Summer Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

I've recently gotten addicted to the show Lost...you remember that show, right?  Yes, I know that I'm only several years late, but that's alright.  I don't usually watch very much television, and my excuse for this is that I'm always at school, and I don't have time, or access, or I'm busy working in studio at night, so keeping up with the latest shows has never really been a priority for me.  I did start watching tv shows on Netflix, like Breaking Bad (I cannot wait for the next season this summer) and Mad Men (I still need to finish catching up on this!), but my most recent obsession is Lost.  I haven't been able to stop watching it; I haven't actually done anything today except watch it on Netflix (I really just need to find out what the deal is with the Others, I HAVE to know).  I don't know how people managed to watch this show while it was actually airing; I can't imagine having had to wait a whole week in between episodes! 

Needless to say, I had to pry myself away from Lost for a brief moment to finish writing up this post.  I had actually started it a couple of days ago, editing all the photos and stuff, but then I got on the whole Lost thing, and things just went downhill from there, because I just needed to keep watching episode after episode.  In any case though, I managed to get away from Netflix for a few moments- a good thing, because I have something delicious that deserves just as much attention as Lost.

This, is a summer strawberry buttermilk cake.  It's totally delicious and totally simple to make.  It's the perfect everyday sort of cake to have around the house, whether it is just for slicing off a small piece to snack on every now and then (which is what my family and I did), having a slice with a cup of coffee, yet this cake is also perfect for having when that unexpected guest comes to pay you a visit.  The cake is simple, yet delicious in its simplicity.  There's nothing overwhelming about the flavors; the cake is mildly sweet, and is loaded with strawberry goodness. 

The cake itself couldn't be simpler to prepare; just whip up the batter like any other coffee cake, and then position a pound of fresh strawberries over the top of the batter.  The cake has only a few steps, but because it sits in the oven for an hour, the strawberries that you've carefully arranged on top will cook and turn into clusters of deliciously sweet strawberry jam that just sink into the cake.  This was my favorite part about the cake; the cake wasn't overly-sweet, but every now and then you'd bite into a pocket of this strawberry jam flavor that was just perfect in every way.

This strawberry buttermilk cake is the perfect way to get ready for summer.  I haven't done this yet, but I'd imagine that you could replace the strawberries for any other type of berry and get equally delicious results.  The cake takes no time at all to prepare, so in a matter of a little over an hour you could have yourself a delicious cake to snack away on.  I suggest you get to making this cake as soon as you can.  In the meantime, though, I need to get back to Lost...if I can manage to get myself away from my computer for a little while in the near future, I'm sure I'll bake up something just as delicious to share with you all. 

Summer Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and position a rack in the middle of the oven.  Grease a 10-inch pie dish (I used a 9-inch springform pan instead and it worked perfectly).  

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.  In the bowl of a standard electric mixer, beat together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Beat in the egg, buttermilk, and vanilla until just combined.  Add the flour mixture gradually, beating until just smooth.  

Pour the batter into the prepared pie dish/baking pan, smoothing out the top with a spatula until even. Arrange the strawberries, cut side down, over the top of the batter, as closely as possible in order to form a single layer.  Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the strawberries.

Bake the cake for 10 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.  Bake the cake until it is golden brown on top, and a cake tester comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes.  Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before slicing into wedges and serving.