Blackberry Buttermilk Skillet Cake
This is the time of year when delicious blackberries are now readily available at the farmer's market. Blackberries also grow wild throughout Marin, so they're free and plentiful if you know where to look (and don't mind the occasional jab from a blackberry thorn). The kids love to go pick blackberries, which we usually end up eating out of hand. If we have enough left over, we try to make a blackberry dessert like this old-fashioned buttermilk skillet cake.
This cake is best made in a cast iron skillet. If you don't have one, go get one—cast iron pans make everything you cook in them taste better, and they're virtually indestructible. You can cook with them at home, take them camping, and eventually pass them down to your grandkids! You'll find them at the hardware or sporting goods store for around $20 or so. They even come pre-seasoned, so you can use them right away.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- dash of salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 3 cups fresh blackberries
Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using a mixer, beat 6 tablespoons butter and white sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined. Turn mixer to low and add flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with buttermilk, and beat until combined.
In a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, melt remaining 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and cook, stirring continually, for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and arrange blackberries evenly over the sugar and butter in the skillet.
Pour batter over blackberries and smooth the top. Bake until the cake is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool in the skillet on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a knife around edge and carefully invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.
