INGREDIENTS
Lemon and blackberry cake
1 cup (190 g) extra virgin olive oil
1¼ cups (240 g) raw castor sugar or castor sugar
1 tablespoon (10 g) vanilla paste or extract
Zest of 2 lemons
3 eggs
2 cups (240 g) plain/all-purpose flour
½ cup (60 g) almond meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bi-carb soda
½ teaspoon salt flakes
1 cup (215 g) thick natural unsweetened Greek yoghurt
Juice of 2 lemons, about ½ cup juice
1 cup (125 g) fresh or frozen blackberries
Vanilla and juniper frosting
500 g cream cheese
¾ cup (90 g) icing sugar
2 tbsp (20 g) vanilla bean paste
1 tsp juniper berries, crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder
Toppings
1 lemon, zested
1 teaspoon juniper berries, crushed in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder
Fresh blackberries, optional
METHOD
Lemon and blackberry cake
- Preheat the oven on Fan Plus at 180°C.
- Line a 23 cm round cake tin with baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest and whisk well until combined.
- Add the eggs and whisk until combined and smooth.
- Fold in the flour, almond meal, baking powder, bi-carb soda, and salt flakes.
- Gently stir through the yoghurt and lemon juice until smooth.
- Now gently fold through the blackberries.
- Pour mixture into the lined cake tin.
- Place into the oven on shelf position 2 and bake for 50 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
Vanilla and juniper frosting
- In a freestanding mixer with beater attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat until super smooth.
- Add the ground juniper berries and beat until incorporated.
- Set aside until ready to use.
To assemble
- Place the completely cooled cake onto a serving plate.
- Top with the frosting and smooth it out with the back of a spoon.
- Top the cake with fresh blackberries, lemon zest, and crushed juniper berries.
APPLIANCE / FUNCTION
Ashley Alexander
Australian foodie, recipe developer and stylist Ashley Alexander is a self-taught cook who spent a lot of her early years in the kitchen cooking up a storm with her mum, tasting, learning and experimenting. Now living in Melbourne, Ashley has followed her childhood passion, launching Gather and Feast, a website full of beautiful food and delicious recipes. “Gather and Feast brings together two very important concepts for me – people and food. I wanted to bring them together in a welcoming, all-encompassing and delicious way,” Ashley said.
