Roasted Balsamic Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Recently, I have wanted to put buttermilk in everything but have been limited by availability.  Well fear not, dear readers, because I have finally found a source in my neighborhood!  Expect many more posts including buttermilk in the near future, on the heels of my pinterest-popular Nutella Buttermilk Bars.  Today, I'm using the buttermilk in a too-easy-it's-crazy buttermilk cake from Gourmet.

Instead of fresh berries, I used my roasted balsamic strawberries.  Buttermilk is notoriously tangy so I thought that it would pair well with the tangy-sweet roasted berries.  Light and fluffy cake with a little crunch from extra sugar sprinkled on top, it is the perfect pick-me-up bite at the end of the day.

So, what are your favorite ways to use buttermilk?

Roasted Balsamic Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Adapted from Gourmet

1 cup of AP unbleached flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cups sugar + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shakend

1 cup of roasted balsamic strawberries

First, preheat the oven to 400 F and butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan.  Start by whisking together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Cream the butter with 2/3 cups of sugar for about 2 minutes, until lighter in color.

Next, add the vanilla and egg yolk until combined.  To finish the batter, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, 1/4 cup of buttermilk, 1/3 of the dry ingredients, 1/4 cup of buttermilk, and the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients.  To mix, I just used a spatula instead of my electric mixer to ensure a light batter.

I poured the finished batter into the greased pan and topped with the cup of roasted strawberries.  Finally, 1 tablespoon of sugar was sprinkled over the top to create a lovely crisp top.

Bake for 30 minutes at 400 F.  Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Serve and enjoy!