Blueberry & Lemon Snack Cake

 

 I recently got myself a new book on my kindle entitled, Snacking Cakes, Simple Treats for Anytime by Yossy Arefi.  Being on my own now, snack sized cakes are the way to go, if not smaller.

I normally don't buy cookbooks on my kindle, but I thought I would try and see how it worked out. Less space on the book shelf. So far so good.

 

This recipe was adapted from one in the book which was called Swirled Jam Cake.  I decided to adapt it to what I have in my house at the moment.  Wild blueberry jam that my sister gifted me with and an almost empty jar of lemon curd.

It looked like a really delicious cake and because I love jam in anything, it sang the song of my heart.

 

What I ended up with was a very easy blueberry & lemon snack cake. If you can whisk things together, you can make this cake.

You don't need any special ingredients, and actually you can adapt the flavor of jam you use in it to any jam you happen to like or have on hand. 

 

The cake itself is very buttery and moist, with a rich sour cream batter.  I love sour cream cakes! They always have a beautiful texture.

And they cut beautifully. They are a little bit dense and go very well with hot or cold drinks, and are perfect for eating out of hand and for casual occasions.  Such as snacking!

 

What you end up with here is a dense moist cake with a surface riddled with little pocket of blueberry jam and lemon curd, which is also swirled here and there through the batter.

No special equipment or ingredients are required.  Simple.  Simple. Really simple.

 

 The whole time I was in the UK, I longed for the flavors of wild blueberries. The taste of my childhood. I was told that they did grow in some areas, but I have to say in all honesty I never ran across any.

Every August of my childhood my siblings and myself picked wild blueberries for my mom.  My father grew up in Northern Quebec and wild blueberries were one of his favorite things. 

We had our favorite secret spots that we went to.  Mom always gave us large 2 liter ice cream buckets and we were charged to fill them. You quickly learned that they filled up a lot faster if you didn't eat them yourself. 

Wild blueberry picking is hard work. They grow close to the ground and you spend the whole time crouching. My wild blueberry picking days are long gone now, due to arthritis in my lower back and limbs, but my sister thankfully hasn't yet been affected by it. 

 

She and Dan have been out picking a few times this year. She made my dad a few blueberry pies and one day she made some lovely wild blueberry jam, and I thought to use some of it in this lovely cake.

I was going to save it for the depths of winter, but  . . .  me <=== no willpower. Or very little anyways, especially when it comes to homemade jam.

As you can see, this cake cuts into perfect squares.  I did leave it overnight to cut it.  And it cut beautifully.

You will get 9 (2 1/2 inch) squares from an 8-inch pan.  Out of all my baking pans I have discovered that I use my 8-inch square pan the most.  I am happy that I chose to buy a quality one. 

It is a USA pan and very heavy duty, which is a good thing because I am really putting it through its paces.  I figured that I might as well buy the best of what I could because I will probably never buy, or want to buy anything like this again now that I am into the Winter years of my life.

Look at that lovely pocked of lemon curd, nestled into those streaks of blueberry. Sets my mouth to watering just looking at it.

 

Blueberry and lemon are perfect partners. There are two forms of lemon in this.  Finely grated lemon zest in the batter and lemon curd swirled throughout.

Then there is the blueberry jam.  I think raspberry jam would also work very well with the flavor of the lemon.

The batter is flavored with vanilla extract and freshly grated nutmeg.  I always use pure vanilla and grate my own nutmeg when I am baking.

Pure vanilla extract has a lovely clean flavor as opposed to the artificial one. You need less of it because of this.  When you freshly grate your nutmeg you also get a more pure flavor.  You never know how long that nutmeg in your jar of nutmeg has been grated.

I prefer to grate mine fresh, fresh, fresh. The smell and flavor are simply heavenly.

Like this cake.  Pure flavored, simple, deliciously moist. Rich and dense. Cake doesn't get much better than this!

I am thinking it would make a lovely dessert as well, served with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream!

 

Blueberry & Lemon Snack Cake

Yield: Makes one 8-inch square cake

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

This buttery sour cream snack cake is filled with delightful pockets of lemon curd and blueberry jam!

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
• finely grated zest of one lemon
• 2 large free range eggs
• 1 cup (220g) sour cream
• 1/2 cup (115g) butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 5 tsp blueberry jam
• 5 tsp lemon curd
• 1 TBS icing sugar to sift over top

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F.180*C. gas mark 4.  Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with baking paper, leaving a bit of an overhang to lift the cake out when done.
2. Rub the sugar and lemon zest together in a medium bowl until very fragrant.  Whisk this mixture together with the eggs until pale and foamy.  Whisk in the sour cream, melted butter, vanilla, nutmeg and salt.  Whisk together until smooth and completely blended.
3. Sift together the flour, soda and baking powder. Whisk into the batter until thoroughly combined. It will be a thick batter.  Scrape into the prepared baking pan. Tap the pan gently on the counter top to release any air bubbles.
4. Dollop the blueberry jam and lemon curd alternately on top of the cake leaving space between each dollop. Using a toothpick or a wooden skewer swirl both into the batter.
5. Bake on the center rack in the preheated oven and bake for 35 to 45 minutes until well risen and golden brown around the edges.  Remove from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes, before lifting out of the pan to cool completely.
6. Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares to serve.
7. This cake will keep tightly covered for up to three days.

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