Claire Elizabeth: cake

When life gives you lemons...

16:57

...make cake! I mean, what else are you gonna do with them? Exactly! Ok, so I may have accidently bought an extra net of lemons from my local green grocers the other day, and since I have no other use for them besides in baking, more cake just had to be made!

I love the combination of lemon and fresh berries so I picked up a punnet of blueberries, one of my favourite superfoods (which surely makes this all kinda healthier right?) to add to the cake. I know it may still be winter, but Spring time is coming (I can just feel it!) and so I thought this sunshiny lemon cake dotted with juicy blueberries would help the new season on it's way! We have actually been blessed with a few days of lovely weather here in the UK so it is clearly doing the trick!

I chose to make a cream cheese icing to sandwich between the zesty layers of sponge, as the not-too-sweet tangy flavour contrasted very nicely with the cake and gave it a cheesecake-y kinda vibe, if you know what I mean! Attempting the cream cheese icing was a little risky as I've always struggled to make this without it turning into a runny sloppy mess! However, with my previous experience and new acquired knowledge, I am very pleased to tell you that I have finally found a recipe that gives a wonderfully thick and creamy icing-hooray!

I actually made the cake for my mum, as it was her birthday last week and I'd never let a birthday pass by without there being a cake involved! It was also a good opportunity to test out a new recipe for my March cake of the month. Yes, there's a little inside information for you....it will be available to order in store very soon, just in time for Mothers Day!

Well this cake is certainly a winner, as it has already had the approval of the harshest cake critics I know (that being my family) and most importantly my mother, who is in my eyes the queen of cakes! In fact, I was told that it was possibly the best I have ever made, so if that doesn't tempt you to have a go at this recipe, I don't know what will!

For the cake:

225g butter, softened

225g caster sugar

4 large eggs, beaten

225g self raising flour

100g fresh blueberries

Zest of one large lemon

For the icing:

300g full fat cream cheese

100g butter, softened

100g icing sugar

Lemon zest or vanilla extract to flavour (optional)

Pre-heat your oven to 180C (gas mark 4).

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs a small amount at a time until combined- don't worry if the mixture starts to curdle, it won't affect the final texture of the cake...trust me!

Sift the flour into the bowl, and gently fold in until you have a smooth mixture. Mix in the blueberries and lemon zest until just combined.

Divide the mixture between four 8 inch round sandwich tins (or two deeper tins if you don't have four!) lined with baking parchment paper. Bake the cakes for around 18 minutes (or about 6 minutes longer if using two tins) until well risen and golden. To test that your cakes are cooked, insert a skewer and see that it comes out clean.

Remove the cakes from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes. Remove from the tins and allow to finish cooling completely.

For the icing, beat together the cream cheese and softened butter, sift in the icing sugar and continue beating until smooth. Stir in your chosen flavouring if using.

Assemble the cake by spreading an even layer of the icing between each cake (if you have two deeper cakes, slice them in half horizontally to make four layers). Top the cake with a final coating of icing, and sprinkle with a few fresh blueberries to finish. Beautiful!