Blueberry Almond Sponge Cake
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: One 9" cake
 
This blueberry almond sponge cake is simple to make but tastes absolutely wonderful with either coffee or tea. It's the perfect lazy summer afternoon cake!
You will need:
  • All purpose flour - 1½ cups
  • Baking powder - 1 tsp
  • Salt - ½ tsp
  • Unsalted butter - ½ cup, softened at room temperature
  • Sugar - 1 cup
  • Eggs - 3, large
  • Vanilla extract - 1 tsp (see Notes)
  • Lemon zest - 2 tsp
  • Almond flour - ¾ cup, lightly packed
  • Fresh blueberries - 1 cup
  • Almonds - ⅓ cup, blanched and halved
  • Powdered sugar - for dusting on top of the cake, optional
How to:
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 deg.F. Grease and flour a 9" round cake pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
  4. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest. Mix well to combine. Add almond flour and mix gently to combine.
  5. Tip in the sifted dry ingredients and mix gently to combine. Do not over-mix. The batter will be very thick.
  6. In a small bowl, toss the fresh blueberries in a tablespoon of flour. Fold the berries gently into the cake batter.
  7. Pour batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Tap the pan a couple of times on the countertop to get rid of any air bubbles. Scatter blanched almonds on top of the batter.
  8. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake passes the toothpick test.
  9. Remove pan from the oven and rest for 5 minutes. Remove cake from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
  10. Dust powdered sugar on top of the cake, if desired. Serve cake slices with coffee, tea or milk.
Notes:
1. For a deeper almond flavor, use ½ tsp almond extract and ½ tsp vanilla extract instead of using 1 tsp vanilla extract.
2. To make the required amount of almond flour at home, pulse around ⅔ cup blanched and roasted almonds in a food processor or coffee grinder or spice mill until powdered. Do not over-process or run the motor continuously or you will end up with almond butter.
3. Tossing the berries with a little bit of flour will ensure that they do not sink to the bottom while baking. As you can see in the pictures, the berries are beautifully dispersed throughout the body of the cake.
Recipe by At The Corner of Happy And Harried at https://www.happyandharried.com/2018/07/16/blueberry-almond-sponge-cake/