BLUEBERRY CAKE

Good Morning to you,

Do you enjoy wearing a nice pair of shoes?

I do, and I am not alone in this, as Danielle and Natasha are shoe lovers as well. Oh yes, and I must not forget that Phyllis is a part of our shoe loving group, as she also loves a nice pair of shoes.

The reason I mention this is, Danielle bought the most exquisite pair of shoes recently.  The lining of the shoes had been created with a soft, beautiful piece of floral material.  The shoe itself, was made of the softest, cream suede, with the most beautiful ruffle, rippling down the front of the shoe.  The heel was perfect, not too low and not too high.... and really there are no more words to describe Danielle's shoes...... well, maybe just one more "gorgeous". 

I smiled to myself when I saw the ripple, as it is the nearest thing Danielle could get to a bow. You see I am well known for loving bows on my shoes, I'm not sure why I like them so much.... I just do and come to think of it, I have noticed the odd bow or two appearing on Natasha's shoes recently.

Anyway, back to Danielle's shoes.... as we were all admiring her shoes, Danielle surprised us, by slipping the shoes on to her feet, then taking them off and announcing, that the shoes were so beautiful that they were never to be worn.  She felt they were works of art, and she did not want to spoil their beauty. So these gorgeous shoes are now displayed in her dressing room, to be admired, as an ornament ..... never to be worn again.

Personally, I could not do that, I could not buy a beautiful pair of shoes and not wear them.  Actually, if I am being honest, I would wear them to death.  If I love a pair of shoes, I want to wear them, and not preserve them. 

I do not buy new shoes very often these days, as I do own quite a few pairs.... some suitable, some not so much, but I was in town last week and I discovered, the most glorious pair of shoes.  I have decided, they will not be displayed as a thing of beauty.... I don't know why I have told you that, because the glorious shoes, have not been bought yet.  You see my birthday is later in the month and I am hoping these shoes, which, from now on, shall be known as the "glorious" shoes, will be winging their way to me for my birthday. I am keeping all my fingers and toes crossed.... I shall let you know if I become the proud owner of the "glorious" shoes. Do you know, I might even take a photograph and show you, well that is if the Shoe Fairy is kind enough to grant me my wish.

So now you know about my love of shoes, are you a shoe lover? Do you enjoy wearing a gorgeous pair of shoes? 

Now that is enough talk of shoes, it is time to organise myself to make,

this, oh so, very nice, Blueberry Cake. It is a recipe which I adapted from an Apple Cake recipe which I had.  This Blueberry Cake is scrummy, but if you are feeling a little naughty, add a spoonful of double cream, trust me it will enhance your enjoyment. 

So it's on with the pinnie, and the music I am listening to today is,

Eric Clapton's album, Unplugged.  As a teenager I loved Eric Clapton when he was in The Yardbirds.... I even have an album of The Yardbirds tucked away in my cupboard. Then Eric joined Cream and my favourite song of theirs was Strange Brew. Remember, this is when I was a teenager. Unplugged is altogether, a much different album.  Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Some days I am more organised than others and today I am pleased to say I am ahead of myself, as my ingredients are already organised.

INGREDIENTS

125g blueberries

200ml sour cream

2 large eggs

125g sugar

225g self raising flour

150g melted butter

1 teaspoonful of vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS FOR THE 

CAKE TOPPING

25g dark brown sugar

25g butter

50g flour

50g of blueberries

Pre-heat the oven to 180C

You will need 2 bowls, 1 for wet

and 1 for dry ingredients
and a
21 cm cake tin

HOW TO MAKE 

A

BLUEBERRY CAKE

Butter and line the cake tin with baking parchment

THE TOPPING

Rub the butter

into the

flour until you have small lumps,

then

stir in the sugar

and mix,

until all the ingredients are combined.

Set aside for the moment.

TO MAKE THE BLUEBERRY CAKE

Place the cracked eggs into a bowl

and 

add the sour cream

and whisk together.

Slowly add

the melted butter

and

the vanilla extract and whisk together.

In a separate bowl,

sift the flour
and combine

with the

sugar.

Then add the wet ingredients to the

dry ingredients and gently mix together

until thoroughly combined.

Fold in 125g of blueberries.

Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared

cake tin

and smooth the top using a spatula.

Spoon the  pre-prepared topping

 over the cake mixture

and

sprinkle over the remaining 50g of blueberries.

Place in a pre-heated oven

and

bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes

or until the top is a golden brown colour.

Check the cake is baked by inserting a cake skewer,

into the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean
the cake is baked.

As you can see the sides are a nice, golden colour.

Oops four slices disappeared before

I could say,

 "Would you like a slice of  cake?"

As you will have noticed, my cake tin is quite deep and that is why it took a little longer to bake.  If you prefer a shallower cake, then use a larger cake tin, but remember to reduce the baking time.

I took a risk with the blueberries, as I used some blueberries from the freezer which I had frozen earlier in the year.  I did not have time to defrost them, so they were frozen when I placed them into the cake mixture. This goes against every rule of baking, as ingredients should always be at room temperature..... but if you do not try something you will never know.... and I now know, that it is alright to use frozen blueberries, in a cake mixture.  The blueberries might not have been evenly positioned throughout the cake, but I really do not mind, as this is home baking after all and I am not looking for perfection.  All I want, is to know, that when I take that first bite, the food brings a smile to my face, then I am very happy.

Take care and I will see you on Wednesday.

This week I will be joining,

Joy from Yesterfood for Treasurebox Tuesday

and

Anyonita Nibbles for Tasty Tuesdays