Little blueberry and almond cakes
We’re at the end of the Jubilee weekend. How was yours? Did you do anything? A very family orientated one here with an indoor picnic courtesy of the typically British bank holiday weather and a relaxed catch-up with family. I think that no matter your views on the monarchy, sixty years on the throne is something to celebrate and I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it all. I don’t class myself as a royalist but I love how much the country has joined together and had one big party. Of course if you’re two years old then it’s all about enthusiastic flag waving and cake. Lots of cake.
At the moment the toddler is rather obsessed with “cake in hand”, meaning little cakes that look huge to her but are just the right size for clutching in chubby, rather sticky, toddler hands. It’s no bad thing, especially as I picked up a little silicone flower mould the other week and have been making good use of it. She has taken to presenting me with the mould and issuing her orders that I am to bake. And quickly.
I think blueberries are lovely to bake with, adding a gorgeous pop of colour as well as their sweet/tart flavour. Of course cake with fruit also means I can half convince myself that I’m adding towards our five a day. I wanted to use the blueberries I had before the toddler finished them all. She’s as addicted to them as I am and I often turn round to find her searching the fridge for the punnet and sneaking a couple for herself.
This is essentially a Victoria sponge recipe, with ground almonds replacing some of the flour and then blueberries folded through. Blueberry and almond is a rather nice combination and results in a moist summery cake. Or cakes in my case. Next time I want to add a little lemon zest and bake it as a ‘big’ cake. Though I thought that the sunken berries in the flower shaped ones looked sweet and put me in mind of tea parties and teddy bear picnics.
As an aside the Waitrose recipe for sticky honey, almond and banana cake makes fabulous little cakes. You can see mine over on Facebook.
Blueberry and almond cakes
Makes 10-12 individual cakes. Or try it as a ‘big’ cake
150g butter
150g sugar – I used vanilla sugar but normal caster will be just fine
3 eggs, beaten
100g self raising flour
50g ground almonds
150g blueberries
Preheat the oven to 180c fan and line your cake tin or muffin tin as needed.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. You may find it easier to combine by adding a spoonful of flour with each bit of egg.
Fold in the rest of the flour and the ground almonds. Stir in the blueberries.
Spoon into your tin or muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until the sponge bounces back with a gentle press or a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a wire rack.
I’m linking this to Tea Time Treats, this month hosted at What Kate Baked, as the theme is Summer Fruits.
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