Is it really a whole year since our local blueberry season? Apparently so, and to celebrate spring Belinda Jeffery has created a wonderfully sweet blueberry cake with a zingy tang of lemon – perfect with a cup of tea…
Now we’re back to buying blueberries by the bucket from the farmers market, I’m indulging myself by flinging them in or on all sorts of dishes – granola, pancakes, muffins, all benefit from their sweet tang. However, I think they’re particularly lovely paired with lemon, and never more so than in this simple cake. It’s whizzed up in a food processor, and has a wonderful zingy lemon flavour which comes not only from the batter, but from a thin, lemon glaze that is brushed over it. It’s perfect for afternoon tea, and also makes a fantastic dessert served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
BLUEBERRY, LEMON & SOUR CREAM CAKE
3 cups (450g) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 eggs
2 cups (440g) caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, in chunks
1 cup (250ml) sour cream
3 heaped teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest
2 1/2 tablespoons strained lemon juice
200g fresh or frozen blueberries
extra plain flour, for coating the tin and dusting the berries
Lemon glaze
1 cup (160g) icing sugar mixture, sifted
1/4 cup (60ml) strained lemon juice
30g melted unsalted butter
Icing sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 160C. Butter and flour a 24 – 25cm bundt tin.
Whiz the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a large food processor, until they’re well mixed, then tip them into a bowl. Put the eggs and sugar into the processor and whiz them for a minute. Add the butter and process the mixture for another minute until it’s thick and creamy.
In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and lemon zest and juice, then pour this into the mixture in the processor. Whiz the whole lot for 10 seconds, then add the reserved flour mixture and pulse with quick on/off bursts, stopping and scraping down the sides once or twice, until it’s just combined.
Toss the blueberries in a dessertspoonful of flour so they’re lightly coated.
Remove the bowl from the processor and use a rubber spatula to gently stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Bake it for 1 π hours, or until a fine skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. When it’s ready, take the cake out of the oven, sit it on a cooling rack, and leave it to settle in the tin for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together all the glaze ingredients in a bowl until they’re smooth. Using a thin palette knife, carefully loosen the edges of the cake. Invert the cake onto the cooling rack and gently ease off the tin. With a plate underneath to catch any drips, brush the cake all over the glaze. Keep brushing on layers of glaze until there is none left – the cake will slowly absorb it. Leave it to cool completely.
To serve the cake, gently transfer it to a stand or plate and dust it with icing sugar. It’s wonderful eaten with a scoop of lightly whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream. Any leftover cake keeps well in an airtight tin for up to three days. It also freezes really well, and can be gently warmed in a microwave oven. Serves 12 -14.
Continental (cultured unsalted) butter is my all-time favourite butter, and I always keep a stock in the freezer. It has a delectable tang, and makes the best cakes, pastries, biscuits, puddings, and anything else you can think of that uses butter!
