Buttermilk Pudding Cakes with Sugared Raspberries

This recipe from The Lee Brothers is one of the easiest things I've ever baked.  I like it because it's so moist and it takes only 9 minutes in the oven!

Buttermilk Pudding Cakes with Sugared Raspberries

Buttermilk Pudding Cakes:

¾ cup sifted bleached all-purpose flour 

1½ teaspoons baking powder

2 large eggs

¾ cup whole or low-fat buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

⅓ cup sugar

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

Raspberries:

8 ounces (2 cups) fresh raspberries

½ cup sugar

Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with a rack positioned in the top third of the oven. 

Sift the flour with the baking powder in a large bowl. 

In a second large bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until creamy and yellow, and then whisk in the buttermilk, vanilla, sugar, and butter (the mixture will look curdy and broken; that is fine).

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, and whisk until the batter is combined and smooth.

Divide the batter among 8 standard (3-ounce) nonstick muffin-pan cups, filling them two-thirds full. Bake for 9 minutes. Check the cakes by inserting a knife tip between the rim of the cake and the muffin cup and pulling gently to expose the side of the cake. If the side of the cake appears evenly browned, the cakes will hold together when inverted and are ready. If not, bake for another minute and check again.

While the cakes bake, place the raspberries in a medium bowl. Shower them with the sugar, and then use your hand to gently toss them in the sugar until they have a light dusting on them. (If the berries are overripe or bursting, or wet because you washed them, the sugar will dissolve on them. This is fine—they’ll still taste great!)

When the cakes are done, invert them onto individual small plates and divide the berries among them, mounding them on top and around the cakes, and top with a dollop of whipped cream, if using.