Buttermilk Layer Cake

Parties are fun!  And eating cake is fun!  So I decided to throw a mini party to celebrate my year of eating ferments.  It was quite a year!  There were many, many benefits to the year of fermented foods.  Here are two of the BIGGEST benefits:

1. I slowly transformed into a fairytale witch, with my weird concoctions and bubbling brews.  I now have random ferments stashed in every corner of my house (to keep them from cross-contaminating, of course!).  I currently have 7 different ferments going on, and I have even mastered the art of growing mold!

2. Our digestion has magically improved.  (See… I am a witch!)  My son went from having sulfite intolerance (diagnosed by an allergist) to being able to eat what he wants without any of that pesky eczema cropping up.  Eggs which previously made my daughter extremely sick and now don’t bother her at all!

I realize that it could be luck… maybe it just took time for their digestive systems to kick into full gear?  But I can’t help but feel that a daily dose of probitotic foods may have been at play.

There was much to celebrate, so I just had to make a cake!  This is a delicious pre-fermented white cake that I have decorated up with a cultured chocolate whipping cream frosting to get in that probiotic kick.  It is so delicious that I would recommend it for any occasion!

Buttermilk Layer Cake

This is a delicious pre-fermented white cake that I have decorated up with a cultured chocolate whipping cream frosting to get in that probiotic kick.

• Author: Emillie
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 6” cake 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Fermented

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Pre-ferment

• 3/4 cup pastry flour (or GF flour mix)
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (kefir or yogurt)

Remaining Ingredients

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cups of ripe banana, smashed (about 2 large bananas)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup flour (or GF flour mix)

Instructions

1. Mix the flour and the buttermilk in a glass container and leave somewhere warm for 12-24 hours.
2. When ready to bake, preheat the oven and grease and flour two 8″ cake pans. (The batter will be quite acidic and start to act on the baking soda right away so you’ll want to work quickly once you mix the ingredients together.)
3. Cream the butter and sugar together. Mix in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Sprinkle the baking soda and powder over the prefermented flour. Add the butter and egg mixture.
5. At this point all of the ingredients will be mixed together. If you are using all-purpose flour, then it may have developed some gluten structure so you will need to use the pincer method as you mix. (See notes).
6. Bake at 350 F for 25-35 min (until a tooth pick comes out clean).

Notes

• For gluten free cakes I use a mix of 3 parts rice, 2 parts potato starch, 1 part tapioca starch.
• If using store-bought buttermilk for the recipe, make sure it was cultured (or it won’t preferment the flour).
• To mix the ingredients into a dough that has developed a gluten structure use the pincer method (described in my sourdough techniques post).
• To make the chocolate whip cream frosting, use 2 cups of cultured whip cream.  Fold in 1/2 cup icing sugar, 5 tbsp cocoa powder, 1 tsp vanilla and a pinch of salt.

Keywords: traditional, soaked, prefermented, gluten free