Hummingbird Blueberry Bundt

     In my university days, this was my most successful bake...I put a lot of time into the kitchen to avoid writing about Fourier Transforms. Surprisingly...nearly two years on...I couldn't tell you now exactly what an FT is, but, I can bake and I did learn that the sour cream in this makes for a really moist bake. Handy.

     This cake is an ode to these days in my wee little flat, and the beautiful cake stand I once had for this cake to perch upon (it got smashed by some new, not so nice, flat cohabitants).

     I didn't make the frosting in those days as I thought the blueberry studded top looked so impressive on its own. (The blueberries sink to the bottom of the cake mix whilst basking in the oven...when you up turn the bundt the top is studded with blueberry jewels). However, this time I decided to go all out with frosting and to add a little twist...

     After buying The Flavour Thesaurus I've been thinking a lot about flavour pairings. I was trawling the internet, magazines and books for the perfect blueberry recipe before finally realising I had it all along. With a few tweaks to the Hummingbird  Bakery's blueberry cake, this time I now have frosting and zesty lemons!

Blueberry cake:

     350g unsalted butter, room temperature
     350g caster sugar
     6 eggs
     1 teaspoon vanilla extract
     450g plain flour
     2 tablespoons & 2 teaspoons baking powder
     280ml sour cream
     250g fresh blueberries & extra to decorate

Cream cheese frosting:

     600g icing sugar, sifted
     100g unsalted butter, room temperature
     250g cream cheese, cold
     Juice of half a lemon
     Zest of half a lemon, for sprinkling on top

25cm bundt tin, dusted with flour.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs to the mix one at a time, ensuring each addition is well combined.

Beat in the vanilla, flour and baking powder.

Add the sour cream and mix well before gently folding in the blueberries.

Pour the mixture into the prepared bundt tin and smooth the top with a palette knife.

Bake for 40 minutes, until golden the sponge bounces back when you give it a little prod.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Whilst the cake is cooling, beat the icing sugar and butter in a mixer on a medium speed until well combined.

Add the cream cheese and lemon juice and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. Approximately 5 minutes...be careful not to over beat.

Once fully cooled, cover the top and sides with frosting. Add some fresh blueberries, lemon zest and a dusting of icing sugar to serve.

A few handy tips -

• make sure you prepare the bundt tin with plenty of flour to make it easier to release after baking
• don't worry if disaster strikes and the cake doesn't come out in one piece...the frosting makes for perfect cake cement, no one will know any different!

And here are my original flat friends...hello to you both!xx