Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries

Driving Jack to baseball last night he asked me what I wanted to do for a job when I was a kid. I laughed a little, explaining that I thought I wanted to be a dietician. My mom was a nurse, I loved grocery shopping and cooking as a child, so to me, it made perfect sense. Except that I hate math. And science. So maybe not quite such a perfect fit.

I found myself thinking about Jack’s questions days and how I never could have predicted 20 years ago eventually finding a sweet little spot in my life where two great loves intersect: cooking and writing. Funny how things work themselves out eventually.

Years ago, I literally couldn’t tell you how or when exactly, I stumbled across Molly Wizenberg’s blog Orangette. She lived in Seattle, had an MFA in creative writing and loved to cook. I devoured her blog and when her first book came out, A Homemade Life, I ran out to buy my own copy. A narrative cookbook, meaning instead of glossy pictures of perfectly made dishes, there are stories. Stories serving as the bridge between recipe and memory. Because really, isn’t that what cooking is?

The smell of certain foods will remind my children forever moments from their childhood. The dinners they hated, the fights and arguments, and the fork tossed across the table in anger will piece together with the taste of warm blueberries plucked off the bush, homemade ice cream dripping down their chins and steaming pasta piled high with basil and parmesan set in front of them after long cold practices.

But enough rambling. Let’s talk about this sweet vanilla bean buttermilk cake. Loaf cakes are always my favorite because they feel a little easier and less fussy than a regular cake. This recipe is adapted from A Homemade Life. Molly’s version calls for sugared oranges but I decided to keep it simple adding orange zest to the batter. Instead of a glaze or frosting, I cut up a bunch of ripe strawberries and eventually added a dollop of whipped cream. It was the perfect treat for these early spring days and a lovely base recipe to play around with. I can envision raspberries added in the future or maybe blueberries and lemon or even poppyseed.

Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Cake with Strawberries

For the cake:

• 4 large egg yolks

• 2/3 cup buttermilk

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 vanilla bean, split and insides scraped

• zest of medium orange

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 cup softened butter

• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line a large loaf pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks with 1/3 cup buttermilk. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the sugar and the insides of the vanilla bean. Use your fingers to break out the tiny black seeds, working them into the sugar. Add the orange zest, flour, baking powder and soda, and salt to the sugar mixture. Mix on low for a few seconds until the dry ingredients are well-combined.

Add the butter to the mixer along with the remaining 1/3 cup buttermilk, mixing for a few seconds at a time and using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between mixes. Add the egg mixture in two doses, beating well in between each addition. Mix until the batter is thick but light, pale and smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before running a knife along the edges and removing the cake from the pan. Dust the cake with powdered sugar while it’s still warm. Allow the cake to finish cooling to room temperature before slicing into hearty slices and serving alongside strawberries and whipped cream.

*Two teaspoons vanilla extract can be swapped for the vanilla bean. You can also swap lemon or grapefruit zest for the orange zest, or skip it altogether.

For the Strawberries:

• 1 pound strawberries

• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

• 1 teaspoon orange juice

Wash, dry, rested and slice strawberries. Combine the strawberries with the raw sugar and a squeeze of orange juice (use the orange you zested for the cake). Gently mix to combine and set aside until ready to serve.