Works well with any fruit (blueberries, hint hint) and can be made seasonally to your desire. This is a great and easy to make go-to buttermilk cake that is perfectly moist and can be made with or without fruit. Easily doubles (or more).

Yield: 1 thin 9-inch cake or a thick 8-inch

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1/ teaspoon salt

½ stick unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

½ cup well-shaken buttermilk

1 cup fresh strawberries & rhubarb (half cup of each or to taste)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400˚F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Lightly place strawberries and rhubarb evenly over top (as pictured).

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, check cake after about 15 minutes, as sometimes it bakes quick. Generally, count on 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then go around edge with knife or offset spatula. Cool another 5 and then turn out onto a rack and cool until warm, about 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

SOME NOTES: If recipe is doubled this makes a wonderful layer cake with your favorite vanilla cream cheese frosting. Un-frosted, this work well as a dessert or breakfast cake.

Don't have buttermilk? Fear not. Make your own almost-buttermilk. No need to buy buttermilk specifically for this or any recipe. Add one tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk and let it sit until it clabbers, about 10 minutes.

Image pictured is the uncooked version, once cooked the fruit sinks into the cake.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Raspberry Buttermilk Cake.