Tangy lemons and juicy, sweet blueberries are perfectly paired in this zingy, almondy cake sweetened with fragrant, golden honey. This cake could even quite happily be the star of the breakfast table since every one of its ingredients offers something nutritionally beneficial.
Incredibly prominent in the US diet, blueberries have not been as popular in the UK until recently. In Summer we're traditionally great consumers of strawberries and raspberries and it's only been in the last few years that blueberries have started to make an appearance. Superstars of the fruit arena and hugely beneficial for whole body health and particularly the heart and brain, blueberries are jam packed full of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals being especially high in vitamin K, vitamin C and manganese. Awesome to nibble on, they can be added to drinks, salads, ice cream, cakes, jams or anything else you can think of.
I just LOVE the dimples on top of this cake.
Lemon and Blueberry Cake GF SCD
250g ground almonds
125g blueberries
3 large eggs (extra large in the U.S)
3 tblsps extra virgin olive oil
80ml acacia honey
grated rind of 2 - 2½ large or 3 to 4 medium lemons
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tblsp pure vanilla extract (alcohol, water and vanilla only)
pinch salt
If you can, please use scales and stick to my measurements but if you need to convert them and use a Fahrenheit oven setting, please see the tab at the top of the page marked measures. These are approximate though.
Heat the oven to 170° C (fan/convection oven). Pour the honey, extra virgin olive oil and vanilla extract into the bowl of a food processor then break in the eggs.
Process until combined.
Grate the lemons.
Measure out the ground almonds, bicarbonate of soda and salt into another bowl, add the lemon rind and whisk together with a fork or balloon whisk.
Add to the wet ingredients little by little. Process on a medium speed until all the dry ingredients have been mixed in.
Line a 2 pound loaf tin (7½" x 3½" x 2½" (19cm x 9cm x 6.5cm)) with a liner or parchment paper.
Spoon some of the mixture into the tin and sprinkle some blueberries in. Then spoon more mixture into the tin and add more blueberries.
Repeat the layers a couple more times. You could sprinkle some flaked almonds over the top too if you have some.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes then turn the temperature down to 160°C and bake for another 40 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean and the top of the cake springs back when lightly touched. After 40 minutes quickly cover with parchment paper to prevent the cake burning.
Leave to cool in the tin for about 15 to 20 minutes, then carefully tip out on to a cooling tray. I lay a cooling tray on top, hold it tightly then quickly turn it over. Remove the liner.
Leave to cool.
