Recipe: Blueberry Cake with Almond Marzipan

"It’s amazing how the use of a different ingredient can totally change the texture and depth of flavour in a cake," so says Mercy Fenton in her weekly column. "This recipe uses marzipan in the batter; the result is a super moist, full flavored cake that is delicious. I don’t often use Bundt tins as I feel they just don’t work for some cake mixes, but for this mix a 10inch Bundt tin was perfect.

Blueberry Cake with Almond Marzipan

Ingredients

240gr softened butter

200g almond paste

100gr sugar

5 medium to large free-range eggs

120 ml Ricotta (I used local buffalo ricotta which worked beautifully)

80ml milk

240gr cream flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

170gr fresh blueberries

30gr slivered almonds

Method

• Butter the sides and base of 10 inch Bundt tin.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Pre-heat the oven to 170 C for fan oven.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter, marzipan and sugar.
• Beat on high speed until it is light and creamy, scraping down the sides where needed.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition until all the eggs are added.
• Next add the ricotta and milk, again beating until well mixed in.
• The mix may look slightly curdled, don’t worry, once you add the flour it will come together again.
• Add the sifted flour mix one-third at a time, beating between each addition.
• Once all the flour is added and the mix is smooth, spoon into the tin and spread evenly.
• Scatter the top with blueberries and flaked almonds then place in the centre of the oven.
• Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until cooked through, if it starts to get too dark, cover carefully with a little foil.
• Check with a skewer before removing from the oven.
• Allow it to cool fully before removing it from the tin.
• Serve a slice at room temperature, maybe with the addition of a spoon of Greek yogurt.