Buttermilk Cake With Blackberries And Beaumes De Venise Recipes

BUTTERMILK CAKE WITH BLACKBERRIES AND BEAUMES-DE-VENISE

Steps:

• Make cake:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Line bottom of a buttered 9- by 2-inch round cake pan with a round of wax paper, then butter paper.
• Sift together flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then, with mixer at low speed, beat in all of buttermilk until just combined. Add flour mixture in 3 batches, mixing after each addition until just combined.
• Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top, and bake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a thin sharp knife around edge of cake to loosen. Invert onto rack, then slide cake onto a cake plate.
• Make topping:
• Bring wine, 3 tablespoons sugar, and zest to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil until syrup is reduced to about 2/3 cup, 1 to 2 minutes. Discard zest.
• Reserve 2 tablespoons syrup and pour remainder slowly and evenly over cake (cake will absorb syrup).
• Stir together reserved syrup, preserves, and remaining tablespoon sugar in small saucepan and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 1 minute (it should be the consistency of a thick syrup). Put blackberries in a large bowl, then pour preserves mixture over berries. Gently stir berries with a rubber spatula to coat, then pour over cake, mounding blackberries on top.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

BEAUMES-DE-VENISE CAKE WITH GRAPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush 10-inch-diameter springform pan with olive oil. Line bottom of pan with parchment; brush parchment with olive oil.
• Sift flour and next 3 ingredients into bowl. Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, 6 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons oil in large bowl until smooth. Whisk in eggs, both peels and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with wine in 3 additions each, whisking just until smooth after each addition. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Sprinkle grapes over batter.
• Bake cake until top is set, about 20 minutes. Dot top of cake with 2 tablespoons butter; sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over. Bake until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes longer. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Release pan sides. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.