Blueberry, Lemon & Thyme Poke Cake.

BLUEBERRY, LEMON AND THYME POKE CAKE.
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Hi all. Found this recipe and made the cake yesterday. I am hooked!! Blueberries were half price at Tesco this week so bought 4 packets. Granted, had to buy the ground almonds which I definitely never usually buy, but hey, now made this, at least the ground almond won’t end up out of date and binned because I will definitely be making this one again. I also very lightly drizzled on Tate & Lyle Golden Syrup rather than pay out for Maple Syrup, which the recipe asks for and which is quite pricey in the shops.

Must admit, was a bit daunted when recipe said to use the handle of a wooden spoon to poke holes into my just lovingly baked perfect shaped cake taken out of the oven and still in the tin, but hey ho, did as I was bid in the recipe, and it was just fine. Lovely ingredients in this cake, and made a nice change from my usual victoria sponge cake.
Hope you like this recipe and try it yourselves. Guarantee, you, like me, will not be able to resist cutting a larger than usual slice.


First, the usual Oven Temp - 180C/350F/Fan 160C/Gas 4.

Grease and line one x 8” (20cm) cake tin.

Ingredients

FOR THE CAKE MIX

4 eggs
200g caster sugar
200g butter (plus extra for greasing)
200g self-raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 lemon - zested and juiced
1 tablespoon thyme leaves chopped roughly
50g ground almonds
75g Greek-style natural yoghurt.

FOR THE BLUEBERRY COMPOTE

250g Blueberries
1 lemon (juiced)
1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour


FOR THE ICING

(I used whipping cream, sweetened with a heaped teaspoon of icing sugar and the syrup, but if you prefer butter icing, here is the recipe below.

100g Butter (salted or unsalted)
200g Icing Sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup (or golden syrup or Caramel)


METHOD

Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl.until soft and pale. Add the eggs one at a time, along with 1 tablespoon of flour per egg, beating well between each addition.
Fold in the remaining flour and baking powder. Stir through the lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme leaves, almonds and the yoghurt. Pour the mixture into the greased and lined cake tin. (I lined both the bottom and all around the inside of the cake tin with nonstick baking parchment or (greaseproof paper)

Once you have poured the mixture into the cake tin, bake in the oven for 60 - 75 minutes.until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out completely clean.
Remove cake from oven and leave to cool in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the compote. Put all the ingredients, except for the cornflour, into a pan. Bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for 4 minutes.
Mix a little water with the cornflour, then whisk the cornflour into the compote, and continue to simmer for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Poke holes into the cake while it’s still warm and still in the tin. Using the handle of a wooden spoon to go three-quarters of the way down into the sponge. Pour two-thirds of the compote over the top, making sure it goes into all of the holes. Cool in the tin for a further ONE HOUR, then remove from the tin and allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, (unlike lazy Jane here just whisking whipping cream and icing sugar) if you are making butter cream icing, beat the butter until softened, add the icing sugar and whisk until smooth and thick. Stir in the maple syrup or golden syrup or caramel. Spread the icing over the top of the cake and decorate with the remaining compote.

(the accompanying American video is not the one for the recipe I have given. Just included it because it looked nice and is a recipe for Blueberry Lemon & Thyme Poke Cake and shows how it is done with the holes etc.

Enjoy. I certainly did. Having another slice this afternoon with my cup of tea. .