Bring the SS14 pastel trend to the kitchen this Spring with this fruity and delightful Blueberry & Lavender Cake recipe.
Serves: 12
Preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
What you’ll need:
Cake:
- 175g unsalted butter, room temperature
- 175g caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 225g self raising flour, sieved
- 150g Rachel’s Greek Style low fat natural yogurt 150g fresh blueberries
Lavender Syrup:
- 60g caster sugar
- 40ml water
- 3 sprigs of fresh lavender including flowers
Lavender & Blueberry Icing:
- 250g unsalted butter, room temperature 750g icing sugar, sieved
- 75g Rachel’s fat free blueberry yogurt Drop of milk
- 10g food colouring (violet food gel, we used Dr Oetker)
To Decorate:
- Fresh Lavender or lavender sugar
What to do:
- Grease three 6” (15.2cm) round loose bottom cake tins and line with parchment paper. Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3
- Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to whisk after each addition. Add the vanilla extract followed by the flour
- Fold in the yogurt and blueberries ensuring good distribution
- Pour the mixture into the cake tins evenly and bake until risen, golden brown and springy to touch. Insert a cake tester into the centre of each cake and if it comes out clean the cakes are cooked
- Transfer the cakes to a wire cooling rack to cool completely before removing from the tins
- To make the lavender syrup, take a small pan and add all the ingredients, simmer on high heat for 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool
- To make the lavender and blueberry icing, beat the butter with the icing sugar until a paste is formed.
- Add the yogurt and mix in. If the icing paste seems stiff, add a drop of milk. Add the food colouring and continue to beat on high speed ensuring all the colour is incorporated and the mixture is not streaky
- To assemble take each cake, remove the parchment paper and place onto the serving plate, drizzle with 1
- tablespoon of lavender syrup, allow to soak into the cake then spread a quarter of the icing onto the cake, spreading it to the edges, using a palette knife. Repeat this process with the second and third cake, layering with syrup and then icing. With the remaining icing – ice the top and sides of the cake and spread smoothly
- Decorate with fresh lavender sprigs (if available) or with lavender sugar (widely available in stores such as Lakeland or major supermarkets)
Recipe by Rachel’s