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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
30 minutes
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Serves
8
Author Notes
This recipe comes from Samantha Seneviratne's latest cookbook, Bake Smart, featured in our video series, Break an Egg.
She suggests using any fruit you're in the mood for by matching the prepped weight of the berries for your swap. Though she bills it as a weeknight cake, no one will protest if you serve it for breakfast.
She also offers these helpful tips:
• Cottage cheese does the same work as buttermilk and yogurt, adding tang, moisture, and richness to cakes. Always use high-quality full-fat cottage cheese—the kind you’d be happy to eat with a spoon.
• Don’t wash delicate berries until just before you use them. The added moisture can encourage rot. Swish them around in a bowl of water and then transfer them to a paper towel–lined rimmed baking sheet. Gently shake the pan from side to side to roll the berries around on the paper and get rid of excess moisture.
—Food52
Test Kitchen Notes
Excerpt from BAKE SMART: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours by Samantha Seneviratne. Copyright 2023 by Samantha Seneviratne. Used with permission by Harvest, and imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. —Food52
Ingredients
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8 tablespoons
(1 stick; 113 grams) butter, at room temperature, plus more for the skillet
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1 1/2 cups
(204 grams) all-purpose flour
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1 teaspoon
baking powder
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3/4 teaspoon
ground cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
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3/4 cup
(150 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
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1/2 cup
(132 grams) full-fat cottage cheese, at room temperature
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2
large (100 grams) eggs
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1
large (80 grams) egg yolk
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1/4 cup
(61 grams) whole milk, at room temperature
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1 1/2 teaspoons
pure vanilla extract
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1 1/2 cups
(200 grams) mixed fresh berries
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1/2 cup
(50 grams) sliced almonds, lightly toasted (Sliced almonds with their skins, if you can find them, make for a pretty topping.)
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Demerara or sanding sugar for sprinkling
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 10-inch ovenproof skillet.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
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In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the brown sugar, butter, and cottage cheese until almost smooth. (Some cottage cheese curds may still be visible. That’s OK!) Add the eggs one at a time and then the egg yolk, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in about half of the berries.
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Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Top with the remaining berries. Top with the almonds and a generous sprinkle of demerara or sanding sugar.
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Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 25 to 28 minutes. Serve warm, scooping the cake out of the pan, or at room temperature, cut into slices.
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Store leftovers, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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