Fresh Fruit Coffeecake

I held a brunch for my friends a little while back to celebrate my birthday this year. I thought, what better than to do what I love .... cook, for my birthday. It turned out to be a success, although I probably gained 10lbs. since I made all of my favorites! Why not, it was my birthday:). I included this recipe from my sister's blog (originally from Macrina) because it was SO good when she made it. My memory served me well as it was just as good the second time around! I highly recommend this one as an easy recipe to make for a breakfast potluck or brunch with friends. Whoever is the mastermind of Macrina's pastries should be given a raise! All of their recipes are delicious! If you are curious about their recipes, but don't want to purchase their cookbook, you can sign-up for their monthly recipe e-newsletter. Cheers!

Fresh Fruit Coffeecake
from Vegetarian Hausfrau
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups ripe fruit (whole berries or fruit cut into 1/2 inch pieces) - I used blackberries and raspberries!
12 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups buttermilk
berries and powdered sugar for garnish (optional) - I used powdered sugar and some of the leftover blackberries and raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Oil a 12-cup Bundt pan.

2. Sift flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and toss with your hands to combine. Remove 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and set bowl aside.

3. In a separate medium bowl, combine fruit and the reserved 1/4 cup of flour mixture. Toss until fruit is evenly coated and set aside. Tossing the fruit in flour helps keep it from sinking to the bottom of the coffeecake - a true disaster!

4. Combine butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix with the paddle attachment for 5 to 8 minutes on medium speed. The mixture will become smooth and pale in color. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure the first egg is fully mixed into the batter before adding the other. After the second egg is incorporated, add vanilla extract and mix for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix for another 30 seconds to make sure all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer.

5. Alternately add small amounts of flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter mixing with a wooden spoon just until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Gently fold in the flour coated fruit making sure the fruit is evenly distributed through the batter. Spoon batter into the prepared Bundt pan filling two-thirds of the pan.

6. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until top is golden brown (my small cake only took about 50 minutes to cook and brown on top). Check the center of the coffeecake with a skewer. It will come out clean when the cake is done. Let cool in a pan for 45 minutes.

7. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with Berries.