Recipe Review: Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake from 101 Cookbooks

Here's the recipe:

• Salt-Kissed Buttermilk Cake from 101 Cookbooks

Preparing the cake was just as easy as Heidi promised - mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, spoon into baking dish, and into the oven it goes! Since we love its flavor, we browned the butter as Heidi suggests in the headnotes, and then we added blueberries as the fruit topping.

The cake looked simply beautiful when it came out of the oven, golden and marbled with juices from the berries. But when we cut ourselves a slice, the taste just didn't seem to match. We were serving it for dessert at a small dinner party and after a few moments of thoughtful chewing, we all agreed that it was interesting, definitely, but not really something we'd want much more of.

The texture was fairly moist, though a bit crumbly and more like a dense soda bread than cake. Instead of the earthy, nutty flavor we'd been expecting, we thought it tasted flat and rather bitter. Normally we like a sprinkle of salt paired with sweet desserts, but here it felt distracting and misplaced without the contrasting sweetness. We were disappointed that none of the browned butter flavor came through (that we could tell) and wished we'd put more berries on top.

We've made plenty of successful recipes from Heidi's site, so we really wonder if we did something wrong - left out the sugar or used too much baking powder? Maybe the bitter flavors came from pastry flour that was past its prime? Or maybe we're just not used to whole wheat in a dessert recipe, so the flavor caught us off guard.

The whole experiment felt disappointing, and we're trying to get up the gumption to give it another try. Have you made this recipe? What do you think?

(Image: Emma Christensen for the Kitchn)

I made the recipe and had a bit of a similar experience with the sweetness (I got the nuttiness not bitter flavor). I just decided it makes a much nicer brunch item than a dessert item. I think some spices in there would go a long way if you are using it for dessert (vanillla, cinnamon, ginger?). And next time I will add a whole lot more fruit.

posted by lntyrrell on April 16th 2009 at 1:57pm
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I've made it with success twice as afternoon snack with coffee when guests are over. Both little kids and adults had seconds- and it's pretty guilt free and doable for visiting diabetics with a sweet tooth.

I use milk plus a tablespoon of vinegar rather then buttermilk.

The second time I doubled or tripled the berries and used defrosted frozen strawberries. This did increase the cooking time a lot lot but worked out really well.

I also don't exactly see it as a desert type thing but then again, I'm not so much into cake as desert anyway. Cake and afternoon coffee goes hand in hand for me.

I actually just printed out Heidi's Health Cookie Recipe and am planning on trying it this weekend.

posted by anothersplash on April 16th 2009 at 2:18pm
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I love WW pastry flour and have had success with it in a few recipes including Heidi's maple syrup scones.

I also make crackers with it.

It seems to be the perfect way to sneak some whole grains into food that you're worried about the texture changing from normal whole wheat flour.

posted by Hanna on April 16th 2009 at 3:43pm
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The recipes from Heidi's site are gorgeous and brilliant and occasionally very slipperytricky.

Her Almond Lentil Stirfry confounds me to this day.

That being said, for every thing I've had a tussle with, I've found at least one recipe to make up for the tussle.

posted by Rianne on April 16th 2009 at 4:00pm
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I was coincidentally planning to make this cake tonight! I just came back from the grocery store with my berries. Hmm, after reading this review I'm not sure.

anothersplash, I've made Heidi's "healthy cookies" and think they're great!

posted by emily7 on April 16th 2009 at 4:30pm
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Thinking more about this now, I agree with intyrrell and anothersplash that this would make a great brunch or afternoon snack than an actual dessert. I think part of it for me was that I was expecting a sweetish, buttermilk-y dessert (like cobbler). :)

posted by EmmaC on April 16th 2009 at 5:39pm
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I made the cake last night...and three of us ate most of the pan, so I guess we liked it! I halved the recipe and baked it in an 8x8 pan for just under 20 minutes. I also went really easy on the salt on top. The cake looked beautiful and smelled great. I did notice a slightly bitter taste (only noticeable when taking a bite that didn't include the sugar crusted top). I would love to hear thoughts on why the cake can taste bitter or suggestions on how to decrease the bitterness, because other than that I thought it was a lovely dish for brunch, tea, or a not-too-sweet dessert.

posted by emily7 on April 17th 2009 at 9:37am
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Since I suggested this recipe on the previous thread, I feel sort of responsible for the lack of success! But I've never noticed a bitter taste, and I've made it several times. I've never done it with browned butter, though--could that have anything to do with it? (And as I mentioned, I skip the salt on top, and just sprinkle with coarse sugar.) I haven't served this cake as a dessert at a dinner, either--it's more a slightly sweet snack, with leftovers for breakfast/brunch--so it might also have to do with expectations.

posted by prolix on April 17th 2009 at 9:50am
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I LOVE Heidi's recipes... but this one, like your experience, didn't wow me. I don't know if it was me, or just not my taste or what... BUT, it sure was pretty: http://www.flickr.com/photos/maecreative/2900044920/in/set-72157604940491030/

posted by amandamae on April 17th 2009 at 10:39am
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I, too, had tried this recipe and was disappointed. I'm not letting it get me down, though, as there are still plenty of recipes out there to try. You can't win 'em all.

posted by cjstephens on April 17th 2009 at 12:11pm
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