roasted strawberry buttermilk cake

Posted: November 21, 2012 | Author: cuttercookie | Filed under: cake, fruit, strawberries | Tags: barbecue, buttermilk, city2sea, dessert, picnic, strawberries, summer, sweat |2 Comments »

It’s summertime, y’all!

No, I’m not from the South (of the USA) but it is practically summer, although not technically so for a few weeks. (Like, say, two. Eek!)

But the sun is shining, the plants are growing, the sweat is flowing and the strawberries are coming out. Yes, I said sweat. I’m not going to lie, I’m a lady but I still have bodily functions. That kinda overreact when you go running in the sun. Especially if you go for 14 kilometres.

Eek! That was over a week ago now. You can still donate to my fundraising page here, if you like – it’s open till Christmas Eve. So check it out! I finished the run in 1 hour 37 minutes and 53 seconds. It was amazing and I can’t wait to do another one.

In other news, however, it is the season for picnics and barbecues and I have the perfect dessert to bring along. It’s sweet but not overly so, it’s got some interesting flavours that work well together and aren’t a huge leap for unadventurous tastebuds, it’s easy and it’s really good warm or cold.

I have to give a shoutout to my girl Steph for daring me to make this cake – she said she would if I did, so I made it for a family barbecue and it was a total hit. Thanks, Steph! And as a bonus, it comes from one of my favourite bloggers, Joy the Baker.

On a tiny little related note, I HAVE THE NEW JOY THE BAKER COOKBOOK AND I’M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT IT! I want to make pretty much everything in there. I don’t know where to start. It’s so pretty and girly and fun and amazing. I can’t wait to try all the things.

Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Adapted from Joy the Baker

This cake was originally baked in an 11-inch cast iron skillet, but I don’t have a cast-iron skillet so I used a 9-inch pie dish which worked just fine. It took a little longer than the recipe stated so if you use different pans, just take that into account.

For the roasted strawberries:

250 g punnet strawberries

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp flaky sea salt

For the cake:

360 g plain flour

100 g sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp flaky sea salt

390 g (350 ml) buttermilk

2 large eggs

60 g melted butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

roasted strawberries

To roast the strawberries:

Preheat oven to 375°Fahrenheit or 190°Celsius. Line a rimmed (very important) baking tray with foil. Set aside.

Hull and slice the strawberries. Toss in the olive oil, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar and salt. Lay in your baking tray in a single layer and roast for 40 minutes.

To make the cake:

Preheat oven to 400°Fahrenheit/200°Celsius. Butter a 9-inch pie dish and set aside.

Sift the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and salt, then make a well in the mixture.

Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and butter. Pour into the well of the dry ingredients and stir together until just incorporated.

Pour into the prepared pie dish and scatter the roasted strawberries with their juices over the top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out nearly clean.

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