Coconut, almond and blueberry cake

I love it when friends come to stay. In the interests of repeat business, I usually ask them what sort of cake they'd like for their arrival, offering a selection of a few I've had bookmarked. This is how I came to make this, the latest in my Ottolenghi-athon. Modest but moreish, its mixture of nuts, berries and coconut is intensely satisfying. 

We had ours with milky tea and memories and semi-delusional conversation about a shack in the woods we hope to co-own one day. It was delicious. I think she'll be back.

 



Coconut, almond and blueberry cake
Adapted from Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh

Ottolenghi and Goh advise keeping a close eye on the cake as it cooks as it goes from liquid in the centre to well cooked in a few minutes. Maybe set your timer to check on it around the 45 minute mark.


180g ground almonds
60g desiccated coconut 
250g sugar
70g self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
200g unsalted butter, melted, then set aside to come to room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 2 lemons (2 teaspoons)
200g fresh blueberries
20g flaked almonds


Grease and line a 23cm round cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

In a large bowl, combine the ground almonds, coconut, sugar, flour and salt and whisk to remove any lumps. 

Place the eggs in a separate bowl and whisk lightly, adding in the melted and cooled butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Pour this into the bowl of dry ingredients and combine. Fold in 150g of the blueberries, then pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Sprinkle over the remaining blueberries, scatter with the flaked almonds and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out cleanly.

Let cool for half an hour, then invert on to a wire rack. Turn right side up to serve, either warm (with cream!) or at room temperature.