Blueberry and Lemon Crumble Cake

This is one of those very rare moments in which I draw rather direct inspiration and part of a recipe from someone else. However, there is no shame to be had in this particular case, since when my mother showed the photo to me I knew at once that a similar result had to be achieved. Of course, the recipe has been altered a little; the original contained no blueberries, was party to an orange instead of a lemon and lacked oats, not to mention the fact that the quantities are a little different. Still, enough was drawn from this particular recipe to warrant a mention – thank you, Mail on Sunday and each and every one of your entrails, most suited to middle aged women.

This is the first recipe I’ve ever posted that uses blueberries; they’re usually so expensive. However, in the past week or so my local supermarket has been stocking beautifully plump and juicy blueberries for the rather generous price of £2 for 400g. At this price I couldn’t possibly say no; since the cake is so delicious doing so would have branded me immoral. I’ve always been under the impression that blueberries, particularly cooked blueberries, go rather well with lemon. As it turns out, my supposition was entirely correct and the two layers, both of which contain a rather oxymoronic tart-sweetness, worked wonderfully together. If you love crumble as much as I do, this cake is a real must.

As far as the crumble is concerned, one may use whichever crumble one prefers. The original recipe, for instance, used a ground almond crumble. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter – the idea behind this cake is what is most important. However, it is very important that the crumble is cooked for long enough to go crispy, otherwise it’ll simply fall off your cake as you turn it out. Indeed, the same advice goes for the cooling period afforded to the cake following the baking process.

Please enjoy my cake and if you’re feeling in a particularly benevolent mood feel free to ‘like’ me on Facebook (See tab on the right).

Blueberry and Lemon Crumble Cake

Makes one 9” cake

Ingredients:

For the sponge – 

• 2 large eggs

• 190g self-raising flour

• 130g golden caster sugar

• 130g butter

• The zest of 1 lemon

For the crumble –

• 75g plain flour

• 75g butter

• 75g caster sugar

• 100g rolled oats

• 200g blueberries

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C and grease a 9” cake tin. The method for the sponge is the same as it is in all recipes. Cream the butter and sugar; beat in the eggs one at a time; fold in the flour and the zest gently. Transfer the batter to the tin and bake for 20 minutes.

2. While the cake is baking, prepare the crumble by whisking together the flour, butter and sugar, before using one’s fingers to work in the oats – it should resemble large breadcrumbs. Mix this with the blueberries and tip onto the top of the cake after the 20 minutes has lapsed. Sprinkle with a little more sugar and return to the oven.

3. After 40 minutes the top should have turned golden brown and many of blueberries will have burst. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out. It is ready to eat, with a dollop of whipped cream, immediately.

Cost: Since blueberries are unusually cheap at the moment, this cake isn’t as expensive as it would once have been. Indeed, since the other ingredients are fairly standard, economical cake ingredients, this summer-time treat should set one back a mere £3.20!