Any Summer Fruit Cobbler Cake
Makes one 8×8 cake
1 cup (236 ml) milk
one lemon
2 cups (250 grams) flour
1/3 cup (71 grams) sugar + more for sprinkling
1 1/2 teaspoons (6 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of nutmeg
6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) vanilla
about 1 1/2 cups of any summer fruit or berries, chopped if whole (I used two nectarines)
Preheat the oven to 375. Butter and flour an 8×8 square pan and set aside.
Zest the lemon into the bottom of a medium bowl. Cut the lemon in half, squeeze the juice into a liquid measuring cup and remove any seeds that may have fallen in. Top the lemon juice with milk so that you have one cup of liquid. Stir briefly and set aside. You know what you just did, you made (I-ran-out-of-buttermilk-so-I-had-to-hack-my-own) buttermilk. Yay!
Add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and a pinch of nutmeg to the lemon zest. Whisk briefly to combine. Add the butter to the flour, toss each piece so that it is coated, then working quickly and using your fingers work the butter into the flour mixture.
Add the fruit to the flour mixture and toss to combine so each piece is coated. Stir the vanilla into the DIY buttermilk then quickly add the liquid to the flour/fruit mixture. Use a spatula to combine with several quick strokes. Be careful not to overmix.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 30 minutes. The cake will remain fairly light in color but it is done when a tester comes out clean.
Cool. Slice. Serve.
