baking saturday

It's rainy and cold here - well for the time of year. And we're dreaming of summer days so it feels colder. So my antidote is to make the house smell yummy. So yesterday I baked. Another loaf of oatmeal spelt bread,

and while I was doing that I whipped up this yummy cake and it is delicious for breakfast.

I used more fruit (I had 4 stalks of rhubarb which made 3 cups of sliced pieces) so I added another 1/2 cup of chopped strawberries. When I make it again, I might add a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar to the top like with this cake for a bit of crunch. Also referencing another of my strawberry rhubarb favorites - struesel topping pie.

But the cake. I used a ceramic 11x7 pan and the fruit bubbled up a bit (you can see the fruit dribbles on the pan in the picture).

Strawberry Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake (from Sassy Radish and Gourmet)
1/4 c water
1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
3 c sliced rhubarb
1 1/2 c chopped strawberries
1 c flour
1/3 c sugar
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 c buttermilk
1 stick butter (1/2 c), melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400 deg F and butter the dish (the recipe calls for 8x8 glass or ceramic - I used 11x7 ceramic). Heat the water, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Once the sugar is combined, add the rhubarb and stir to coat. Heat to simmer and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the strawberries and take off the heat and set aside.

Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl. Blend well.

Whisk the egg, buttermilk, butter and vanilla together. Add the flour mixture and blend together just until mixed.

Spread about 1/2 c of the fruit mixture over the bottom of the dish. Dollop the cake mix somewhat evenly over the top of the fruit and use a spatula to even it out. Pour the rest of the fruit over the top, as evenly distributed as possible.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until a tester comes clean from the middle of the cake.