Sour Cream Blueberry Cake With Vanilla Mascarpone Icing

I rushed to make another recipe from Emelia Jackson's book First, Cream the Butter and Sugar before the end of the month, as we were heading into a new month and a new cookbook for our May Cookbook Club.  Her book is very comprehensive, and there are lots of recipes I won't be making, but this one was a goer for me :=)

Making delightful cakes like this brings to mind eating cream-filled cakes at a Viennese café some years ago.  There was an orchestra playing on the green behind us, and it was just a delightful afternoon.  And that reminds me of visiting Budapest, and being offered a clandestine small green pepper by a young man in the street.  What the???!  Or maybe it was a frog he was offering ... 

pretty and delicious

Serves 8:

ingredients:

200g./7 oz caster sugar

170g./5.75 oz butter, softened (unsalted if you wish)

3 lemons, zested - or 1/2 tsp lemon extract

1 Tbs vanilla bean paste or extract

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda)

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

3 large eggs

120g./4.25 oz sour cream

120 mL/4 fl oz milk

220g./7.75 oz cake flour   see Notes

200g./7 oz fresh or frozen blueberries (don't thaw them!)

125g./4.5 oz fresh blueberries, to serve

Zest of a lemon, to serve

Vanilla mascarpone icing:

250g./9 oz mascarpone (Italian soft cream cheese)

200 mL/7 fl oz thickened (whipping cream)

100g./3.5 oz icing sugar (powdered sugar)

1 Tbs vanilla bean paste or extract

Method:

On goes your oven to 160C/320F to heat up, while you butter and line 2 cake tins with baking paper    see Notes

Place the sugar, butter, and lemon zest into a large mixing bowl, and beat away (I used electric hand beaters) till 'light, creamy and fluffy'

Whack in the vanilla, baking powder, bi-carb and salt, and mix till well-combined

Beat in the eggs, one at a time till well-mixed

The sour cream and milk go into a small jug or bowl, and get whisked

Sift the flour over the egg mixture, then fold in gently

With a gentle hand, fold in the sour cream mixture till you have a lovely batter

So, grab the cake tins and place a quarter of the batter into each tin

Then stir the blueberries into the remaining batter, and pour the batter equally and evenly into the tins; give the tins a small shake to settle the batter

Bake the cakes for 40-45 minutes. or until the skewer comes out clean from the centre

Let 'em cool for ten minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to cool right down

While they're cooling, make the icing by whisking the mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl till thickened   see Notes

Put one layer of cake on a serving plate, then spread on a third of the icing

On goes the next cake layer, and merrily slather the icing on the top and sides of the whole cake

Decorate with the extra fruit and lemon zest

Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days (as if - hehehe)

Notes:

You can buy cake flour or make your own: I used 190g./6.7 oz plain flour + 30g./1 big oz cornflour

Emelia says to use 18 cm/7 in cake tins, but I only have 20 cm tins and that was fine!

She also says in regard to the icing, that you "whisk till thickened, and be careful not to overwhisk as it will split." I had to grab my electric beaters again 'cos it was going to take forever with a hand whisk; there seemed to be no danger at all of it splitting :=)

I actually used frozen blackberries in the batter, and blueberries on top.  I reckon you could use whatever fruit you like

zest those lemons!

beat in the eggs

fold in the flour

add in a quarter of the batter to each cake tin

icing on the go

so delicious!

keep on icing :=)

iced and decorated

the cake didn't last long in this house :=)

C. Sherry M.