Okay, so I still have blackberries left over after bringing them all the way home to San Diego from Gig Harbor, WA and already making a batch of Blackberry Buttermilk Sherbet…they are getting really squishy and juicy and I do NOT want to throw out them out!  Went to my usual source of inspiration, Epicurious, and found two recipes that sounded good (blackberry, lemon and thyme muffins and a blackberry upside down cake), but had less than stellar reviews (btw, LOVE that I can read reviews before trying a recipe!).  So, I visited my other online inspiration, Smitten Kitchen, and found a Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, which she described as, “you can just ignore the word “raspberry” up there and swap it up with any which berry you please, like blackberries or blueberries or bits of strawberries or all of the above. This is a good, basic go-to buttermilk cake — moist and ever-so-light.”  Perfect!  Oh, did I mention there’s leftover buttermilk too…I hate it when that happens.  Why do they only make buttermilk in quart size?

Okay, on to the recipe.  Everything SK said about this cake is true. And I LOVE the little bit of crunchy sweetness from the extra sugar sprinkled on top.  It is delicious…a perfect little late afternoon snack or really wonderful with coffee for breakfast!

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup (5 ounces) fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch 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 (146 grams) sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. 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. Scatter (see Note) raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons () sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.