(First of all… are you already having Tastespotting withdrawl like I am? Luckily Food Gawker has stepped in to take over where Tastespotting left off! Check it out!)
As someone who writes for a food blog and other food related sites, and someone who also loves to read food blogs, I can admit that often times I will make something simply because I believe it will be good food blog fodder. This train of thought often leads me to leave out those things that might be more ordinary. (Okay - what is ordinary to me and what is ordinary to you may be completely different things, but just go with it, please.)
My husband and I attended a party on Saturday night and we were asked to bring an appetizer and dessert. It was an outdoor party, so I knew that I wanted something light and refreshing.. something that could withstand the heat if it got too hot. Chocolate was out. Frozen desserts were out. Anything with a lot of cream or dairy products was out. As I took a look through my “I will make this someday” list, I stumbled upon the Golden Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries recipe and thought I should give that a try. But, then, I hesitated. It seems like such an ordinary cake… how I would I spin it in to a blog post? What could possibly be entertaining about a plain old buttermilk cake?
Well, blogging thoughts thrown aside and the desire to mark another thing off my list taking precedence, I decided to forgo the excitement of an extraordinary dessert and go for the ordinary. After I photographed my little slice of cake, I slipped it back onto the serving plate and we headed out to the party.
I learned a very good lesson that day. Sometimes the ordinary really is extraordinary, just disguised under a simple facade. I set the cake down with the dish of cut up strawberries next to it, went with my husband to scout out a place to put our stuff, came back to get some food and noticed that my cake was almost all gone! The party had barely even begun, and people were snatching up little slices of my ordinary cake and topping it with the strawberries and were passing up things that were much fancier. I hurriedly snatched up a piece and my husband and I sat down and both mmmmm’d our way through each bite.
This cake does not need fanfare. It does not need fancy words or an elaborate description. It just needs you to give it a try and you can discover for your self how wonderful ordinary can be.
Golden Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries - Cooking Light, March 2007
1 cup cake flour (about 4 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup egg substitute (I used one egg as I was out of egg substitute)
2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon powdered sugar
4 cups sliced strawberries
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 350°.Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
Place 1/3 cup granulated sugar and butter in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg substitute; beat just until combined. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition. Stir in vanilla (batter will be thick).
Spoon batter into an 8-inch round cake pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over top of cake.
Combine berries and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; toss to coat. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve berry mixture with cake.
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cake slice and 1/2 cup berry mixture)
CALORIES 193 (29% from fat); FAT 6.3g (sat 3.8g,mono 1.5g,poly 0.4g); IRON 1.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 16mg; CALCIUM 75mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.4g; SODIUM 253mg; PROTEIN 3.5g; FIBER 2g
coleen & kelly says:
this looks divine! perfect for a summer’s eve. i can imagine that it indeed go very quickly. yum! can’t wait to make it for our next party.
btw, thanks so much for visiting our new blog. we are big fans of yours, so it made our day to know that you had stopped by for a visit!
June 15th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
noble pig says:
Wow, that’s great. I love a simple cake, it’s often more enjoyable to eat than fru-fru dessert.
June 15th, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Peter says:
After eating and sampling lots of food at a party, one gets what’s called “palette fatigue” and a simple, delightful dessert hits the spot, like here.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says:
Looks extraordinary to me!
June 16th, 2008 at 4:31 am
LyB says:
Thank you for the Food Gawker link, I need it so badly! And that cake sounds fabulous, the buttermilk must make it really moist and flavorful.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:30 am
karen beth says:
I am a Southern gal, as you know, and many of us down here have a common thought: ANYTHING with buttermilk is good, good, good. Mmmmmmmm… that cake just SOUNDS divine. I’m no cook but I might actually try that.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:10 am
holler says:
Clever you! What a gorgeous looking piece of cake! I would have grabbed a slice quick sharpish too
June 16th, 2008 at 7:57 am
aria says:
oh that looks awesome! i for love straight forward recipes like this cooked perfectly rather than overdone dishes w/ too many ingredients. looks really delicious…
June 16th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Prudence says:
Looks SO yummy!
June 16th, 2008 at 10:59 am
MyKitchenInHalfCups says:
We just need to listen to our mom: Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. I will admit this does look very good to me and I’ve never gone wrong with buttermilk.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Mrs. L says:
So light for both my hips and the hot weather. Who cares if it’s simple…if it tastes good I’m there!
June 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
peabody says:
Yes, very happy food gawker stepped up. Buttermilk cake is always so moist. This looks mighty tasty.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
My Sweet & Saucy says:
I love buttermilk cake…one of my favorites for sure! This one looks great!
June 16th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Maya says:
Thank God for Foodgawker
Buttermilk cakes are my fave - nice and moist.
June 17th, 2008 at 3:58 am
Karen says:
Kristen, your new look is gorgeous! Good work.
And buttermilk cake is just the kind of simple sweet I love to eat with fruit.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Patricia Scarpin says:
I love cakes like this one here, Kristen. Light, tender, delicious. Simple yet fantastic.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Kate says:
I must be the rare blogger that never got into Tastespotting. When I saw a post that it had gone down, I didn’t even know what it was. Oh well…..
Nice looking cake!
June 17th, 2008 at 6:34 am
bobby says:
Kristen, great looking cake. Looks really light and refresing - I would say you pulled it off well! This must have disappeared real quick
June 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Sandie (Inn Cuisine) says:
Ooh… I read this on Just Baking and thought it looked divine!
June 17th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Les in NE says:
OK, you keep crossing recipes off your list, but I keep adding to my pile of those to try, thanks to you!
This sounds like a winner. I suspect my husband will want to add a dollop of Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream on the side, but maybe I can convince him that less really is more!
June 17th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Lisa :) says:
That’s looks so yummy! I am adding this to my list of things to make!!!
June 17th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Deborah says:
Those really are the best kind of recipes. My mom always cooked simple foods, and when I think of good food, I still always think of my mom’s cooking!
June 18th, 2008 at 10:50 am
jaz says:
I made this cake and it was delicious! It was so simple to make, took hardly any time, and it came out light, fluffy, and amazing. My only issue with it was that when i cut it it wasnt a perfectly clean cut from the looks of the top of the cake. You dont have to have any fruit on the side if you dont have any, but a lemon sauce might work out well drizzled on it too.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
kellypea says:
I’m definitely having tastespotting withdrawls — but it’s funny that so many other places are popping up. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Yourn cake does sound extraordinary. I love buttermilk in anything. Great recipe.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:57 am
enthusia says:
mmmm…i can’t wait to try this with all the blueberries coming in!
June 21st, 2008 at 11:00 pm