Hey! I am so glad you stopped by to check out my recent bakes. My name is Kelsey. I have dedicated 2021 to baking from my favorite baking publication – Bake from Scratch. Each quarter is dedicated to one main category of baking: cakes, breads, pies/pastries, cookies/miscellaneous. I am so excited to learn how to master (or try to master) each of these. Follow me along on my journey!
National Strawberry Day was February 27 and to celebrate, I made this Strawberry-Buttermilk Cake on page 113 in the Bake from Scratch Vol.1 book. This is the first cast-iron skillet cake I have ever made and I will never go back, the crunchy edge the cast-iron gives is the best crust. The sugar topping created a slight crunch on top, combined with the strawberries, sweet cake and vanilla bean cream… This cake is a new favorite! Lemon is not my favorite flavor, so what I made instead of this Lemon Cream was a Vanilla Bean Cream. It is my favorite accompaniment to any dessert, I also used it for the Tres Leche Cake topping instead of meringue. Vanilla Bean Cream recipe is below, it is so simple, it only takes 5 minutes to whip up.
Ingredients:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs
- 12/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup whole buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ of a 16-ounce container of fresh strawberries, halved
- 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar
Directions:
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Spray a 9-inch cast-iron skillet or cake pan with baking spray with flour.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition.
- Beat in vanilla.
- Pour batter into prepared pan, using an off-set spatula to smooth top.
- Top with strawberries, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Serve warm with Lemon Cream.
- I did not make the lemon cream, but I did whip up one of my favorite accompaniments – the vanilla bean cream!
Vanilla Bean Cream
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 2⁄3 cup (80 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon (0.75 gram) kosher salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat cream and confectioners’ sugar at medium speed until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and salt, beating to combine.
The gallery below shows step-by-step photos of my baking process.
Shop the products I mentioned and love!
Thoroughbreads Bakery 