Raspberry Buttermilk Cake Recipe

This is the perfect little cake. It is quick and easy to make with ingredients that are probably sitting in your kitchen right now. There are no fancy mixing methods, no expensive, hard-to-find ingredients and no decadent frostings. Not too sweet or heavy, this cake is perfect for breakfast or as an afternoon snack. You can use just about any fruit you have on hand, fresh or frozen.

The original recipe appeared in the June 2009 Gourmet magazine. I ran across a variation here. I’ve made the cake twice. The first time I followed the original recipe and used fresh blueberries. That cake was okay. The second time I made several adjustments and used frozen raspberries. That cake was fantastic.

In my version, I cut down on the sugar from 2/3 cup to 1/2 cup. I also cut down on the leavening quite a bit. My version of the recipe is after the jump.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from Gourmet and Smitten Kitchen

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh or frozen fruit such as raspberries or blueberries

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment. Butter and flour the parchment.

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

Beat butter and 1/2 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well. At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter fruit evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 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.