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.

Pear and walnut cake (1 colour)

I made this with freshly bought pears, but next time I shall leave them to ripen for a day or two.

Ingredients
Plain flour - 250 g
Caster sugar - 180 g
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Pears - 3 ripened, peeled and coarsely chopped
Walnut pieces - 80 g
Eggs - 2, beaten
Milk - 100 ml
Butter - 125 g

Methods
1) Melt the butter in a pan and leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 180 °C and grease a 9 inch round baking tin.
2) Sift the flour, sugar and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add the pear and walnut pieces and mix well.
3) Place the milk and eggs together in a small bowl and whisk for a couple of minutes.
4) Add the milk and egg mixture together with the butter to the mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly.
5) Pour into the baking tin and cook for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Serves 6-8.

Chocolate orange and almond cake (1 colour)

I've made this cake twice now. The first time we had no electric mixer so I stirred it as much as I could by hand. It came our rather flat and we ended up cutting it into brownie shaped pieces. Last night I mixed it in our new food processor and it came out much more 'cake-like'. Both were delicious.

I haven't got the hang of juicing and grating the rind of the same orange yet. Last time I juiced it first and then found it difficult to hold it to grate the rind. Last night I grated it first, but when I came to juice it the orange just fell apart. All suggestions welcome!

Ingredients
Orange - 1, juiced and rind finely grated
Raisins - 100g
Blanched almonds - 55g
Dark/plain chocolate (at least 50% cocoa solids) - 100g, broken up
Butter - 175g, chopped into pieces
Eggs - 4 large, beaten
Caster sugar - 100g
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Ground almonds - 55g
Plain flour - 55g
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Methods
1) Soak the raisins in the orange juice in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
2) Melt the butter and chocolate together in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Leave to cool.
3) Meanwhile, chop and lightly toast the blanched almonds in a frying pan, taking care not to burn.
4) Preheat the oven to 180°C. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence together in an electric mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy.
5) Stir in the cooled chocolate mixture.
6) Sift the flour, ground almonds and baking powder into a large bowl. Fold in the egg, sugar and chocolate mixture. Drain the raisins of any remaining orange juice and add to the mixture with the orange rind and chopped almonds. Stir well.
7) Spoon into a greased 8 inch round cake tin (the recipe says 10 inch, but I found it turned out a bit too thin) and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.
8) Dust with icing sugar and serve with a couple of strawberries on the side. Serves 6-8.