Blueberry & Pistachio Cake With Cardamom Cream

Reader Janine Watkins shares her recipe for a light and nutty celebration sandwich sponge with floral notes and bursting berries

• Cooking Time Prep 30 mins
  Cook 30 mins
• Skill Level Easy
• Servings Serves 12

Nutrition per serving

• Kcalories

  564

• Protein

  7g

• Carbs

  52g

• Fat

  36g

• Saturates

  19g

• Fibre

  3g

• Sugar

  39g

• Salt

  0.6g

Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 225g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 175g butter, melted and cooled
• 200g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• 85g pistachios, ground
• 50g blueberries
• For the cardamom cream filling
• 100g butter, softened
• 200g icing sugar
• seeds from 6 cardamom pod, ground
• 200ml double cream
• To decorate
• 85g pistachios, roughly chopped
• 200g blueberries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly grease and line the base of 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment. Grease the tins again, dust with a little caster sugar and a little flour, then tap out any excess.
2. Put the eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl and, using an electric whisk, mix briefly to combine. Place the bowl over a pan of steaming water and continue to whisk until the mixture is pale and thick-when the whisk is lifted, the mixture should leave a trail on the surface lasting about 5 secs. Remove the bowl from the pan and continue beating for 2 mins.
3. Continue to whisk the mixture while trickling the melted butter around the edge of the bowl. Sift in the flour and ground pistachios, very gently give the mixture 2-3 folds, then add the blueberries and fold again, being careful not to knock out all the air. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25-30 mins, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
4. To make the filling, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the cardamom, then drizzle in the cream. Continue to beat until light and airy.
5. Cool cakes in their tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack. Remove lining paper when completely cooled. Sandwich the cakes together with the cardamom cream, top with some more, then decorate with pistachios and blueberries.

Categories: Cakes & Baking, Fruit, Seasonal