Buttermilk Cakes made with Rye flour from Heidi Swanson's Near and Far cookbook.
I have to admit, I didn't quite know what to expect when I read this recipe. It starts off with "2 cups rye flour..." RYE FLOUR y'all! In a cake? Ok. That made me curious. Let's see what these little cakes have got. Since I was going for it, I decided to jump in with both feet and try her suggestion for an entirely whole grain batter that calls for whole wheat pastry flour in place of the all purpose. Turns out these beauties have a rustic, delicate crumb slightly reminiscent of cornbread, a light tang from the buttermilk, and a soft note of vanilla running through it all that, well, pretty much puts a bow on it.
Pouring the icing over each of these little cakes, making all kinds of drizzly sugary patterns, well I don't have to tell you. You know it was fun.
BUTTERMILK CAKES
— adapted from Near and Far: Recipes Inspired by Home and Travel by Heidi Swanson (Ten Speed Press, 2015)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups rye flour
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons aluminum free baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups natural cane sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
BUTTERMILK GLAZE
- 1 1/2 cups organic confectioners' sugar
- 3 to 4 tablespoons buttermilk
- 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
METHOD (ABRIDGED)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour several small- to medium-size cake pans. You can use whatever variety of pans you prefer, just be sure to only fill the pans 2/3 of the way full of batter.
Sift the flours, baking powder and salt together and set aside. In another bowl stir together the buttermilk and vanilla, set aside.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. This should be a well mixed soft, fluffy batter. Carefully stir in 1/3 of the dry ingredients and then 1/3 of the buttermilk. Continue until you've incorporated all the wet and dry ingredients. You only want this to be just barely mixed so be careful not to overmix the batter.
Pour the batter into prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or the tops spring back. Smaller cakes will be done sooner than larger ones. Set on a cooling rack to cool slightly before removing the cakes from the pans.
Meanwhile, stir together the glaze ingredients, whisking until nice and smooth. Drizzle over the tops of the cooled cakes, allowing a bit of extra glaze to run down the sides. Store out on the counter or if they won't be all eaten on the first day, in an airtight container.