Blueberry cake with cheesecake frosting (1 colour)

This easy-to-make cake looks beautiful and tastes absolutely delicious.


Ingredients
Self-raising flour - 225 g
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Golden caster sugar - 175 g
Butter - 175 g, warmed to room temperature
Vanilla essence - 2 tsp
Eggs - 3 large
Soured Cream - 4 tbsp
Fresh or frozen (defrosted) blueberries - 190 g

For the frosting:
Cream cheese (philadelphia) - 200 g
Soured cream - 1 dessert spoon
Icing sugar - 100g
Fresh blueberries - 150 g

Methods
1) Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the butter and beat for a couple of minutes. Add the vanilla essence and eggs and mix well.
2) Beat in the soured cream and then gently stir in the blueberries.
3) Pour the mixture into a round 22cm loose-bottomed cake tin, spread it level and bake at 180°C for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool the cake for a few minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack.
4) When the cake has cooled completely, mix together the cream cheese, soured cream and icing sugar in a bowl. Spread on top of the cake and scatter the blueberries on top. Keep the cake in the fridge, but remove an hour before serving. Serves 8.

Ginger cake (1 colour)

This is an old family favourite and I can't remember ever having a Christmas without it.

Ingredients
Golden syrup - 55 g
Black treacle - 170 g
Margarine - 115 g
Brown sugar - 55 g
Milk - 140 ml
Eggs - 2, beaten
Plain flour - 225 g
Bicarbonate of soda - 1 level tsp
Ground ginger - 2 level tsp
Mixed spice - 1 rounded tsp
Sultanas - 115 g

Methods
1) Heat the treacle, syrup, margarine and sugar in a small pan until the sugar and margarine have dissolved. Add the milk and leave to cool for a few minutes.
2) Meanwhile, sift the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl.
3) Add the eggs to the cooled treacle mixture and stir well. Pour into the bowl containing the dry ingredients and fold in the sultanas, mixing until everything is well combined. Bake in a greased tin for 1.25 - 1.5 hours at 150°C until a skewer comes out clean. Serves 12.