Strawberry buttermilk cake

With Christmas around, everyone is baking some of the best cakes and beautiful ones that will sure taste delicious too. there are posts after post bringing us cakes, cookies and candies. The season of sharing has brought the creativity in my fellow bloggers and they are working in their kitchens to share the goodies with family and friends.

I have tried much to bake but cakes have always not been good at it. However, that does not deter me from attempting again. This cake is one that I had tried earlier soon after Aparna had posted this one. I remember using the exact measurements and liking it when we tasted, only that we like our cake a bit sweet. She had tried this recipe from gourmet and altered to suit her tastes.

This time I used the recipe from gourmet, replacing the egg with extra buttermilk and baking powder; I did not find raspberries, so went with Aparna and the strawberries. This cake was for our marriage anniversary earlier in the week. Both recipes I had looked up were baked in a 9" round tin, however, I wanted to use one smaller bundt tin I had with me, so used that and another 41/2" small round tin to fit the rest of the batter.

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar (I used 150 ml sugar, slightly less than 2/3rds of the cup)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 cup fresh strawberries chopped

Method:
Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.
Dust the cake tin and have it ready.
Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Whisk the buttermilk well.
Beat the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy.
Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine.
With the mixer running at the lowest speed, gently beat in the flour mix in small batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the chopped strawberries mixing lightly. If you want a beautiful design on your cake, you may cut strawberries in neat cut pieces and arrange on the top after transferring the batter to the tin.
Transfer the batter to the prepared tin and bake at 200 degrees C for 25 to 30 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. I had  small cakes and hence the baking time was only 25 minutes.
Cool the cakes on wire racks.
I sprinkled some powdered sugar on top and topped with few fresh strawberries.
We enjoyed the cake with tea.