Blackberry Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake Recipe
It was a chilly weekend. We wanted to work in the yard, but it was too wet and cold. I was forced to stay inside and bake. On Saturday morning, I made a blackberry rhubarb buttermilk cake. I am trying to make a dent in our rhubarb-we have four plants and they are ripe and ready to be used.
Strawberries and rhubarb are commonly used together, but I wanted to try blackberries since they are my favorite berry. I adapted one of my favorite Gourmet cake recipes as the base. The tender buttermilk cake is simple to make. It is moist, buttery, but not overly sweet. The plump, juicy blackberries add bursts of sweetness and the rhubarb chunks bring a slight tartness to the cake. I think the blackberries were the perfect pair for the rhubarb.
The cake is charmingly rustic, no frosting is needed. The berries sunk to the bottom of the cake, so I just served it upside down to show off the beautiful berries. If you want to showcase the sugary crust, serve it right side up. Either way, this cake is a winner.
Blackberry Rhubarb Buttermilk Cake
Yield: Serves 8
Cook Time: 20-25 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
3/4 cup fresh blackberries
1/2 cup rhubarb, chopped
2 tablespoons turbinado sugarDirections:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Coat a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until batter is smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and lemon zest. Mix until well combined.
4. At low speed, mix in the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Mix until just combined. Don't over mix.
5. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Scatter blackberries and rhubarb evenly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons of turbinado sugar.
6. Bake until cake is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Let the cake cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely. Serve the cake upside down to show off the pretty berries and rhubarb. Cut into slices.
Adapted from Gourmet
If you like this cake, you might also like:
Plum Nectarine Buttermilk Cake from Two Peas and Their Pod
Peach Almond Cake from Two Peas and Their Pod
Strawberry Buttermilk Cake from Dishing Up Delights
Blueberry and Strawberry Buttermilk Cake from Pinch My Salt
Welcome to Two Peas and Their Pod. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. Join us in our culinary adventures-our kitchen is always open! 
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Blog is the New Black - "Love this! I only recently discovered my love for lemon desserts!"
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This is a deliciously sweet pairing. What a unique idea.
I love the idea of using rhubarb in a cake like this!
i love blackberries but not rhubarb, strange i know. still trying to find the one rhubarb recipe i can love….
I keep seeing all these amazing looking recipes featuring rhubarb and I still haven’t tried any of them yet. This is definitely tempting me to go to the store (like right now!) so that I can finally get my groove on with rhubarb. This looks like the perfect springtime tea snack to have. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous!
Ooooh that cake does look good!
That is an excellent base cake recipe. Love your adaption and blackberries are my fave, too!
~ingrid
This photo is gorgeous! The cake sounds delicious too
What a lovely cake… I would love a slice of this for breakfast!
That looks so delicious and moist! I can almost taste it from here.
So pretty Maria! I’ve been meaning to try that buttermilk cake from Gourmet forever…
This is a great recipe! I absolutely adore blackberries and am starting to see them on the market. But better than that is this simple delicious cake, just what we love to have on the table for breakfast and snack (nibbling at all day)!
The man I work with saw me biking around in a fruitless quest for rhubarb in Boston a couple of weeks ago and he found me a BIG bunch. I made a wonderfully simple rhubarb only pie with crumb topping from martha stewart and a rhubarb streusel bread. . . and still there was more rhubarb.
So, I made this for a community brunch using orange zest instead of lemon and it was fantastic. The church ladies went for seconds. What a winner of a recipe. I am going to use this buttermilk cake recipe with other fruits as well!
Thanks. . .
twopeas replied: — June 8th, 2010 @ 5:11 pm
I bet orange zest was fantastic in the cake. Glad you enjoyed it. I will have to try that next time.
Hi,I am planning on making this cake for my husband’s birthday but I find it very difficult to find rhubarb in the Salt Lake area…plus I am a newie to the whole rhubarb thing. Where do you get it? When is it in season?
Thanks,
Claudia.
twopeas replied: — June 10th, 2010 @ 12:50 pm
We grow our own rhubarb, but I know Dan’s and Harmon’s usually have it. I hope you can find some! It is in season right now.
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