I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes gets a hankering for a certain type of cake. Recently I was after a really lemony, soft cake with oodles of deliciously squidgy blueberries and something crunchy to finish (I’m oddly specific, I know)… And this is the result.
It’s super-simple to put together as the cake ingredients just get mixed all in one go. I also chose to bake it in a loaf tin, which requires a slightly longer bake time, but I wanted the deep cake under the crunchy crumble topping. You could of course swap the berry to another fruity favourite if you wish. I also chose to make mine with Oatly greek style yoghurt – you could quite easily make this with a vegan butter alternative for a dairy-free cake.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 150g caster sugar
- 100g butter
- 100g Greek-style yoghurt
- 1 egg
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
- Punnet of blueberries
- 200g self raising flour
- 1 level tsp baking powder
For crumble topping:
- 75g plain flour
- 50g Demerara sugar
- 50g butter
Optional:
- Icing sugar to drizzle, made up with the juice of 1 lemon.
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180º/160º fan/gas 5. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (about 10cm deep).
- In a bowl, add all the crumble topping ingredients. Using your hands, mix and squish together until you form a crumbly mix.
- Into a large bowl or stand mixer, add all the cake ingredients except the blueberries. Mix together, gently at first and then mix well to make sure it is well combined.
- Add in roughly 90% of the blueberries – keep some back for the top – and stir in gently.
- Tumble the cake mixture into the loaf tin and smooth out. Sprinkle the crumble topping over to cover the cake mixture. Top the crumble mix with your remaining blueberries.
- Bake in the oven for 45 to 55 minutes*. The cake will be done if the topping is golden brown, if it no longer jiggles when you very gently shake it and when you insert a skewer, it comes out clean. Leave to cool. Optional – mix a little icing sugar with either water or the juice of a lemon and drizzle over the top of the cake before cutting.
*You don’t necessarily need to leave to cool completely … I didn’t, and can personally confirm that it is actually wonderful when served still-warm with a cup of tea. Just be very careful when moving the cake before it’s completely cold as it has a very soft texture and will easily break.
** Loaf cakes take much longer to cook as they are quite deep. It can be a tricky to balance getting the middle cooked without the top/sides becoming overcooked. Do adjust according to your oven. If after 45 minutes the top is still pale, then nudge the temperature up slightly to brown it.
