Summer Berry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
Summer Berry Buttermilk Bundt Cake is a great dessert to share at a party. I find people usually don’t want a huge piece of cake after indulging in all of the savory offerings at a potluck party, especially if there’s more than one dessert available. A Bundt cake, cut in thin slices can easily serve 18 – 20 people. This cake was especially good on the 4th of July served with our friends’ delicious homemade vanilla ice cream!
I first saw the recipe for Triple Berry Summer Buttermilk Bundt on Smitten Kitchen, where Deb Perelman said she had adapted it from a recipe in Rustic Fruit Desserts, by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson. Schreiber and Richardson use 3 cups of sliced rhubarb in their recipe. Deb substituted blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries for the rhubarb (1 cup of each), but she suggested that 4 cups of fruit would be even better.
I used 4 cups of berries and substituted lemon extract for the vanilla extract that Deb used. (The recipe in Rustic Fruit Desserts uses lemon oil, which is a new ingredient to me. Apparently it’s more intense than lemon extract. I’d love to try it!)
I’d say Summer Berry Buttermilk Bundt Cake was well-received, but I have a confession to make. I inadvertently made another major change to the recipe. The recipe calls for 1 cup (8 ounces) of butter. That means two sticks of butter. For some reason, though, I was thinking it was 8 tablespoons of butter, which is only one stick of butter. So I only used 1 stick of butter.
The cake was still very, very good. If you want a reduced fat version, try making it with just one stick of butter. However, I recommend that you splurge and use two sticks of butter. I don’t think I need to test it to know that it would be even better! And, after all, a cake like this is meant to be shared for a special occasion! 🙂
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Summer Berry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
(Adapted from a recipe on Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen blog and one in Rustic Fruit Desserts, by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson)
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Several people making comments on Deb’s blog mentioned that they had trouble with the cake sticking to the pan. I love using Baker’s Joy on my nonstick Bundt pan. I have never had any trouble with cakes sticking when I use it. You’ll find it on your store’s shelf near other cooking sprays.
Look! It even has a picture of a Bundt cake on the can!
Cake
2½ cups (300g) plus 2 tablespoons (30g) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (8 ounces, or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used just 1 stick with satisfactory results.)
1¾ cups sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
½ teaspoon lemon extract
¾ cup buttermilk
4 cups berries (I used 2 cups blueberries, 1 cup raspberries, and 1 cup of cut up strawberries.)
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Glaze
2 cups (240g) powdered sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (Have an extra lemon handy in case you need a bit more juice.)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, very soft
300g flour in the large bowl, plus 3og more a
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1. Preheat the oven to 350˚.
2. Generously spray a Bundt pan with Baker’s Joy. (Or generously grease.)
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My pan sprayed with Baker’s Joy. 
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3. Whisk the 2 ½ cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
4. Beat the butter, sugar, and lemon zest together on medium speed for 3 – 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed to combine after adding each one.
6. Mix in the lemon extract.
7. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat until just blended. Mix in half of the buttermilk. Blend in the next third of the flour, and then the rest of the buttermilk. Blend in the last third of flour. Don’t over-mix.
8. Add the berries and the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour to the bowl that the flour mixture was in. Toss gently until the berries are well-covered with flour.
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9. Gently stir the berries into the cake batter.
10. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
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11. Spread the top with a spatula so it’s more even.
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12. Bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan 180˚ and bake an additional 27 – 30 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
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13. Cool the cake on a rack for 30 minutes.
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14. Turn the cake out on a rack to finish cooling.
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15. When the cake is totally cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and butter for the glaze. (If your lemon isn’t very juicy, you may need to add just a little bit more to get the consistency that you want.)
I like to put the powdered sugar through a fine mesh strainer to get the lumps out.
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16. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake and let it run down the sides.
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17. Keep cake at room temperature in a covered cake keeper until ready to serve.
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In the kitchen with Kath 
you can tell from the batter that it was going to be a delicious cake, I’m afraid I would have eaten half of it raw! Glad you went with the berries instead of rhubarb, and the glaze was a nice touch!
This is one of the first cake recipes that I made for my blog, a few years ago. I made it with all rhubarb and I remember it was delicious. I like all your tips and the idea of using different fruits. I have to make this cake again!
I can imagine how lovely tastes such soft cake with summer berries 🙂 and it looks beautiful too!
I am SO making this! Looks perfect.
Pretty cake! Totally good for a party.
Wow, that looks great!
This looks like a wonderful cake! I really need to get myself a bundt pan =)
Beautiful cake! I think I may try something similar for Labor Day! Adding berries sounds like a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing, Kath.
– Shannon, Crumb Cake Creations, LLC
what should one use as a substitute for egg?
Cherry Jain, I have never worked with egg substitutes, so I don’t have a good answer for you. Energ-G makes an egg replacer that you could try (http://www.ener-g.com/faq-egg-replacer). Maybe another reader will have an idea for you, too.