American hausfrau

We lived in Zweibrucken Germany for a year when Amanda was just a baby. Our house was on the outskirts, a short bike ride or long walk from the center of town. The little old houses on our street were identical, and I heard whispers it was one of Hitler's original housing projects, to be exact. But I never heard the "H" word spoken out loud on our street.

We had nice neighbors, and being Americans and having a cute baby made us very popular in those innocent days. And I did strange and amusing things, like hang out our washing on Wednesday afternoon instead of Monday morning. Each day of the week had its own designated chores.
Every morning in the summer, our elderly neighbors would bake a simple cake to eat with their 11 o'clock coffee, and I was often invited over. My German was horrible, but baby Amanda was great entertainment. The cake was topped with whatever garden fruit was in season because nothing was EVER wasted on Contwiggerhang Strasse.

This recipe is from the July "Gourmet" magazine, and it's a nice easy cake to make on the weekend. I used chopped strawberries instead of raspberries. John gives it a thumb's up with vanilla ice cream. Let me know if you try it!


RASPBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 stick butter, soft

2/3 plus 2 tbs. sugar (divided)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 large egg

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup fresh raspberries



Preheat over to 400, and butter and flour a round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar until fluffy, then add vanilla and egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating in 3 batches and mix until just combined.

Scatter fruit evenly over the top of cake, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until cake is golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out on a rack.