Perin Family Buttermilk Cake

-4 ½ cups flour

-3 sticks unsalted butter cut into small bits and softened but chilled

-½ tsp salt

-3 cups sugar

-2 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp baking soda

-3 eggs

-1 tsp vanilla

-2 cups buttermilk

  • Oven at 350. Place flour, butter, and salt in a large bowl.
  • In a second bowl mix sugar, baking powder, and soda. Add this mixture to the flour mixture.
  • Combine, then measure out 1 cup and set aside
  • Beat eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk into the mixture
  • Pour the batter in a greased and floured 9×12 cake pan (I always use a 9X13) 
  • Sprinkle the reserved cup of flour/sugar mix over the top of the batter
  • Bake for 45 min to an hour, watching for the cake to turn a golden color

I have been following food bloggers for a while and also enjoy browsing through the comments at the end of their posts. Many readers get frustrated when the author types so much text at the beginning and they have to scroll down several pages just to get to the actual recipe. So, my friends, I’m experimenting by doing a little flip-flopping and sharing the recipe first, then the commentary!  Let me know if you like this little change of format.

Next week is my birthday! Since I follow in my mother’s footsteps of loving sweets, I always look forward to a great birthday cake. My husband and I have a tradition of baking each other a cake or dessert of choice. Most years I request the Perin Family Buttermilk Cake. 

This recipe is from my favorite author, Adriana Trigiani. Her book, “Cooking With My Sisters” is not only full of delicious family recipes but is slathered with beautiful old pictures, stories, and narrations about the dishes they make.

If you are a reader AND enjoy a good cookbook, you need to add this to your collection. The recipes are delicious and it reads like a memoir. It feels as if you’re peeking over the cook’s shoulder into the Trigiani’s kitchen over the course of many years. 

My copy is a treasure because it’s signed by Adri with a sweet message to me. When you open my book it automatically falls to the Perin Family Buttermilk Cake recipe because it’s been made so many times and the binding opens right to it! It tastes like a dense, vanilla pound cake, only better! It smells as good as it tastes while baking and I promise you’ll fall in love with this cake. As most Italian cooks would say, “Mangia”! 

I’m sorry there isn’t a picture of the finished cake. Because my birthday is Feb 16 I want to eat it fresh ON my birthday! To all you cake lovers out there, I’m sure you understand!