Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt
OK, does anyone else always think of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" whenever you hear the word 'bundt'? Please tell me I'm not the only one. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then shame on you. Watch that movie for heaven's sake and get some good belly laughs in. OK, enough about weddings. This is not a wedding cake, of course, but it is a wonderful cake. What's so wonderful about it, you ask? Well, it basically lets you grab whatever fruit you have on hand and toss it in the mixer with some basic ingredients to give you a beautiful cake. The glaze is thick and tasty and will cover up any mishaps that occur when you invert the cake out of the pan (I totally had some this time. Darn it. But all is well when covered in a white sugary glaze!). I first made this a couple summers ago, and while I liked it, I don't remember loving it. But, it's good to give things another try, right? I am so glad I did. I had some delightful Southern MO blueberries in my freezer (thank you, Jenni) and I decided to use them in this cake to take to Bible study brunch (I had signed up under the 'coffee cake' category). Now normally whenever I take stuff to a brunch or party I cut it into bite sized or serving-sized pieces. There are two reasons for this: 1. So I can sample it to make sure it's not awful and 2. So my husband gets some dessert. This time I decided not to do that. The cake is so pretty in it's intact form, and I was trying to help Mr Diet out a little bit. But wouldn't you know? He was not happy with me at all. He asked me for some cake. I told him no. This happened twice. The next morning he made sure to comment, "I hope you ladies enjoy your cake today" when he left. Well, dear, we did. I came home with an empty plate. Maybe next time I'll share some with you. Or not.
Berry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
-adapted slightly from smittenkitchen.com
Cake
-2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon table salt
-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
-1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
-Zest of 1 lemon
-3 large eggs, at room temperature
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
-3/4 cup buttermilk
-3 to 4 cups mixed berries (now, I think frozen would be fine. I used those blueberries this time that I had frozen already without trouble. Last time I made this, I made it as recommended--triple berry with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. You could also use rhubarb or chopped fresh peaches.....think of some fun combos and give 'em a whirl)
Glaze
-2 cups powdered sugar
-Juice of 1 lemon (the one you just zested for the cake)
-1 tablespoon unsalted butter, very, very soft
Preheat your oven to 350F. Generously grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, either with butter or a nonstick spray. To be really safe, you might want to butter and then sprinkle with flour. I had a little sticking trouble, but as I mentioned before, it wasn't anything I couldn't cover with the glaze. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour (leaving 2 tablespoons back), baking powder and salt together and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then, with the mixer on a low speed, add your eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in vanilla, briefly. Add 1/3 flour mixture to batter, beating until just combined, followed by half the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and remaining flour mixture. Do not over beat. Nobody likes a tough cake. Toss the berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Gently fold the berries into the thick cake batter.
Spread cake batter in the prepared baking pan and spread the top smooth. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, rotating the cake 180 degrees after 30 minutes (to make sure it browns evenly). The cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean of batter.
Set cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, before inverting the cake onto a serving platter to cool the rest of the way. Cool completely. Once cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and butter until smooth and very, very thick. You can add more lemon juice or a teeny touch of water to thin it if you'd like. Spread carefully over top of cake, letting it trickle down over the sides. Serve at once or keep it covered at room temperature for 3 to 4 days, but it won't last that long.
