Oh y’all. This berry cake is just perfection for summer. So simple, so fast and the juicy, fresh berries or stone fruits of summer really shine. The cake is buttery and has hints of vanilla and I really adore it. Perfect with fresh whipped cream or just lightly sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar. This is a favorite of mine to bake all summer long. I take this as a housewarming gift, hostess gift and bake it for entertaining. It is easier than a strawberry shortcake and feels a little more refined than cupcakes or muffins. Yup. This cake is just delicious and I hope you make it this summer with your favorite fruits.
You can use any fruits that you love- I love assorted berries and usually use blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries. I think this would also work with peaches or apricots as well- as long as the fruit isn’t too soft.
You can mix this up in minutes, top with fruit and bake for about 30 minutes. So simple.
One important note is that this recipe is designed for a 10 inch pie plate or deep dish pie plate. A smaller pie plate (9 in)- you will probably overflow. If you don’t have a larger pie plate, you can always bake in a casserole dish and that should work just fine.
- 6 tbl butter- at room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup milk or buttermilk
- 1½ cup flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1½ cups fresh fruit- chopped strawberries, blackberries, blueberries etc...
- Optional:
- 1 tablespoon sugar in the raw
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Sift flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
- Add butter and sugar to a stand mixer and mix until light and fluffy.
- Slowly add in vanilla, egg and milk, one at a time mixing gently on low.
- Add in flour mixture followed by lemon juice just until incorporated.
- Butter a 10 inch pie plate and gently pour batter in an even layer.
- Add your fresh fruit- randomly placing all over the top of the cake. Try pressing in some of the fruit to get layers of fruit in each slice.
- Sprinkle top with a tablespoon of sugar in the raw or white sugar.
- Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and then reduce temperature to 325 for about an hour.
- Let cool and top with fresh whipped cream.
This cake is pretty foolproof but here are a few extra little tricks. I do like to add either lemon juice, lime juice or any citrus zest adds quite a bit of brightness and flavor to this recipe.
I like to add about half the batter to the pie plate and sprinkle with some of the fruit and then top with the remaining batter and fruit. That just ensures the fruit is all the way through the cake and not just a layer on top.
And I love the slight crunch of Sugar in the Raw on top of this cake but if you don’t have any on hand- just sprinkle a bit of white sugar on top and it is delicious.
Please come back and let me know what you think if you decide to make this cake. This recipe is gently adapted from the queen, Martha Stewart.
And here are a few other recipes you might enjoy:
Smores Cups– these are amazing for summer
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