This post is sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour
I don’t know about you but during lockdown the thing that has kept me smiling has been spending time in the kitchen, baking up a storm. Whether it’s sourdough, banana bread or any of the hundred things we have all made the last few months, I think we can all agree baking brings us joy. Today’s recipe is another collaboration with Doves Farm and celebrates summer, making something jam packed with berries but also something that can be whipped up minutes. Perfect for summer or to brighten up a grey London day, it’s also a nice tie in with Doves Farm’s new colourful feel-good packaging design which you’ll find in stores now. For those of you who don’t know Doves Farm, they’re a UK organic flour brand and they sell everything from plain flour to ancient grains like rye and buckwheat. Whilst it seems to me that flour shortages are much less frequent at this point if you’re still struggling to find flour and yeast, Doves Farm have also launched an ‘Organic Flour Baking Box’ (£11 plus delivery), available to purchase on their website and delivered direct to your door and contains a great selection of their organic flours - including plain, self raising, bread and specialty flours - plus yeast for making bread, you can find out more here.
This week’s recipe could not be easier, it can be made as a one bowl or you can add one more little step to make it with two bowls, but regardless of what method you choose it is as easy as pouring some wet stuff into some dry stuff and stirring it all together. Its pure simplicity. For the recipe I went with blueberries and lemon but really this is a very adaptable recipe. Use whatever berry and citrus combination you prefer. Don’t have buttermilk? No worries use yoghurt, or sour cream thinned with a little milk. The recipe is also super bright and colourful, stained with the juice from the berries and topped with a simple blueberry glaze which, depending on the berries you use, will come out a vibrant pink or a beautiful violet.
This week’s recipe uses Doves Farm Organic Plain flour which is available from Ocado, Sainsburys and Tesco.
Blueberry and Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake
Serves 12-14
265g golden caster sugar
zest of 2 lemons
185ml light olive oil
175ml buttermilk
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
280g Doves Farm Organic Plain Flour
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp poppy seeds
300g blueberries
Blueberry Glaze
50g blueberries, plus extra for decoration
200g icing sugar
Few drops of lemon juice
To make the cake preheat the oven to 180ºC (160ºC Fan). Lightly grease, and dust with flour, a bundt pan (you can use anything 8-cup capacity or up).
If making with my preferred method add the sugar and lemon zest to a large bowl and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar has a moist texture. This releases the oils in the zest and makes for a more flavourful cake. Add the oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. In a separate bowl whisk together the Doves Farm Plain Flour, salt and baking soda. Make a well in the dry goods and pour in the buttermilk mixture, whisking the two mixtures together until smooth. Add the poppy seeds and blueberries and stir together to distribute evenly.
If you want to make this as a one bowl recipe, add the Doves Farm Plain Flour, salt, baking soda and sugar to a large bowl and whisk together until combined. Make a well in the dry goods then add in the oil, buttermilk, eggs and lemon zest and whisk together until smooth. Add in the poppy seeds and blueberries and stir together.
Scrape the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and then bake for about 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes then carefully invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the glaze (which is optional, the cake is plenty moist without it) use a hand blender to puree the berries then mix in the icing sugar and a few drops of lemon juice until you have a thick but pourable glaze. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake and top with a few extra blueberries.
Kept covered this cake will keep for 3-4 days.