Lemon and Blueberry Madeira Cake

Servings: 8-10 slices
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins - 1 hr
Difficulty: Easy
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A ‘Cuppa and a slice’ type of cake. This is a no-nonsense proper cake for the times where you want a hunk of plain cake with your afternoon tea but still want to be a bit fancy.

Here, the lemon is a background note to enhance all the other flavours and to give a subtle tang. The burst of blueberries offers you a refreshing change and adds a soft sweetness to each mouthful. Ground almonds lends more body to the cake while still keeping a tender crumb when combined with the milk. All this culminates into one perfect accompaniment to an afternoon blend and a chat.

EQUIPMENT

Cookware: Loaf tin (900 g capacity – approximately 21 x 11 x 7 cm)

Specialist utensils: Mesh sieve, kitchen weighing scales, electric whisk, spatular

INGREDIENTS

150 g blueberries
150 g softened butter, plus a small knob for greasing the tin
150 g caster sugar
A cap full of vanilla extract
1 lemon – grated zest of a whole lemon + 1 tbsp lemon juice
65 g full-fat milk
3 large eggs, lightly whisked with a fork in a small bowl
200 g self-raising flour
50 g ground almonds

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170C (fan assisted 150C). Line the loaf tin with greaseproof paper and butter.
Wash the blueberries and leave aside to dry.
Using an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract.
In a small bowl, add the lemon juice to the milk and set aside until stage 6. This will curdle into something like buttermilk.
With the whisk on low, slowly add the beaten eggs to the buttery sugar in small batches. Beat throughly after each addition so that the eggs are well incorporated. It’s okay if it looks like the mixture has split a little. It will come together with the flour.
Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the ground almonds. Gently fold half the flour and almonds into the egg mixture. Tip the lemon-milk into the batter. Then fold the remainder of the flour and almonds.
Finally toss the blueberries in a good pinch of flour to absorb any moisture and fold these gently into the batter. Tip the batter into the tin and level the top. Bake for 50 mins – 1 hr, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.