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Vanilla Blueberry loaf cake slicesCove Cake Design

Vanilla Blueberry Loaf Cake Recipe

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Vanilla Blueberry loaf cake slicesVanilla Blueberry Loaf Cake Recipe with Macadamia Coconut Crumble Topping

 

This vanilla blueberry loaf cake recipe is a quick and easy one to whip up for a teatime treat. I am a huge fan of loaf cakes, they are delicious and casual, with so many flavour variations possible.

The Vanilla Blueberry Loaf Cake Recipe

The recipe is adapted from my classic loaf cake base, which I have used in other recipes such as my Lemon Curd and Violet Loaf Cake or Orange Fennel and Honey Loaf Cake. The addition of a little yogurt to the cake makes it moist, light and not too sweet.

Blueberry was the chosen flavour for this recipe as I have just picked the first few blueberries from my garden. We have one blueberry bush which is incredibly resilient and has produced a lovely little crop for us every summer. I chose a simple combination of vanilla with my garden blueberries for this loaf cake but a little lemon zest would also work well. I have also added some dessicated coconut to marry with the flavour of the topping. This is however optional.

The topping came about by a little bit of a happy accident. I had been making a macadamia coconut crumble while testing a layer cake recipe. With some left over I decided to add it to my vanilla blueberry loaf as a topping. I love how it adds that little bit of a sweet crunch to the cake.

Serving and Storing

This vanilla blueberry loaf cake is delicious eaten on its own with a cup of your favourite tea. It can also be served with a dollop of yogurt. The cake keeps well at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

I hope you enjoy this cake, do tag us on social media @covecakedesign with your creations!

Suzanne x

Vanilla Blueberry Loaf Cake Slice

Vanilla Blueberry Loaf Cake with Macadamia Coconut Crumble

 

Ingredients:

For the cake

  • 190g (7oz) unsalted butter
  • 190g (7oz) golden caster sugar
  • 1tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 190g (7oz) plain flour
  • 1.5tsp baking powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 25g (1oz) dessicated coconut (optional)
  • 25g (1oz) whole milk yogurt
  • 75g (2.5oz) blueberries

For the crumble topping

  • 25g (1oz) finely chopped macadamia nuts
  • 15g (0.5oz) dessicated coconut
  • 40g (1.5oz) golden caster sugar
  • 20g (0.5oz) unsalted butter

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven (fan) to 160⁰C/320F. Grease the base and sides of a 450g/1lb silicone loaf mould or tin. If you are using a tin also line the sides and base with baking paper
  2. To make the crumble topping: place all of the ingredients into a bowl. Roughly rub the butter into the dry ingredients, leaving some lumps.
  3. To make the cake: sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Place the blueberries in another small bowl and sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of flour and stir to coat.
  4. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla bean paste in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until pale and light. Scrape down the sides intermittently.
  5. Turn the mixer down and add one egg and a tablespoon of the flour mixture. Mix on low before turning up the speed and mixing well. Repeat with the remaining eggs, adding one tablespoon of flour with each addition.
  6. Add the rest of the flour mixture and mix on low until just combined.
  7. Add the yogurt and dessicated coconut and mix on low until just combined.
  8. Scrape the mixture into the prepared mould or tin. Lightly press the blueberries into the cake mixture. Sprinkle over as much of the crumble topping as desired.
  9. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 50-60 mins before checking. Insert a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean and the cake is springy on the surface it is cooked. If not then return to the oven and check at 10min intervals until cooked.
  10. Leave to cool for 10-15mins in the tin before removing.

 

 

Lemon Almond Raspberry CakeCove Cake Design

Quick Lemon Raspberry Almond Cake

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Lemon Almond Raspberry CakeQuick Lemon Raspberry Almond Cake

The Cake

This Quick Lemon Raspberry Almond Cake, uses almond paste in the cake batter to make an quick an easy informal cake. I am a lover of anything almond, including almond paste. From my experience however, I know that almond paste is a controversial ingredient. At Christmas time there is always a strong divide between those who love the edge slice of the Christmas cake so they get the most almond paste, and those who avoid it at all costs. I am firmly in the former camp!

This cake is is dense and moist, and with the raspberry and lemon, exceedingly delicious.  With the richness of the almond paste, it is one for the almond lover!

The Lemon Raspberry Almond Cake Recipe

Almond Paste

This cake uses shop-bought almond paste. Almond paste is slightly different from marzipan. The former having a higher almond to sugar ratio, more delicious in my book. Pre-made ingredients are not something I usually recommend, so you may be a little perplexed to find a shop bought item in my ingredients list. However, I do buy almond paste every Christmas to cover my fruit cakes. I find the bought product rolls more readily and avoids having raw egg product in the cakes. I often end up with some leftover, and given that I don’t make fruit cakes outside the Christmas season, this leftover almond paste can end up going to waste. Which is where this recipe comes in.

The Recipe

The recipe is an adaptation of Nigella Lawson’s Easy Almond Cake Recipe from her classic book, How To Be A Domestic Goddess. It certainly is an easy one, basically involving the blending of classic cake ingredients with almond paste…no creaming or whisking and only one vessel to wash up afterwards.

One of my favourite cake flavour combinations is lemon and raspberry, both of which of course work with almond. I hence decided to use this combination in this almond cake by adding fresh lemon zest and raspberries.

You can of course play fast and loose with this cake, choosing ingredients you have to hand, such as marzipan rather than almond paste, or other berries such as cherries or blackberries for the raspberries. An orange version of this cake would also be a great one to try, made by swapping the lemon zest for orange zest.

Serving and Storing

Feel free to decorate this cake with what you have to hand, a dusting of icing sugar with some edible flowers and herbs would work well. A dollop of Greek yogurt would also be a lovely teatime addition.

The cake keeps well at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Lemon Almond Marzipan Raspberry Cake

Quick Lemon Raspberry Almond Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 250g shop-bought almond paste
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 6 medium eggs
  • 150g self-raising flour
  • Finely grated zest 1 lemon
  • 150g raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • Pinch salt

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven (fan) to 160⁰C/320F. Grease the base and sides of a 22cm/9” springform cake tin and line the base. (I have also made this in a 20cm/8″ tin which worked fine too but the cake was a little more dense)
  2. To make the cake, break or chop up the almond paste and place in a food processor. Blend until broken up a little more. Add the butter and sugar and continue to blend. If the butter is soft it should become smooth. I made this on a rather cold day and the mix was still a little lumpy but the cake worked perfectly. (As I said above, I can be a little fast and loose when home baking!).
  3. Sift the flour into a bowl and add the lemon zest.
  4. Add the eggs to the food processor, one at a time, blending after each addition. You may need to scrape down the sides intermittently.
  5. Add the flour mixture and blend until combined. Scrape down the sides and base of the processor and mix once more to ensure it is well combined.
  6. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin. Lightly press in the raspberries throughout the cake mixture.
  7. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 55-60 mins before checking. Insert a skewer into the centre. If it comes out clean and the cake is springy on the surface it is cooked. If not then return to the oven and check at 10min intervals until cooked.
  8. Leave to cool for 10-15mins in the tin before removing. When cool, place on a plate or cake stand and sprinkle with icing sugar and any other decoration.

I hope you enjoy this cake, do tag us on social media @covecakedesign with your creations!

Suzanne x

 

Pea Lime Coconut Cake Recipe

Pea Lime Cake with Coconut Lime Mascarpone

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Pea Lime Coconut Cake Recipe

Pea Lime Cake with Coconut Lime Mascarpone

This Pea Lime Cake with Coconut Lime Mascarpone Icing is a quick recipe that I whipped up one sunny weekend as a post-lunch treat. A cake that definitely falls into the easy and casual category, it is light and delicious and sings of summer. Although it may sound a little unusual, there is nothing more joyful than producing something for dessert that is a talking point for family and guests. Do read on and give it a try!

Pea Lime Coconut Cake

Pea Lime Cake

I first came across using peas in a cake from the book Sticky Fingers Green Thumb by Hayley McKee. Her cakes are inspired by a love of garden produce, and her book contains a pretty Green Tea bundt cake with a Garden Pea Cream. The idea of using garden peas in a dessert makes quite a bit of sense, they have a delicate if earthy sweetness, and that vibrant green colour is nothing short of beautiful.

For this recipe I added the peas in a simple cake recipe that uses vanilla for a little more sweetness, and lime zest to give that summery zing.

Pea Lime Coconut Cake

Lime Coconut Mascarpone Icing

I absolutely adore any type of mascarpone icing. The coconut cream and lime zest keep this particular icing light, fresh and creamy. It is quite a soft icing, almost a yoghurt-like consistency, something that actually doesn’t matter too much for this type of casual cake. It does however firm up a little in the fridge.

The quantity of icing makes more than is needed to cover the cake, but I have used these amounts so as to correspond with the quantities of the mascarpone tub and coconut cream can. There is nothing worse than having a spoonful or two of an ingredient left in a container. The extra icing can be served alongside the cake, or even eaten on its own with some summer berries perhaps!

Pea Lime Coconut Cake

Serving and Storing

Feel free to decorate this cake with what you have to hand, edible flowers and herbs, dessicated or shredded coconut, meringue pieces or nut pralines would all work well. The cake is best eaten on the day but will keep overnight in the fridge also. Bring back to room temperature before serving.

I hope you enjoy this cake, do tag us on social media @covecakedesign with your creations!

Suzanne x

Pea Lime Cake with Lime Coconut Mascarpone

Ingredients for the Pea Lime Cake:

  • 140g frozen garden peas (or fresh if you have them)
  • 25ml whole milk
  • 200g unsalted butter
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • 2tsp baking powder
  • 3 eggs
  • 1tsp vanilla bean paste
  • Grated zest 2 limes
  • Pinch salt

Ingredients for the Coconut Lime Mascarpone Icing:

  • 250g tub mascarpone
  • 160g can coconut cream
  • 200g icing sugar
  • Zest 1 lime

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven (fan) to 150⁰C/300F. Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm/8” cake tin. 
  2. To make the cake, bring the peas just to the boil in a small saucepan of water. Drain immediately (you only want to just cook the peas so they retain their vibrant colour).
  3. Place the peas in a high powered blender with the milk and blend to a smooth vibrant green puree. You may need to add a little more milk. The smoothness you achieve will depend on your blender, but it is best to get it as smooth as possible as you don’t want whole or large bits of pea in the cake.
  4. In the bowl of a mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and lime zest for 2-3 mins until light.
  5. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
  6. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the butter mixture. Mix on low until just combined.
  7. Add in the the pea puree and mix again until combined.
  8. Scrape the mixture into the tin and bake for approximately 45-55 mins or until springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 mins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  9. To make the lime mascarpone coconut icing, place all the ingredients in a mixer and beat for a few minutes until smooth.
  10. To assemble the cake, place the cake on an appropriate plate or stand. Spread about half of the lime and coconut mascarpone icing on top, reserving the rest to serve.
  11. Decorate as desired, I used dessicated coconut, pistachio praline and some dried edible flowers