Avid Baker's Challenge: Favorite Buttermilk Cake

This month's Avid Baker's Challenge cake was the delicious, tender, and SUPER easy Favorite Buttermilk Cake on page 344 of Flo Braker's Baking for All Occasions. I can see why she calls it a favorite! I continue to be impressed by this cookbook (especially since most recipes are so straightforward and easy to make).

It looked pretty plain when baked, but it has a wonderful crumb and it is a sturdy cake that would be easy to layer and would do well with a filling, frosting or a topping of any variety. And, best of all, the flavor of the cake was so wonderful. It is a plain vanilla-ish cake, but the buttermilk adds a nice depth of flavor and gives it a little more dimension than just a plain cake. This is definitely one of my favorites so far.

The day I made it I served it with the HCB raspberry sauce that I love so much and that was a great pairing...however it is equally delicious just on its own. I imagine it would be great with a chocolate ganache or buttercream frosting, as a strawberry shortcake, etc. etc. And it would take the addition of any flavoring (to the cake itself) really well. I grated in about 1/8-1/4 of a teaspoon of fresh nutmeg which added a really nice undertone to the cake. Hanaâ added orange zest and served it with strawberries - love that idea too!

mise en place

I didn't have an 8" square pan so used two 6" pans instead

I may have overbaked them slightly, but they were still very moist and perfectly done on the inside

yum! popped right out of the pan even though I forgot to add parchment...

gorgeous!

served with a drizzle of raspberry sauce...

...delicious!

Bye for now...