Friday cake day

Friday was a furlough day. We have these twice a month now, and while at first I was a little concerned about the money side of it, now I'm kind of digging it. I suppose more hard-working people might consider trying to make up for lost income. But to me, it means two more days a month I get to do some of my favorite things, like swim, nap with the dog, and poke around the house by myself. Who doesn't like to do that?

Anyway, on Friday I did my swimming, napping, and shuffling around, and happily, I still had some time to while away. So I decided to make a cake. Lovely!

I figured it was time to make that cake I'd been dreaming about for a few weeks, the raspberry buttermilk one from a recent Gourmet. Apparently, this cake has been all the rage among food bloggers, and it's understandable why: most people like raspberries; anything with buttermilk sounds good; and the recipe is dead simple. A monkey could make this cake.

I pulled together all the ingredients in a heartbeat and poured them into the pan. Then the fun part: scattering the little berries over the top.


The cake emerged golden and fragrant, with a slight crunch from the sugar sprinkled over the top. It tasted of vanilla and raspberry, with a mild tang from the buttermilk and a very tender crumb.

I surprised the husband with the cake that evening. He was quite pleased, as I've been serving a lot of salads recently. That night, it was roast pork loin with a cake chaser. Something good has to come of these furlough days, I figure. Why not in the form of a sweet and buttery little cake?


If you make this cake, be wary of the baking time. It's supposed to go 25-30 minutes, but mine was perfectly done when I checked it at 23. Our oven is newish so I don't think it runs hot.