Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
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I was down in San Diego visiting my parents for Memorial Day weekend when this recipe showed up in my Google Reader. It was 9 at night and my parents, sister, and I were all sitting around watching TV, stuffed from dinner and a party earlier in the day. I made this cake thinking we would taste it before bed and eat some of it the next day.
Which we did. Actually, we finished it the next day. And made two more as well. Oh yes, it was that much of a hit! The second time around, I made it a lot healthier by making a few substitutions: I replaced the butter with applesauce (tablespoon for tablespoon), the sugar with Splenda, and the flour with whole wheat flour. And it still got two thumbs up from everyone! It’s light, moist, delicious, and incredibly simple to make.
Notes: Since I was baking at my parents’ house and didn’t have my cake pans, I used a pie pan and it turned out just fine. I also made my own buttermilk (using Lactaid!) by adding 1/2 tablespoon of vinegar to the 1/2 cup milk and let it sit for 10 minutes. And finally, you can substitute any berry you wish.
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 fresh strawberries (you can use any berry you want)
Preparation
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, about two minutes, 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 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 (mine were all done in about 18 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 (I skipped this part and just cut, sliced, and served–much easier).
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.
Low Fat Banana Muffins
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I’ve read about how applesauce can be used in baked goods in place of fats such as eggs, oil, and butter but hadn’t tried the substitution until now. And I’m happy to report it’s a good substitution!
Of course, these muffins are not meant to replace my favorite banana bread. They are simply a low fat alternative, and even with the chocolate chips they are still only three points each. They’re easy (no need for a mixer!), moist and flavorful, and lighter than I was expecting after reading some of the reviews.
The lightness may be because I made muffins rather than a loaf (I like wrapping them individually then freezing them so I can defrost one at a time). I made the mistake of using paper liners, and the muffins completely stuck to them so I suggest spraying a muffin tin with Pam and forgoing the liners.
Photos of the process here.
Ingredients
4 very ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar (I used Splenda Sugar Blend)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
4 tablespoons applesauce (I made my own)
1/2 cup chocolate chips, optional
Preparation
- Mash bananas in a bowl.
- Add all other ingredients and mix well.
- Pour into greased loaf pan.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 13-15 minutes if making muffins (or 50 to 60 minutes if making a loaf), or until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
Yields 16 muffins or one loaf.
Recipe adapted from Recipe Zaar.
Applesauce
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I hate applesauce. Mushed apples and water? Blech. I like my apples crisp with a nice crunch when I bite into them. So when I noticed the apples in my fridge (yes, I keep apples in the fridge) were going soft, I knew I had to do something with them. And since I had over-ripe bananas in the freezer, I figured this was the perfect time to make applesauce to use in a low fat banana muffin recipe (coming soon!) I had bookmarked earlier in the week.
I scoured the Internet for applesauce recipes and with the help of Rachel over at Coconut & Lime (she’s so patient!), I got to work. I was pleasantly surprised to learn applesauce is extremely easy to make (and not so surprised to find that I still don’t like it). I didn’t add much sugar since I knew I was going to bake with it, but if you’re planning to eat it and are using tart apples, throw it in. Also, I divided it into small individual Glad containers which I froze to use in future recipes.
Ingredients
4 apples (I used Fujis)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar, optional
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
Preparation
- Peel, core, and slice apples.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes, or until the apples are soft enough to mash.
- Mash with a fork (or pulse in a food processor like I did).
Yields approximately three cups.
