Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

Keith (the bf) and his friends like to have these occasional get-togethers at each other's houses. Everyone makes a dish, the person who hosts makes the main course, and everyone has a great time (also there's a lot of wine involved). He and I hosted the last one and we made Ina Garten's Tequila Lime Chicken. Now anyone that's ever heard me talk about my fondness for the Barefoot Contessa knows this already: I love Ina Garten. None of her recipes that I've tried have ever turned out bad or, for that matter, less than perfect. They're incredibly and consistently spot on.

Needless to say, the Tequila Lime Chicken was a hit. This week, Keith's friend Shannon was hosting, and Keith volunteered us to make a dessert. I learned about this on Tuesday night, and since the dinner was Wednesday evening, I didn't have loads of time to plan.

Ever since it was published in the now-defunct Gourmet magazine, Raspberry Buttermilk Cake has been making its rounds on food blogs with various changes and alterations. The concept is simple enough: a tender, moist, single-layer buttermilk cake topped with some delicious, ripe berries. What could go wrong?



FAIL.

However, I was vigilant and determined. I have a new, professional stand mixer for Pete's sake!



Okay, okay, that was a cheap way to show off the mixer that I finally took a pic of. Either way, the cake was easy and quick to make so after the first fail, I decided to try it again. After double-checking that I did everything right, I looked at other blogs that had featured this cake. No one seemed to have any problems at all?!

I'm no pastry chef, but I certainly know my way around baked goods. The cake stuck in the pan, despite greasing and flouring, because the blueberries that are placed on top sunk down to the bottom of the cake. I'm not sure how other people had not experienced this before. I decided to take out double insurance. I lightly floured the blueberries, and I lined the cake bottom with parchment. The blueberries still sank, but the cake came out beautifully the second time around. I even made some berry-whipped cream to accompany it.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Berry-Whipped Cream

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
1 egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup blueberries, washed and dried
1/2 tbsp sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9-inch cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper, grease the parchment, and dust the pan with flour.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. In the bowl of a mixer, beat the softened butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and lemon zest and mix until incorporated. Add the egg and beat well.

Add the flour in thirds, alternately with the buttermilk. Begin and end with the flour and mix until just combined. Scrape down the bowl of the mixer as needed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the blueberries on top and dust the top with the 1/2 tbsp sugar.



Bake at 400 degrees for about 18-22 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test. The cake should be evenly browned and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes then invert and remove the parchment paper very carefully. This is a shot of the cake upside down after the parchment has been removed:



Berry-Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/4-1/3 cup sugar
1 cup blackberries/raspberries

In a chilled mixer bowl, whip the cream until thickened but still soft. While whipping, mix in the sugar (to taste). Once the cream is thick with stiff peaks, whip in the berries by hand. It won't take long and the berries will break up, coloring the whipped cream and imparting there delightful berry goodness throughout.



After all of this, the dinner was canceled at the last minute and postponed until next week. Keith and I were left with two cakes, one in significantly better condition than the other. I decided to try to freeze the nice cake while Keith and I nommed on the less-than-nice cake with some whipped cream last night for dessert. While it wasn't picture perfect, it was damned tasty and the whipped cream was phenomenal!