Lemon + Blueberry Cake

The most memorable evenings in these past few weeks have been at cute little coffee shops around the neighbourhood, enjoying a steaming hot cup of coffee with a delicious slice of cake. It’s been the best indulgence, and I absolutely love the subtle flavours of tea cakes. It’s a little too rainy now to venture out, but still craving some good cake, I decided to make my own with one of the greatest pairings - lemon and blueberry. This cake uses freshly made blueberry compote that is swirled into the batter in the end, as opposed to the simple berries themselves, to bring deeper feel to the blueberries and to keep them all from sinking to the bottom. A generous helping of lemon zest in the batter is a nice burst of fresh citrus notes, and also helps balance out the sweet. To take it up a notch, it’s topped with the most decadent lemon mascarpone with an extra swirl of blueberry compote. With a cup of coffee on the side, it. really couldn’t get better!

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Ingredients

  • 150g unsalted butter

  • 1/2 cup soft light brown sugar

  • 1/3 cup honey

  • 3 eggs, separated

  • 1 tsp vanilla essence

  • 1 tsp lemon zest

    1 tbsp lemon juice

For the flour mix

  • 100g white spelt flour

  • 100g buckwheat flour

  • 1/4 tsp salt

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

For the blueberry compote

  • 200g blueberries

  • 3 tbsp lemon juice

  • 2 tbsp honey

For the lemon mascarpone frosting

  • 100g mascarpone

  • 2 tbsp honey

  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method of Preparation

  1. Add all the ingredients for the blueberry compote to a saucepan on medium heat. Bring to boil, then simmer + cover and cook for ~30 minutes, till it thickens to a preserve like consistency. Set aside, and allow it to cool.

  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Butter a 20cm round cake tin, and set aside.

  3. Separate the eggs, and place the egg whites in a mixing bowl, and the yolks in another small bowl.

  4. Sift the ingredients for the flour mix together, and set aside.

  5. Whisk the egg white till they form firm peaks, and set aside.

  6. Add the butter + sugar + honey to a large mixing bowl, and whisk till it becomes creamy. To this add the egg yolks + vanilla essence + lemon zest + lemon juice, and whisk again till well incorporated. Fold in the flour mix, ladle by ladle, using a spatula, till it’s well incorporated. Then, fold in the egg whites gently.

  7. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake tin. Using a teaspoon, add three-quarters of the compote in little parts around the surface of the batter. Use a toothpick to gently swirl the compote + incorporate into the batter, making sure to not over mix.

  8. Bake for 40 minutes, till a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Allow it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and allow it to cool completely.

  9. Whisk together the ingredients for the lemon mascarpone, till it becomes creamy with no lumps. Spoon the mix over the cooled cake, and use a spatula to even it out on top. Add teaspoons of the compote on different sides of the mascarpone frosting, and use a toothpick to create swirls.

  10. Transfer to the refrigerator and allow it to set for at least an hour, before serving.