blueberry & lemon cake

Preheat your oven to 160°C fan/180°C/365°F /gas mark 4. 

Grease and line an 8” baking tin and sprinkle with flour.

Put the milk and cider vinegar in a jug and set aside.  

Sift the flour and bicarbonate into a bowl and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, put the margarine, salt, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla, and mix with a hand mixer on high speed until the mixture is fluffy and pale in colour.

While still mixing, add some of the flour to the butter mix, then add half the liquid until combined. Repeat with some more flour, then the rest of the liquid, and the last of the flour. Once all combined, go around the sides of the bowl with a spatula to ensure everything is mixed in – you should have an airy and smooth cake mixture. Fold in half of the fresh blueberries.

Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin, sprinkling the remainder of the blueberries over the top of the cake mix. Bake for 45-55 minutes – check to see whether it is cooked by inserting a wooden skewer in the middle to see if it comes out dry. Once cooked, remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes before removing from the tin to a cooling rack.

Once the cake has cooled completely, mix the icing ingredients together to make an icing of a thick, pourable consistency. You can add some milk if it’s too thick, or more icing sugar if too runny. 

Transfer the cake to a stand and pour over the icing, starting in the centre and using a spatula to spread it all over the cake, pushing it to the edges so it can run down the sides. Decorate with fresh blueberries.