Blueberry & Elderflower Cake

If, like me, you may have gone a little overboard with the elderflower cordial & produced way too much (with each year, I never learn), then adding it into simple cakes or icings is a great alternative to using it in drinks. The sweet, floral notes of elderflower work with pretty much most other summer flavours, particularly citrus fruits & berries.

Berries are without a doubt some of the best offerings of the season, nothing really says summer quite like a punnet of bright, colourful, bursting berries. So, with too much cordial in the house & a huge punnet of blueberries to hand, you can guess what happened next, blueberry & elderflower cake, & it is wonderful. I made this cake in an upside down style, as I didn’t want to risk the blueberries from catching in the oven & it came out like a dream.

The already sweet blueberries & even sweeter elderflower meld together with butter & sugar when baking, creating a very satisfying, jammy top to a light, crumbly sponge, both textures working in harmony with one another. This isn’t a particularly large, hefty cake & it’s quite light to enjoy so it’s a great one to serve if you’re having a summer get together or tea in the garden.

BLUEBERRY & ELDERFLOWER CAKE
(makes one 23cm round cake)

Ingredients:

For the blueberry topping:

• 50g butter
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp elderflower cordial
• 300g blueberries

For the cake:

• 110g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 125g self raising flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Method:

• Grease and line the bottom of a round 23cm baking tin with baking parchment
• Begin by preparing the blueberry topping, place the butter & caster sugar into a medium bowl & beat together until light & fluffy before beating in the elderflower cordial
• Next, spread the mixture all over the baking parchment at the bottom of the prepared cake tin
• Arrange the blueberries in a single layer on top of the sugar & butter spread in the tin
• To make the cake, in a large bowl beat together the butter & sugar until light & fluffy
• Add the eggs into the mixture, one at a time, beating between each one
• Sift over the flour, ground almonds & baking powder, & mix until just combined & no dry pockets of flour remain
• Finally, add the elderflower cordial & stir though
• Carefully spoon the cake mixture over the fruit in the tin, being careful not to move anything too much
• Bake the cake at 180C for 35 -40 minutes, until golden & it springs back when gently pressed with a finger
• Leave the cake to cool in its tin for 10 minutes
• To remove the cake, carefully upturn the tin onto a plate to release it from its tin & gently peel back the baking parchment