I didn't hesitate so snap up some black raspberries I recently saw at the farmer's market. Fresh black raspberries are hard to come by around here and I appreciate their distinctive tart flavor. I decided to bake my precious supply into a Black Raspberry Coffee Cake from Saveur.
This is a simple cake. It's written to be baked in an 8-inch round pan, but I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. To make the batter, you combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) and mix in all of the wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, vanilla, melted butter). You pour the batter into a pan, sprinkle black raspberries on top, and then scatter over a topping made from brown sugar, flour, butter, and finely chopped chocolate.
I didn't serve this cake warm as suggested because I took it to my office; I waited until it was completely cool to slice it. I liked everything about this cake. The cake itself was flavorful and moist, and the ratio of cake to raspberries to topping was perfect. You could clearly taste each component and all of the flavors were well balanced.
The biggest surprise of this cake for me was the chocolate. I had chopped the chocolate very fine and there was so little of it in the topping (only one ounce total for the entire cake) that it wasn't even visible on the finished cake. And I doubt that my tasters would have been able to identify chocolate as a separate component. But that little touch of chocolate in combination with the black raspberries was inspired. It really enhanced the flavor of the berries and added richness and complexity while somehow blending in seamlessly. This cake was terrific.
Recipe: "Black Raspberry Coffee Cake" from Saveur.
Previous Post: "What's a Backyard Barbecue Without Corn?: Corn Ice Cream Sandwiches [Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry Ice Cream]?," June 23, 2013.
This is a simple cake. It's written to be baked in an 8-inch round pan, but I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. To make the batter, you combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) and mix in all of the wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, vanilla, melted butter). You pour the batter into a pan, sprinkle black raspberries on top, and then scatter over a topping made from brown sugar, flour, butter, and finely chopped chocolate.
The biggest surprise of this cake for me was the chocolate. I had chopped the chocolate very fine and there was so little of it in the topping (only one ounce total for the entire cake) that it wasn't even visible on the finished cake. And I doubt that my tasters would have been able to identify chocolate as a separate component. But that little touch of chocolate in combination with the black raspberries was inspired. It really enhanced the flavor of the berries and added richness and complexity while somehow blending in seamlessly. This cake was terrific.
Recipe: "Black Raspberry Coffee Cake" from Saveur.
Previous Post: "What's a Backyard Barbecue Without Corn?: Corn Ice Cream Sandwiches [Sweet Corn & Black Raspberry Ice Cream]?," June 23, 2013.
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