This week, we’re sharing the recipe for Bread & Butterfly’s Freedom Cake. Although Freedom Cake is usually prepared for holiday gatherings, you’ll find the celebratory dessert available Thursday through Saturday during Bread & Butterfly’s dinner service in Inman Park.
Chef-owner Demetrius Brown (The New South) launched Heritage Supper Club in 2021, which explores his family’s Afro-Caribbean ancestry as well as Black and Brown cuisines within the African diaspora.
In 2023, Chef Billy Allin sold his French restaurant, Bread & Butterfly, to Brown and Brandon Blanchard. Two years later, the French fare and techniques have remained key components of Bread & Butterfly’s ethos, emboldened by a dinner menu flush with influences from West African and Haitian cuisines. Freedom Cake, which is traditionally eaten on Juneteenth, is a perfect example of that influence.
Brown’s Freedom Cake will also be served at his upcoming Summerhill restaurant, Heritage, opening next spring on Georgia Avenue.
• More recipes from the Rough Draft archives
• Summerhill restaurant celebrating the African diaspora opening next spring
This recipe requires a kitchen scale to measure ingredients.
Ingredients
- 500g sugar
- 420g flour
- 3g salt
- 17g baking soda
- 13g baking powder
- 240g canola oil
- 240g buttermilk
- 10g lemon juice
- 6 large eggs
- 12g vanilla extract
- 400g beet puree
Directions
- Mix canola oil and sugar in a stand mixer at medium speed using the whisk attachment.
- Slowly add buttermilk, lemon juice, and eggs until well incorporated. Add remaining wet ingredients.
- Add all remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth.
- Transfer batter to a buttered baking dish and bake at 325 Fahrenheit for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove and let cool.
- Garnish with toasted pecans and whipped cream cheese.
