If You Can Make That You Can Make This

This is the cake I make to use up a glut of fresh berries, whenever I should be so lucky as to get them. It’s also a great batter for sliced peaches or nectarines, grapes – whatever’s really fresh, even ever so slightly over fresh, and just begging to be turned into dessert.

This version uses blueberries.

1 cup blueberries
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cornmeal (or just use another 1/4 cup of flour)
3/4 cups sugar (plus about 1 tbsp for sprinkling)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp lemon juice
2 eggs
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt

• Preheat the oven to 350f, and grease an 8 inch spring-form pan with a little olive oil
• In one bowl mix the blueberries, 1 1/4 cups of flour, 1/4 cup of cornmeal, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp lemon zest and 1/2 tsp of salt
• In a jug, whisk the 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of yogurt, 1/2 cup of olive oil and 2 tsp lemon juice – it might look a bit curdled, that’s totally normal
• Add the wet mix to the dry and stir to combine
• Spoon into the tin, sprinkle about 1 tbsp of sugar on top, then bake for about 1 hour – check after 45 and cover if the top is browning too quickly
• Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then slide a knife around to loosen and pop out of the spring form. Cool on a rack then serve
• This cake is delicious with a spoonful of sour cream on the side or with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

If You Can Make That You Can Make This

• Use a cup of any summer fruit that you love instead of blueberries – I’ve recently made a raspberry  and a peach version, and I love to make a purple grape version, in which case I lay a couple of sprigs of rosemary on top before baking and fondly think of it as being a little bit Tuscan
• Or this spiced apple cake with maple frosting
• Or these spiced peach sour cream muffins