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Strawberry-Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

June 26, 2009 by Nicole 49 Comments

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries

As you all know, I am a huge fan of simple recipes.  What you might not know is that buttermilk is a staple in my house and I am almost never without it.  I even keep powdered buttermilk in the pantry for those rare times when I don’t have the fresh stuff in the fridge.  It adds such a nice flavor and texture to baked goods that I’ll often adapt recipes to include it even when it’s not originally called for.  So when I saw a recipe in last month’s Gourmet magazine that was simple, included buttermilk on the ingredient list, and looked absolutely delicious, of course I had to try it.

The recipe I’m referring to is Raspberry Buttermilk Cake.  I didn’t have any fresh raspberries on hand, but I did have a handful of blueberries and a pint of strawberries in the fridge, so I decided to adapt.  Although I know the raspberry version is probably delicious, I’m really glad I opted to use the berries I had on hand.  Not only was it a great combination, but this would be a perfect Red, White, and Blue Cake for a Fourth of July barbecue.  Served with whipped cream and extra berries, it would be both festive and delicious.

The ingredient list is simple: flour plus leavening, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and fresh berries.

Ingredients for Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Cream Butter and Sugar

Beat in egg and vanilla then add flour (plus leavening and salt) and buttermilk alternately in batches.  You’ll have a nice fluffy batter at the end.

Buttermilk Cake Batter

Scrape the batter into a cake pan that has been buttered and floured (I like to make it easy by just spraying the pan with Baker’s Joy).

Buttermilk Cake Batter in Pan

Smooth the top with a spatula.

Smoothing the top of the Buttermilk Cake Batter

Then sprinkle your fresh berries evenly over the top.  You can use whatever berries you have on hand, or even chopped peaches or nectarines.  You want to use about a cup of fruit.

Sprinkle the Cake Batter with Fresh Berries

Now sprinkle the raw sugar over the top of the fruit.

Sprinkle with Sugar

Bake the cake until golden, about 25 minutes.  As you can see, the cake rises up and over the berries so they end up in the middle of the cake.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake out of the Oven

After it has cooled in the pan for ten minutes, turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake Unmolded

I decorated mine with extra fresh berries and if I would have had some whipped cream or ice cream on hand, I would have served it with that.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries

But it was delicious all by itself!

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries

Strawberry-Blueberry Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from this recipe in Gourmet

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup chopped fresh strawberries
heaping tablespoon of raw sugar (demerara, turbinado or Sugar in the Raw)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan (or spray with Baker’s Joy or equivalent).

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about two minutes.  Add vanilla and egg and beat well.  With the mixer set to low speed, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Add half the buttermilk and continue beating on low speed until incorporated.  Scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, beat in another 1/3 of flour mixture then remaining buttermilk. Finally beat in the last 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined.

3. Scrape batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.  Scatter blueberries and strawberries evenly over the top of the cake batter then sprinkle with raw sugar.

4. Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.  Cool in the pan for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool until warm.  Invert onto a plate.  Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries on the side.

Related Recipes:

  • Coconut Lime Cake
  • Red Velvet Cake
  • Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Easy Lemon Cake
  • Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Around the Web:

  • Vanilla Buttermilk Cake from A Whisk and a Spoon
  • Buttermilk Cake with Berries from Food Mayhem
  • Dark Chocolate Buttermilk Cake from Christine Cooks
  • Buttermilk Cake with White Chocolate and Dried Apricots from Sweet Sins
  • Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Instant Fudge Frosting from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy,Chewy

Filed Under: Adventures in Baking, Desserts, Vegetarian Tagged With: blueberries, buttermilk, cake, dessert, fourth of july, red white and blue, strawberries

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. health says

    June 28, 2009 at 4:00 am

    oh god!! mmm.. yummyyy... wonderful recipe.
    Reply
  2. Deanna says

    June 28, 2009 at 8:06 pm

    I have some buttermilk left over and didn't know what i was going to do with it. Yippeee. Now I know what I am doing with it!! p.s. you are my newest favorite food blog!!
    Reply
  3. Mrs. Myers @ Eat Move Write says

    June 28, 2009 at 9:07 pm

    I love your blog! That cake looks amazing!
    Reply
  4. M says

    June 28, 2009 at 11:00 pm

    looks really good & will definitely give it a try :) great job!
    Reply
  5. Jamie says

    June 28, 2009 at 11:35 pm

    If you take a look at my blog you will see that I too am a great fan of the simple whether dessert or snack. And funny thing is, I just posted a cake very similar to this one! Lovely! But I must try yours as husband is a huge buttermilk fan.
    Reply
  6. Susan from Food Blogga says

    June 29, 2009 at 8:51 am

    Oh, Nicole, this looks scrumptious! I'm posting on blueberry sweet rolls today and will link to it. Then when I get more blueberries, I'll have to make it!
    Reply
  7. wendy says

    June 29, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    I love simple cakes. Your cake looks delicious. YUM.
    Reply
  8. Cherie says

    June 29, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    Holy hell! This looks really incredible...Im all over it- I need to give this one a go myself. The simplicity of it holds such appeal and the photos are enough to propel me into the kitchen even on a sunny day like today. Thanks for sharing dear. Cheers, Cherie http://cheriepicked.com
    Reply
  9. Yvonne says

    July 1, 2009 at 8:03 pm

    OK, I just made this for the second time and doubled the recipe because we're having a BIG BBQ at work tomorrow. I had taken samples of the first attempt for our staff to "try out" and the response was "OMG..." so.... I was concerned because all I had on hand this time was a frozen package of blueberries and when I opened the package I realized that they were OLD. I didn't really have any other options so I proceeded ahead and since I did have some lovely strawberries I was hoping that no one would notice the rather shrivelled blueberries. NOT TO WORRY! They plumped right up in the baking process and, girls, you'd be proud! This is the best recipe ever for a smash hit dessert. Even with questionable blueberries!
    Reply
  10. Laura says

    July 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    Thanks so much for this recipe. I recently bought myself a stand mixer as a birthday present and this was it's inaugural product. Delish!
    Reply
  11. Barbara says

    July 4, 2009 at 9:40 am

    Okay! I made this recipe and it came out wonderfully. It was nice that it's a small cake (although I'm sure it could easily be doubled) since it's just me and the hubby. By the way, my husband wants to thank you A LOT. He loved this cake...he got the "I'm in heaven" look as soon as he put it in his mouth. I made some slight "modifications" (okay..screw ups) and it worked beautifully. Thanks so much for the recipe! If you're interested in the "modifications": http://strangerkiss.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/when-good-dinner-plans-go-bad/
    Reply
  12. Stacey says

    July 9, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    This looks delicious!! I made a blueberry crumb cake last week and wondered if strawberries would work..this just answered my question! I am definitely making this tomorrow!
    Reply
  13. Christine says

    July 31, 2009 at 11:57 pm

    What a beautiful cake! I'm saving it to make when my blueberries come it. Thanks for the link Nicole.
    Reply
  14. Madiant says

    August 27, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    wow, amazing, but what else is amazing is that PAN? who is the maker? and who knew we weren't relegated to using dull silver pans!
    Reply
  15. Nicole says

    August 27, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    Madiant: The pan is a 9" Calphalon nonstick cake pan. I got two of them as a wedding gift years ago and they have always worked well.
    Reply
  16. alison says

    October 30, 2009 at 12:29 pm

    came across this recipe earlier and just had to give it a try (i already have plans to test out what brought me to your site yesterday, the red velvet cake, tomorrow, but couldn't wait on this one).. i went for a fall spin on this and used apple and pear with an few extra drops of vanilla and brown sugar instead of the raw to really up the familiar fall flavor profile. i got a bit too greedy with the amount of fruit i put in (i probably actually doubled it!) but was amazed how almost all of it did get baked over. however, i do not recommend using that much fruit, especially kinds so full of moisture. i had to increase my cooking time as a result and the cake is a bit darker than i'd like and had a little trouble inverting it due to the internal structure being interrupted by so much fruit. all that said, it still tastes amazing and a dusting of powdered sugar on the top will make it more than presentable for the family!
    Reply
  17. dentist Burlington says

    October 24, 2011 at 10:26 am

    Delicious cake! All my guests are always asking me if I will cook it for them when theuy come home, they really love it! Recommended
    Reply
  18. vandygrrl says

    October 1, 2012 at 4:26 pm

    Could you make this with chopped up apple since it's fall and that's the fruit we have in season? I have some frozen berries that I could thaw and put in this if that would be better, but I wonder about an apple cake. Thanks for all the buttermilk recipes! We love it here but buy it rarely as a special treat. I always have such fun picking out just the right goodies to make from it and your site has given me a lot to pick from! Love all the beautiful pictures as well!
    Reply
  19. Liz says

    April 11, 2013 at 8:37 am

    This is one of my all time favorite recipes! I originally got it off of Smitten Kitchen and have made it at least 15 times since then. It is my go to when I have leftover buttermilk. I have found that it's infinitely adaptable too, which is my favorite part. I've been experimenting with different flours have have replaced some of the AP flour with everything from whole wheat flour to buckwheat flour. My fiance and mine currently favorite is substituting half of the flour with rye flour and using a mixture of raspberries and blackberries. I've even used frozen berries before (in the winter, when fresh really isn't a great option) and it still comes out fabulous each and every time. Sorry for writing a short novel on this cake, but I just love it!! I'm always happy to stumble across it when I am blog hopping :)
    Reply
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