August is the month for blueberries and lemons. This recipe is amazing when you have these simple ingredients. I harvested the necessary from my garden 😋
Serves 6
Ingredients for the batter:
125g unsalted butter and softened to room temperature
175g sugar. As a tip, use finely granulated sugar. I replaced the sugar with Agave nectar (1/1)
2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
175g sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
A little salt to taste
1/2 cup of buttermilk. If you don’t have buttermilk, use full fat milk and add to it 20 ml of lemon juice or white vinegar and let it rest for about 10 min. Another replacement for buttermilk is light cooking cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest. Grate the lemons you will press for the recipe. It should be enough
70 ml lemon juice. You will only require 2 lemons for that
130g of fresh blueberries or 140g frozen blueberries. Be careful not to thaw them
1/2 tablespoon all purpose flour to be used on the blueberries
Cream cheese frosting
110 g brick style cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar or agave nectar
1 pack (40g) chantilly cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt to taste
Lemon zest to taste
1. Preheat the oven at 175 degrees Celsius
2. Place baking paper at the bottom of the mold for easier removal of the cake later.
3. Use your mixer to beat the butter at high speed until it gets creamy. Add the sugar or the agave nectar and beat for a couple of minutes. The mix should be creamy. Make sure no granules or lumps are in it. Add the vanilla and eggs and best at medium speed until everything is totally combined. Remember to scrap down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicon spatula as needed.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour with the salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat at low speed for about 5 seconds. Add the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice and beat ONLY until combined. It is very important not to over beat the batter. Add the baking powder and beat at low speed. Make sure there are no lumps in you batter. Adding the baking powder AFTER the lemon juice will ensure that your cake will bake beautifully in form. Sprinkle the 1/2 tablespoon on the blueberries and mix gently before tossing them in the batter. This will avoid that they all migrate to the bottom of your baked cake. Turn the mix with the spatula to evenly spread the blueberries.
5. Spoon batter into the cake pan / mold. Bake for about 45 min or until a toothpick inserted in the center zones comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before assembling and frosting.
While the baked cake cools, let’s do the frosting!
Use your mixer to beat the cream cheese until it becomes of a creamy consistency. I do not use butter in the frosting to keep it light. Add the sugar or agave nectar, the vanilla extract, the chantilly cream and the pinch of salt. Mix on low speed first and then increase to high speed for about 3 min. The mix is thick. You can thin it to taste with some cream if necessary.
Now that our frosting is ready, and the cake has cooled off -I was “lucky” that we had a power shortage, again, so the cooling off part was dictated by an external factor beyond my control-, cut the cake in the middle horizontally. Use the frosting to cover the top of each part. Spread the remaining cream cheese frosting around the sides. Decorate the top with blueberries, a red berry or a lemon slice. Get creative!
Place the cake for at least 45 min in the fridge before serving to ensure that it doesn’t fall apart when you cut it.
Bon appétit!
To note: leftovers, if any 😜, can be stored in the fridge for about 4-5 days in a tightly sealed container.
I’m happy to hear from you. Let me know how your trials turn out!
