Raspberry Buttermilk Cake

This is another great cake recipe that I found over at Smitten Kitchen. I've made several cakes and cookie bars that Deb posted and they have all turned out great. This is a very simple cake. Great to bring along to someone's house since it "travels well."

Did you all have a nice weekend. We went down to Richmond yesterday to an Italian festival at St. Joseph's church. The food was delicious and my husband had his first zeppole. I know....I can't believe he has never, ever had one. I had to explain what it was. Anyone that is reading this and is Italian is probably thinking "He's NEVER had a zeppole???????" My grandmother used to make them each September for the feast of St. Joseph. If you are not familiar with them they are very much like funnel cakes but smaller and rounded with powdered sugar. Yesterday's festival brought back many memories. They actually had a processional with the St. Joseph statue and all the dollars bills pinned on it! I hadn't seen something like that since I was a child. Of course I ate way too much. Sausage and peppers, pizza, pasta, cannolli, zeppole and it goes on.....Enough of my rattling on!!!!

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbs sugar, divided
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest(optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 400F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes, then beat in vanilla and zest, if using. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a cake plate.