Just one more week and I’ll be done with my second year of med school. Say what?! From nervously delivering my first PBL presentation as a first year to comfortably taking a patient history and going to conferences as a second year, I’ve learned a lot about the future physician I hope to become. There were plenty of late nights in the library memorizing endless facts… but along the way I also ran a half-marathon, became Yelp Elite, co-produced twenty-one Y-2 Choreography videos, and even picked up a new hobby, figure skating!

All mushy sentimental feelings aside, my next chapter also comes with the inglorious realities of packing and fridge cleansing as I prepare to move from Miami to Palm Beach for my clinical rotations. Fridge cleanse duty usually means all sorts of iterations of fried rice, but the buttermilk in the fridge was just calling to be baked! Incredibly fluffy while also incredibly moist, today’s baking endeavor turned out too good to not put in the books. I created two different variations just for funsies but the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.

Buttermilk Cake

Makes one 8″x8″ cake

Ingredients

• 180g flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, solid
• 150g sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup buttermilk

Variations

Cardamom & Pistachio

• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 cup pistachios, chopped

Cinnamon & Walnut

• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, salt, and cardamom/cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, beat together coconut oil and sugar with an electric mixer. (Tip: measure out the coconut oil while it’s a liquid; then put the mixing bowl in the freezer for a few min till the coconut oil firms up.) When you achieve a consistency similar to creamed butter, beat in the egg, followed by the buttermilk till well combined.
4. Add the flour mixture to the buttermilk mixture and manually use the beaters to incorporate the two. Then turn on the mixer and beat the batter for ~20 seconds till just combined.
5. Pour the batter into a 8″x8″ baking pan. Sprinkle the top with chopped pistachios/walnuts. Bake for 30 minutes, then cover loosely with aluminum foil (to prevent over-browning), and bake for another 15 minutes.