Sometimes, you just need cake.

A fluffy, sweet treat with just enough frosting that tastes and feels special, even if it’s a weeknight. Even if you don’t have a mixer.

When a box mix cake is out of the question, turn to your cupboards. A moderately stocked pantry will yield the ingredients to make this deliciously fresh-tasting, frosted lemon cake, which the possible exception of buttermilk, but you can make a quick substitute for it if needed. I included directions for that below.

By all means use fresh cultured buttermilk if you’ve got it! Buttermilk is very versatile in the kitchen, an unseen gracious hand that contributes to creamy salad dressings and dips, quick breads like pancakes, waffles, and biscuits, yeast breads, and is a superb meat tenderizer for grass fed roasts.

While not exactly a whole foods recipe, this lovely little cake is made of simple ingredients, no preservatives or artificial anything. So enjoy a piece. Or two. And share with those you love. Its sweet-tart taste is perfect for tea time or an indulgent snack.

The recipe calls for lemon zest, which can be peeled in a thin layer from the fruit with a paring knife, and then finely chopped with a chef’s knife. Find my favorite microplane zester here, also useful for grating other types of citrus fruit along with fresh ginger, turmeric, Parmesan cheese, chocolate, and whole nutmeg. It works like a charm and quickly rinses clean, two attributes you are sure to appreciate.

If you are making the cake by hand, a whisk and wooden spoon will do the job quite well; if you have a Danish dough whisk, so much the better!

During berry season, feel free to add 1/2 cup of berries of your choice; whole if they’re small, like blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, or chopped if they’re larger like strawberries.

Quick Buttermilk Substitute for This Recipe:

Stir together in a small bowl 1/2 cup milk + 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar with a fork. Let rest 3 minutes before using.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

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This is not exactly a whole foods recipe, but it makes great use of lemons, Meyer lemons, if you can get them! Otherwise, a regular lemon will certainly do. And don’t worry if you don’t have cultured buttermilk on hand. You can easily make a workable substitute for it, noted at the bottom.

• Author: Michele Pryse, FNTP
• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 30 min
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 9 servings
• Category: Dessert
• Method: oven
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

5 Tbs soft butter

10 Tbs sugar

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 large egg to butter mixture

1/2 cup buttermilk

Soft Lemon Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbs soft butter

2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C). Grease an 8x8x2-inch (20x20x5 cm) square pan. Or double the recipe and bake in a 13×9-inch (33×3.5 cm) pan.

2. Sift or whisk flour, salt, baking powder, and soda together and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat soft butter, sugar, and lemon zest together until smooth and creamy. Add the egg to the mixture and beat until light and fluffy.

4. Add reserved dry ingredients and buttermilk and mix well. Spoon and scrape the batter into prepared pan. Spread evenly with a spatula moistened with water to prevent sticking.

5. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center. Cool in the pan on an elevated wire rack. Frost the slightly warm cake with Soft Lemon Frosting. (See below.)

6. Make the frosting. In a medium-size bowl, beat powdered sugar, soft butter, and lemon juice together until creamy. Spread over the entire surface of the still-warm (not hot) cake. Mmmm…

Notes

If you don’t have buttermilk, simply combine 1/2 cup milk + 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar in a small bowl with a fork and let rest 3 minutes before using.

Enjoy cake slightly warm or cooled. Cake keeps well a day or two, covered, at room temperature.

A Meyer lemon, fresh from the tree for cake! 

One remarkable aspect of lemon trees is that they can bear flowers along with unripe and ripe fruit, all at the same time. The potted small plants are Meyer lemon seedling trees, planted from seeds saved from ripe lemons. The cycle continues.

Read about Lemon Buttermilk Cake in this recent Cottage Diary entry.

Peruse Chocolate Box Cottage’s 14 Favorite Gifts for the Gardener here.

Making s’mores by candlelight is a grand way to illuminate a small, but special moment. You know, like putting away the laundry, making it through a dreary day or a tough week, decluttering a drawer, weeding a flowerbed, or just because. Pick a reason, any reason will do.

I wouldn’t call this a recipe, more of a gentle nudge. Making candlelight s’mores is hardly an original idea, but it’s so simple it’s easy to forget. Consider this your reminder.

You don’t need a campfire to make s’mores. 

A candle on a plate, secured in place with a dot of melted wax will give your s’more authentic campfire flavor. Perfect for a date night for two.

Pile the graham crackers and marshmallows around the base of the candle and add a little bowl of chocolate chips. Unless you happen to have a Hershey bar. Use a fork to toast the marshmallow just the way you like it. The hot mallow quickly melts the chocolate chips, creating that perfect warm and melty, sweet, and crunchy treat we have all loved since childhood.

If you have kids, use a votive candle in a candleholder, supervise with care, and have fun. They won’t mind taking turns.

A pure beeswax candle offers the cleanest option for your candlelight s’mores celebration. We buy our beeswax candles from The Oregon Bee Store in Eagle Point, Oregon. https://oregonbeestore.com/ I’m not sure if they ship, I like to pick out my candles by hand. Look around, there may be a beekeeper or beeswax crafter near you, be sure to check your local farmers market.

We enjoyed a recent date night at home with Candlelight S’mores. You can read about it here: https://chocolateboxcottage.tv/recipe-box/candlelight-smores/