This makes more lavender blueberry coulis than you will need for the cake, but simply store the remainder in a jar and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. A spoonful is delicious swirled through porridge made with coconut milk but i also imagine it would be a lovely addition to an ice cream sundae.
Ingredients
-For the cake
170g unsalted butter, at room temperature
170g caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly whisked together
170g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
Zest of two lemons, plus 2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp milk (I used almond)
-For the blueberry lavender coulis
10g lavender sugar
40g caster sugar
15ml lemon juice
40ml water
280g blueberries
-For the Swiss meringue buttercream
3 egg whites
105g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 tbsp blueberry lavender coulis
-To finish
Fresh blueberries
Silver cake decorations
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170oc/150oc fan and grease and line three 6 inch round cake tins with baking parchment. I only have two, so I baked my cakes in batches. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl using an electric whisk, beat the butter and sugar together until thick, creamy and pale in colour. Add the eggs a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well incorporated. The mix may split, but will come back together with the dry ingredients. Sift over the baking powder and self raising flour and gently fold into the mix then add the lemon juice, lemon zest and milk and stir until fully combined,. Divide between the three cake tins or reserve around 215g of cake mix for the third layer if you only have two tins. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes then remove from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack, removing the baking parchment. If required, wash and reline one of the tins and bake the third cake in the same way.
To make the blueberry lavender coulis, place the blueberries, both sugars, lemon juice and water in a saucepan and place over a medium heat for around ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the berries have burst and the sauce looks juicy, use a stick blender or food processor to blend until smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool in the fridge.
For the Swiss meringue buttercream, place the egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer if using, then place over a saucepan filled with simmering water. Take care not to let the bowl touch the water or the eggs will scramble. Whisk the sugar and egg until frothing and bring the mix to 70oc on a thermometer to pasturise the egg whites. Remove the bowl from the heat and either place in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or use an electric whisk to continuing whipping the egg whites until stiff. Once the bowl is no longer hot and at room temperature, add the butter piece by piece until combined then spoon in the coulis, adding more to taste. Once the buttercream is stiff and lilac in colour, remove a few scoops and place in a disposable piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle.
To assemble the cake, place one cake on the plate or cake stand you plan to serve it on. Take a third of the buttercream from the bowl and spread evenly across the cake. Using the buttercream in the piping bag, pipe a moat around the circumference of the cake and fill with around two tablespoons of blueberry lavender coulis. Place the second cake on top and repeat. Place the final cake on top and scrape the remaining meringue frosting on top, then smooth it across the top and around the sides of the cake. The aim is to make the cake look slightly undone and marbled, so if any coulis squeezes out from the middle, don’t panic, just incorporate it into the look of the cake. Try to patch any gaps between the layers using some of the frosting in the piping bag then once smooth, use the remaining frosting to pipe little dots on top of the cake by holding the piping bag vertically and quickly releasing pressure to create little points. Decorate the cake with fresh blueberries and silver cake decorations or even fresh, edible flowers.
Recipe by Victoria Sponge Pease Pudding at http://victoriaspongepeasepudding.com/baking/blueberry-lavender-lemon-naked-layer-cake/