Got (Butter)Milk?
We are hopefully reaching the end of quarantine. Are you fully burnt out on baking banana bread yet? I was pinning away on Pinterest one afternoon and came across this post for Lemon Cake with Lemon Poppy Seed Buttercream and something about it struck me with inspiration. Despite never having baked a cake from scratch before, I felt compelled to give it a try. Memorial Day weekend was approaching and we were having a socially distanced BBQ with our friends, so I had the perfect excuse to bake a cake!
Lemon Cake with Lemon Poppy Seed Buttercream
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients:
Cake
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp lemon extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 cups powdered sugar
6-8 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, to taste
¼ cup poppy seeds
Optional: one small drop yellow gel food coloring
Garnish
5 thin slices of lemon
Mint leaves
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease and flour 3 9-inch baking pans, and then line the bottoms with a round of parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.
3. Put sugar in a food processor, along with the zest of one lemon. NOTE: Use a vegetable peeler to get just the yellow part of the lemon. Avoid the bitter white part. Process the sugar and zest together until the zest is completely incorporated, and the sugar is moist and pale yellow.
4. Cream the soft butter and the lemon sugar together for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl to get everything incorporated. Add the lemon extract.
6. Add the flour, mixing just until barely combined, then add the buttermilk and lemon juice. Mix until everything has come together, but do not overmix.
7. Divide the batter equally between the 3 pans and spread out evenly.
8. Bake for 24 minutes, or just until risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. Do not overbake these layers – they are thin and will cook quickly.
9. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack. When they are fully cool, carefully flip them over and remove the parchment paper. (I let them cool overnight in the fridge)
10. To make the frosting, cream the butter and sugar, gradually adding enough lemon juice to make a spreadable frosting. Add the poppy seeds and beat until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Add more lemon juice to make it thinner, or more sugar to thicken it. If you’d like a pale yellow tint to your frosting, add a drop or two of food coloring and mix thoroughly.
11. Frost the cake and then garnish with the lemon slices and mint leaves.
And then… I was left with a nearly full carton of buttermilk. Not an ingredient I usually cook with. But in the spirit of pinching pennies, making every dollar last, and trying to limit the times out of the house, I sent a call out to the Instagram inter-webs for favorite buttermilk recipes. And wow - people showed UP! Here are the two winning recipes that were tasty and used up the remaining buttermilk! Yay for not wasting groceries!
Thanks to my friend Tara for sharing the original recipe card from her Mimi for Buttermilk Pie. I have a couple of my own recipe cards, just like these, from my Grammy Jan. Makes me smile looking at them, reminding me of the times I baked with my grandma. I still like to print out most of my recipes and keep them together in a red recipe box.
Buttermilk Pie
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups sugar
¼ cup flour
1 stick butter, melted
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp lemon extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 unbaked pie shell
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 450˚.
2. Mix sugar and flour together. Beat eggs slightly. Mix all ingredients together and pour into crust.
3. Bake for 15 minutes at 450˚.
4. Reduce heat to 350˚ and cover all exposed crust of the pie with aluminum foil – this prevents over-browning or burning. Bake for 30 minutes. Pie should be firm and golden brown.
Now to get some savory action up in here. My finale of the buttermilk saga is below. And I’m happy to say that between these three recipes, I used up the full carton of buttermilk! I also gained probably 3 pounds, but hey, it was worth it. No one ever claimed buttermilk to be healthy for ya.
Garlic Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients:
Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup melted butter
1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
Topping
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp buttermilk
2 tsp finely chopped fresh basil
½ tsp garlic powder
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 450˚ F.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, and salt. Add in the buttermilk, butter and cheddar and stir until just combined.
3. Drop in ¼ cupfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden.
4. While biscuits are baking, combine the topping ingredients and brush the biscuits shortly after they come out of the oven. Serve while still warm.
