By Yotam Ottolenghi
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- 4(7,728)
- Notes
- Read community notes
A slice of this berry-dotted cake is perfect late in the morning, for afternoon tea or after dinner, with coffee. It keeps for up to three days in a sealed container, but is at its absolute best on the day it's made.
Featured in: When Yotam Ottolenghi First Fell for Berries
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- ½cup (1 stick) plus 3 tablespoons/150 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
- 1scant cup/190 grams granulated or superfine sugar (caster sugar)
- 1teaspoon lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice (or more juice as needed)
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract (vanilla essence)
- 3large eggs, beaten
- ⅔cup/90 grams all-purpose flour (plain flour), sifted
- 1¼teaspoons baking powder
- ⅛teaspoon salt
- 1cup/110 grams almond flour (ground almonds)
- 1½cups/200 grams fresh blueberries
- ⅔cup/70 grams confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
527 calories; 36 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 8 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 35 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 125 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/200 degrees Celsius. Grease a 9- or 8-inch/21-centimeter loaf pan with butter, line it with a parchment paper sling and butter the paper. Set the pan aside.
Step
See AlsoGluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe w/ Biscuit Base (dairy free, low FODMAP)Homemade Tzatziki RecipeParmesan Roasted Broccoli Recipe - Butter Your BiscuitCranberry, Almond Biscotti Recipe. Step By Step, Easy Instructions.2
Place butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light, then lower speed to medium. Add eggs in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times as necessary. The mix may split a little but don’t worry: It’ll come back together once you add the dry ingredients.
Step
3
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and almond flour. With the stand mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing just until no white specks remain. Fold in about ¾ of the blueberries by hand, then scoop batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Step
4
Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle the remaining blueberries over the top of the cake. Return to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes, until cake is golden brown but still uncooked. Cover loosely with foil and continue to cook for another 25 to 30 minutes (less for a 9-inch pan, more for an 8-inch pan), or until risen and cooked, and a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside in its pan to cool for 10 minutes before removing cake from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Step
5
When cake is cool, make the icing: Add lemon juice and icing sugar to a bowl and whisk together until smooth, adding a bit more juice if necessary, just until the icing moves when you tilt the bowl. Pour over the cake and gently spread out. The blueberries on the top of the cake may bleed into the icing a little, but this will add to the look. Let icing set (about 30 minutes), slice and serve.
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Cooking Notes
Nancy Vaughns
I have consolidated some of the advice of other bakers in the comments and it led to a superb cake!-Halved the sugar—the cake will still be PLENTY sweet, even before the icing-Added a tsp of almond extract in addition to vanilla extract to really drive home the almond flavor-Used the zest of a whole lemon-Tossed the blueberries with a tablespoon of the dry ingredients so that they wouldn’t sink, then folded them into the batter all at once-Cooked it uncovered for an hourIt was perfect!
Annie Slocum
I remade this with almond flour (rather than ground almonds) and the loaf was perfect! I also tossed all of the blueberries with 1 T. of the dry ingredients and not as many of them sunk to the bottom. I baked it for one hour-did not need to cover it with foil.
Lwood
Not an 'almond' lover but this looks nice ... what do you think, substitute regular flour for the 'almond flour'?
Kamini
I made the cake today with a few tweaks. I used only one stick of butter, and that was fine; I also didn't do the icing. It was delicious, but very sweet, just short of cloying. I would reduce the quantity of sugar to 3/4 cup or 2/3 cup or maybe even less than that. For me, the lemon flavor from the zest didn't come through strongly enough so I will probably increase the amount of lemon zest the next time. I used Bob's Red Mill finely ground almond flour and it was perfect.
Jennifer
Take a piece of parchment paper and cut it so that it is as wide as the bottom of the pan and as long as the bottom + sides plus a couple of inches. Lay it in the pan so that it runs down one side, across the bottom, and up the other side, with the extra sticking up on either side. Then you only have to grease the short ends and loosen them before removing the cake with the paper "sling."
Andrea
Absolutely wonderful cake. I used raspberries and blueberries. I used orange sugar (orange zest finely blended with sugar) in the batter. Recipe worked perfectly---cake is a treasure. Quiet and delicious.
Barbara
I have made a variation of this for years. Without almond flour and with plain Greek style yogurt substituted for one of the eggs. Mine is much taller, baked in a 5"x9" loaf pan and I use cooking spray instead of parchment. The berries stay well distributed in my version and don't sink - batter is quite thick. I also use a lot more fresh lemon juice and cut the sugar to 3/4 cup.
Martha MacC
Here's some hints to make even better. First, separate the eggs and add yolks first. Then beat whites to stiff peaks and fold in after you add blueberries. Second, toss blueberries in flour before adding yo mixture; thy will not sink. No heaviness and amazingly light.
Jessie
Could the all purpose flour be replaced with something - almond flour, coconut flour - to make this gluten free?
EB
Excellent recipe! I used only 1/2 cup sugar in the batter (instead of 1 cup) and it turned out great. Used blueberries and the result was superb.
Ma Elena
This is amazing but the recipe is not correct. I have the book and the measurements are different. 190 grams/2 cups Almond Meal45 grams/ 1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon all purpose flour 1/4 cup lemon juiceI didn’t cover it for baking, hope this helps.
lilian
Delicious! By mistake I used only 1 stick of butter and came out fine. There is no need for more butter. I think next time I'll mix the berries in flour and add them all at once, just like Annie Slocum did which is something I've done previously. The cake is sweet enough, skip the icing!
Simple Chef.
Thank you to everyone who has tried this forumla and offered their experiences and suggestions. This is one reason I enjoy this site. People contribute some great insights and recommendations. I have blueberries...on to the baking!
Sanibelle
I made this with a hand mixer as I didn't feel like taking out my big one, and it worked fine.
Corey
Before making the icing, I macerated a handful of extra blueberries in the lemon juice and a little sugar for about an hour while the cake baked. The resulting icing was almost light purple and tasted like blueberry lemonade.
sessy
Made over the weekend, and it was a hit! Used 2/3 cup sugar and was generous with lemon zest, but kept everything else the same!
sessy
Edit: This was a hit! Used 2/3 cup sugar, 1 stick butter, and was generous with lemon zest! Otherwise, followed the recipe!
James
I only used one stick of butter by mistake and it was fine.
Valentina
After so many years, I made this again… even without the icing, it’s delish. Easy to make and so moist! Great recipe!!
ciaojane
GF version150 grams sugarBrown rice flour for regular flour1 tb flour with blueberries 150 g blueberriesMixCook 1 hr.
10/2/21
Taste and texture are good, but I would prefer the 3rd egg over the yogurt because it did not rise as high as it should
Rachel
I accidentally added the lemon juice to the batter instead of saving it for the icing. Happy accident! I will make this cake again and will add it intentionally every time.
dina
Like others mentioned I used less sugar (140 grams), added the zest of an entire medium lemon, and mixed the blueberries with about a tablespoon of the dry mixture before adding. Also, I used less blueberries than the recipe indicated and it was still more than enough. And baked for a couple minutes shy of what the recipe said and it was perfect.
Acer
Not primarily being a baker, I found this recipe to be a nice way to use almond flour which is not something used for most cakes. The amount of butter is just enough to keep moist and add some body. This is not a light and dry cake. I'm certain that you can use any berry fruit and some nuts as well. I added an 1/8 teaspoon of almond extract in addition to the vanilla just because I had some and it was a nice boost. The icing is easy too.
jennifer out in cali
There’s no need for a mixer, stand or otherwise. I’ve made this dozens of times with great results just using a whisk.
jennifer out in cali
Today we made cupcakes with these changes:-1/2 stick butter plus 1/4 cup walnut oil-3/4 cup sugar-zest of an entire lime plus its juices into the batter-both vanilla and almond extract -King Arthur gluten free flour mix (not AP)-frozen wild blueberries thawed and drained-divided the blueberries evenly and placed them in the bottom of each cupcake liner prior to pouring in the batter-baked at 375 for 22 minutes - check frequently!We prefer this version to the loaf.
Sonja H
I made this today, and added a tsp of almond extract, and used frozen wild blueberries instead of fresh (mixed all onto the batter at the start). Cake is lovely- and the wild blueberries cut the sweetness just a bit, so it is not cloyingly sweet. Also, they didn’t all sink to the bottom of the batter, as fresh berries would tend to.
molly
I didn’t have almonds but I had some hazelnuts so I whizzed those up for a hazelnut meal and was quite pleased with the result!
Masha B
I made them before with blueberries and lemon, using less sugar.(about 3/4 c)Just made it as cupcakes with cranberries and orange. Mixed all the cranberries at once. Baked in paper cupcakes for about 26 min in regular oven. Light and delicious.
Yenny
I took the notes from here and added some of my own:- Used 2/3 cup sugar and it was plenty sweet- Used only 2 eggs and added 1/4 yogurt- Skipped the vanilla essense and replaced with with more lemon juice to boost the lemon flavor- Added zest from 1 lemon- Baked in an 8x8 pan uncovered for 40 mins- Skipped the icingDelicious!!!
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