Thanks to Kristine at #beatandbakebiscuits for requesting the recipe for this one, which she stumbled upon on our Instagram feed....I've baked it a few times with slight modifications (with apologies to Brigitte Hafner's original recipe which I found on Good Food online - but then half the fun of baking is experimenting with recipes and adding a few tweaks to suit your own taste! - I've listed my changes at the bottom of the original recipe)...this cake is perfect for warmer weather days - light, moist, fruity and put together in no time, so no marathon sessions in the kitchen! And it makes a great take-along offering when invited to a social afternoon gathering (I've been known to turn up to a few with this in hand!).
Blueberry Bake
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, soft
1 cup white sugar
2 whole eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1 tsp baking powder
200ml sour cream
1 tbsp lemon juice
250g (1½ punnets) blueberries or raspberries or, better still, mulberries if you can get them
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Icing
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
About 2 tbsp hot water
Method
Preheat oven to 175C. Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy and pale. Then slowly whisk in the eggs, one at a time until well incorporated.
Sift together the flour, bicarb soda and baking powder into a bowl, then fold into the butter mixture,
alternating the sour cream and lemon juice until you have a smooth batter.
Pour into a lined lamington tin (30cm x 21cm) and sprinkle over the blueberries and walnuts. They
will sit on top for now but as the cake bakes will sink in.
Bake for 5060
minutes, or until golden on top. To check, insert a skewer in the middle; it should come out clean. Cool in tin.
For the icing
Put icing sugar in a small bowl. Gradually pour in the hot water, mixing with a fork, until you have a
thick, smooth pourable
My modifications:
I also add the grated zest of one lemon to the cake batter – but I love lemons and don’t believe you can have too much of a good thing! I also add lemon juice and rind to the icing mixture for an extra zing!
I use slivered or sliced toasted almonds in place of the walnuts as they don’t dominate the berry fruit in the same way that the stronger-flavoured walnuts do.
I bake in a spring-form round baking tin as opposed to a lamington tin – it results in a fancier-looking result perfect for an tea or coffee gathering or even a dessert on a warm summer’s evening with a dollop of cream or a scoop of really good vanilla ice cream. Protect the base of the cake from scorching in the tin whilst in the oven by wrapping a layer of tin foil around it.