Berrytastic Strawberry and Blueberry Cake

'Tis the season for berries, and how I love them!  Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, blueberries, blackberries and currants too, it makes my mouth water just thinking about them.

I tend to start the season, serving berries simply with cream, yogurt or ice cream, but as time passes and the fruits become more abundant, it's nice to try some different ways to enjoy these luscious fruits.

OXO Good Grips sent me this useful three piece berry bowl and colander in which to prepare and store my berries. The bowl had a nice stable base and is just the right size to store a punnet of strawberries, raspberries or blueberries. The matching colander is useful for cleaning your berries before you store them in the lidded bowl. Of course it's not only suitable for berries, but you can use it for rinsing and storing other food stuffs too.

I also received this neat little strawberry hull remover, it works best on large strawberries like the Sweet Eve strawberries from Berry World that arrived with the OXO products.

Three piece Berry Bowl set (RRP £15)
Strawberry huller (RRP £7)

Berrytastic Strawberry and Blueberry Cake

For the cake:
100g soft margarine
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
100g self-raising flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder

Heat the oven to 350F/180C/Gas 4 and grease and line a 7 inch cake tin. I used a deep cake tin to get one sponge but you could split the cake between two tins if preferred.

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat well until blended and smooth.  Spoon into the tin and smooth the top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes if using two tins and 35-40 minutes for the deeper tin, test with a skewer which should come out clean when the cake is baked.

Turn the cake onto a cooling tray and leave to cool

For the topping:
1 punnet of strawberries
1 punnet of blueberries
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tablespoons of water

Hull the strawberries, slice up 6-8 strawberries (depending on size) and heat gently in a pan with a tablespoon of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water.  Simmer gently until the sugar has dissolved and the berries start to soften, crush the berries and cook for a further 2 minutes until jammy.  You should still have some juice left, leave to cool.

Cover the top of the cake with the 'jam', reserving a couple of teaspoons of the juice.  Arrange halved strawberries around the edge of the cake and fill the middle with blueberries, brush the berries with the reserved juice to add shine.  Serve with cream, ice cream or yogurt.

If you would like to win  these tools and a year’s supply of strawberries leave a comment on this post telling me "What is your favourite berry recipe"  The winner's name will be chosen by Random Number Generator on 15th July and then passed on to OXO Good Grips to be entered in a further draw (22nd July) with some other lucky entries, one winner will receive the berrytastic goodies. UK entries only please. 


I'm entering the Berrytastic Strawberry and Blueberry Cake in Let's Cook with Strawberries the blog event hosted by Simply Sensational Food.

I was provided with the Berry Bowl, Strawberry Huller and Strawberries to review, I was not paid and all opinions are my own. 

Labels: Berry World, blueberry, cake, jam, OXO Good Grips, strawberry, Sweet Eve, Victoria Sponge

posted by Janice @ 06:00 16 Comments

Jubilee Chicken

As a child I was always told that you had to eat all your main course before you were allowed any cake.  But I broke that rule and showed you the 'Elizabeth Sandwich' before you saw the rest of our Jubilee tea! 

When I decided to have this tea, I knew where to look to find a delicious main course. This is Mary Cadogan's Jubilee Chicken, a take on Coronation Chicken - and I used this recipe 10 years ago for the Golden Jubilee. 

I had filed away the page from BBC Good Food Magazine but it is also available on the BBC Good Food website: Jubilee Chicken

We also had finger sandwiches with egg, ham, cheese and, of course, cucumber!  I made some mini scones and filled them with my mum's homemade strawberry jam and piped whipped cream.

Then there was my red, white and blue jelly.  Raspberry, lemon and blackcurrant jellies went into this, just ordinary bought table jellies, it was a bit of fun.  Thank goodness for my Tupperware Jelly mould which unmoulds every time due to the clever way it has been designed with a lid on the top and bottom which allows you to release the vacuum and let the jelly drop down.

And a last glimpse of the Elizabeth Sandwich which took pride of place.  I hope you had a lovely time over the Bank Holiday for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, I'd love you to tell me what you did and what special food you made for the Jubilee in the comments.

Labels: BBC Good Food, Chicken, Elizabeth Sandwich, jelly, Jubilee chicken, Mary Cadogan, salad, sandwiches, Scones, Victoria Sponge

posted by Janice @ 19:37 6 Comments

Diamond Jubilee Cake - 'Elizabeth Sandwich'

It took me a while to get worked up about the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  However, once I realised that it was the same weekend as my mother-in-law's birthday I was determined to have a Jubilee Tea Party for the family.

The centrepiece of my Jubilee Tea is my 'Elizabeth' Sponge.  It was definitely time to update the Victoria Sponge and what better time to do it than for the Diamond Jubilee. Victoria is the only other monarch who reached 60 years on the throne, so it is fitting that Queen Elizabeth II should have her own cake.

It's quite simple, the cake is a traditional Victoria Sandwich with the additional of the grated rind of a lemon in the mix. The filling is layered lemon curd, whipped cream, raspberries and blueberries, with a 'crown' of piped, whipped cream studded with raspberry and blueberry 'jewels'.

I hope you are having a fun time for the Jubilee, I'll be posting more recipes from my tea party but here is a picture of our table and bunting.



I'm entering this for the Blogging Jubilee Baking Competition at Homemade by Fleur sponsored by Appliance Online

Labels: blueberries, Elizabeth Sponge, Homemade by Fleur, Jubilee, lemon curd, Queen Elizabeth II, raspberries, Victoria Sponge, whipped cream

posted by Janice @ 14:36 7 Comments