Blackcurrant, Lavender and Mascarpone Cakes
In the days when we had a seasonal cake of the month, this one always belonged to July – the season of blackcurrants and lavender, both flavours evocative of English summertime. Since fresh blackcurrants can be hard to come by (and not everyone has a lavender bush growing nearby), we’ve made the recipe easy to bake all year round. Tart blackcurrant jam gives purple ripples to the almond sponge and we use dried lavender buds for their delicate perfume.
MAKES 12
150g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
gluten-free or plain flour, for dusting
150g caster sugar
¾ tsp dried lavender buds
3 medium eggs
300g ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g blackcurrant jam (preferably one with real pieces of blackcurrant in it)
For the mascarpone icing
120g mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
20g icing sugar
¼ tsp vanilla bean paste
To decorate
3 tbsp blackcurrant jam
a few dried lavender buds
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas Mark 4. Grease the holes of a 12-hole muffin tin with butter, making sure to get into every corner and right up the sides, then dust with some flour, tipping it round the whole tin before shaking any excess out.
In a large bowl or with an electric mixer on a medium speed, cream together the butter, sugar and lavender buds for about 5 minutes until fluffy and pale in colour. Beat in the eggs, followed by the ground almonds and vanilla extract. Fold the blackcurrant jam through the mixture so that it’s loosely rippled through but far from a uniform purple colour.
Divide the cake batter equally between the holes of the muffin tin, smoothing out the tops with the back of a teaspoon. Bake for 20 minutes, or until an inserted cocktail stick comes out clean and they are golden brown and firm to the touch.
Leave the cakes to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before tipping the tin upside down and gently shaking the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely. You may need to carefully run a knife around the edge of each cake if they’re a little stuck, but try to avoid this if possible.
To make the mascarpone icing, mix together the mascarpone cheese and icing sugar, followed by the vanilla bean paste, to give you a smooth, silky, speckled icing.
Once the cakes are cool, pipe (or spoon, if you don’t have a piping bag) a little ‘kiss’ of the icing on the top of each upturned cake, slightly off-centre, then top with a little spoonful of blackcurrant jam and a small sprinkling of lavender buds.
