Here’s a wonderfully moist cake that’s packed with fruity flavour.

Serves: 8 – 10 slices

Time: 40 minutes hands on, 40 minutes baking, 20 minutes to decorate

Level: Quite easy

Need: A 20cm/8” round tin, ideally loose bottomed and with a depth of 4 – 5cm

Ingredients

150g/5½oz butter, softened
150g/5½oz golden caster sugar
2 large eggs
175g/6oz self-raising flour (+ ½tsp xanthan gum powder for GF version)
1 tsp baking powder
1 or 2 tsp vanilla extract
125ml/4½ fl oz soured cream
1 Tbsp flour (NB If going GF, use GF flour here too)
200g/7oz blueberries
1 large orange, zested then peeled and segmented, minus white pith & pips

For the topping

200g/7oz full fat soft cheese or mascarpone
75g/2½oz icing sugar + a little to sprinkle on top
1 tsp orange extract or vanilla (both optional)

NB 1 This gives plenty of topping. If you want to slice the cake horizontally and have a filling too (what a great idea, by the way.) increase the amounts by maybe 50%.

NB 2 The images here show a gluten free version that I made. I doubt if using “normal” flour would make any difference. The “Free from” flour that I use is very fine; if you really want to replicate it then you could use Double Zero grade flour, but I don’t think you need to.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / Fan 160°C / 350°F / Gas 4. Butter the sides and line the base of the tin.

2. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour (+ xanthan gum powder, if using), baking powder and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Add in the zest and beat until pale & creamy. Beat in 75ml/2½fl oz soured cream.

3. Reserve a few “nicer” looking orange segments for decorating later and cut the rest into two or three pieces each. Put the plain flour in a food bag and add the cut orange pieces and half the blueberries. Shake the bag to coat the fruit. Then gently stir the fruit into the batter mixture.

4. Spoon or pour the mixture into the prepared tin, level the surface and tap the tin firmly on your work surface a couple of times to release any trapped air.

5. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes. Test by inserting a metal skewer into the deepest part of the cake. If it comes out clean and dry, the cake has baked. Leave it in the tin for 10 – 15 minutes to begin cooling then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

6. Beat the full fat cream cheese, the remaining soured cream and the icing sugar until thick and creamy. Beat in any extracts, if using. Spread it over the cooled cake then add the remaining orange segments and blueberries either in a pattern or randomly as you wish. Sprinkle with icing sugar prior to serving.

Gallery 1

Gallery 2

I hope you enjoy this lovely cake. If you want more cake recipes click this link, or have a look at my site for lots of other great recipes, both sweet and savoury.

Here are some that I’d love you to try:

Rhubarb, Almond and White Chocolate Cake