buttermilk Cake!

Man, whooo, I'll tell ya.  I was on the ol' Facebooks the other day and saw that Local Harvest is busting at the seams with fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches.....It was all I could do not to hop in the car and zip right over.

That would've been tough as I was already out of town but not gonna lie, I was half (very) tempted to ask Mike to veer a hair east on our way home to make a stop.  I think he knew it too.  I refrained.

When I was a kid, we were the second house in from a dead end.  At the dead end was a fence, and on the other side of the fence was a vast field.  This dead end is where the snow plow would also end so imagine the snow mountains!  Especially in 1979.

Ah man, super sad looking at street view online....I knew my childhood home had been torn down and replaced with a McMansion but it's always such a bummer to re-look.  I loved that house.

Anyway, it's summer!  And raspberry season!

Somehow at that dead end fence there were raspberry bushes that didn't belong to anybody so on occasion we'd sit and pick and eat the raspberries right off the bushes.

I like raspberries but in keeping with the not gonna-lie-theme, I can't say I'm a fan of their little seeds.  Any time I use fresh raspberries, they're usually puréed and strained, get those rock solid buggers out so it's a bit atypical of me to pop them in a cake whole.

As evidenced by the look Mike gave me when I told him what I had baked.

Regardless, the recipe sounded so good at the time I stumbled across it, light and summery, fresh and cheery; I kinda couldn't resist.

Aaaand glad I found out!  So go get yourself some fresh raspberries and bake this Raspberry Buttermilk Cake.  For sure try other fruits like blackberries or blueberries too.

Boy, I'll tell ya, having fresh homemade buttermilk in perpetuity on hand is a boon.  I never run out.  Bonus, it's an excellent way to be frugally budget-friendly.  All I ever need to pick up is milk which I'm already picking up anyway.

If you need more recipes that use up that homemade buttermilk, I gotchu covered, my friends.  My list is ever-growing so you can handily justify making yourself some.

Nice thing about this Raspberry Buttermilk Cake too:  it's a simple, easy, one layer number so it's fuss-free, light on the ingredients, plus effortless to tote along to say, a picnic or the neighbors for a get-together.

All right, let's get started, shall we?

First, grease up your pan a bit.  You can do this with butter and flour, cooking spray, or baking spray,* the latter of which is my go-to these days.  Works every time, even in a bundt pan.*

Though I recently read about some melted butter with flour mixed in trick, brush* it on your baking surface.  Have yet to try that.

Anywhooo, heat up your oven and get your ingredients rolling.

First, put the dry stuff in a bowl and fluff that around to mingle them up.  Generally I don't do this but for recipes where you're adding some dry then some wet then some dry, rinse repeat, it's key to do so.

Toss your butter and most of the sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer* or a large mixing bowl* if you've got a hand mixer* instead.  Cream that up for about a pair of minutes.

Next, in goes the vanilla (a little extra than what's called for here is lovely) and then the egg.  Once that's blended together, time for the home stretch.

Creamed butter and sugar with vanilla thrown in; up next the egg.

Tap in about a third of your dry ingredients with that mixer running on low, then half the buttermilk.  No need to wait for it to be completely mixed in, just mostly, say.  Add another third of the floury stuff then the rest of the buttermilk.

When it looks almost mixed well in together, dump in the rest of the flour, let the mixer spin a mere few times, not much, and shut the machine off.  Want to avoid over-mixing here to keep things light and fluffy.

With a non-stick spatula,* scrape the bowl down, scrape up the bottom, and give a few final gentle folds by hand.  If you still see some flour, that's perfectly a-okay.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan* and spread it out nice and even.  Use the spatula, it's not critical.  Meaning, no need to whip out your offset spatula* for this.

Now, just drop those plump little summery nuggets of sunshine on top of the batter.  They end up sinking to the bottom so any decorative urges you have can be saved for something else.

Sprinkle the rest of the sugar atop and off to the oven we go.

Tada!  Raspberry Buttermilk Cake!

Let that cool on a rack* for a few minutes in the pan then flip it out upside down onto the rack to cool a few more minutes (or flip it back right side up), then flip it (or slide it) onto a plate or serving dish or ooh get fancy with a cake stand.*

And happy summer to you!

You can serve this Raspberry Buttermilk Cake all naked as it is or dollop on some soft whipped cream or ball up a nice scoop of vanilla or complementary ice cream.

Mmmm. 

Vrooom....What's that?  The sound of my car starting itself and whisking me off to Michigan to go get some fruit?  See ya!

*The baking spray, bundt pans, pastry brushes, stand mixers, mixing bowls, hand mixers, non-stick spatulas, 9" cake pans, offset spatulas, cooling racks, and cake stands are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.