cherry buttermilk spoon cake

The woman who sold me cherries at the Saturday morning farmer’s market told me this is the last week of cherry season.  I’ve never heard the season defined in such finite terms. But, it peaked my interest because I am, at my core, a procrastinator. No matter how many times I learn the lesson of time management the hard way, I will forever find myself humbled by the self-created drama that comes from starting something dangerously close to its deadline. That being the case, I bought 4 pints and made this spoon cake.

 Spoon cakes are essentially a dessert’s answer to quick bread, sitting quite comfortably in the category of no-fuss desserts. You could make this with whole milk instead of buttermilk if you don’t make a habit of keeping buttermilk around.  You could also make this using excess sourdough starter instead of baking powder if you’re into that sort of thing (substitution below).  Because the end of cherry season is apparently fast approaching, you could make this, instead, with blueberries, peaches, plums, strawberries, blackberries, or essentially any other fruit season to when you actually make this.

The fruit becomes extra juicy by tossing it with sugar, which bakes into a jammy consistency swirled on top of the cake.  This recipe calls for a lot of fruit—4 pints.  You could totally do less, which would yield a cakier dessert.  Basically, this dessert is super customizable and pretty hard to truly mess up, so do you!

Cherry Buttermilk Spoon Cake

Ingredients

1 cup butter melted (2 sticks)

4 pints cherries

1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

2 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder (or 1 cup sourdough starter)

1 tablespoon cardamom 

 Instructions

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 350°F and place oven rack in the center. Grease an 11’x13’ baking dish with butter. Half the recipe if using a 8 inch square or round baking dish. Set aside.

Step 2:

Remove pits from cherries. I do this using my hands, sort of squishing the cherry until the pit pops out, rather than carefully cutting each cherry in half to remove the pit. It all bakes into a jam, so no need to keep them in tact. Toss with 1/3 cup of sugar.  If your cherries or whatever fruit you’re using are a little more on the tart side, add 2 tablespoons of sugar here.  Set aside.

Step 3: 

Mix together the melted butter, 1 cup of sugar, buttermilk, cardamom, and starter. Whisk in flour. Spread evenly into the greased pan. Top with fruit mixture. It will be juicy—that’s ok!  Using the back end of a wooden spoon or a spatula to swirl the cherries into the batter.

Step 4:

Bake for 60 minutes or until the batter has turned golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving. Top with ice cream and enjoy!