Blueberry & pistachio cake with cardamom cream

Reader Janine Watkins shares her recipe for a light and nutty celebration sandwich sponge with floral notes and bursting berries

Prep:30 mins
Cook:30 mins

Serves 12
Easy

Nutrition per serving

kcal 564
fat 36g
saturates 19g
carbs 52g
sugars 39g
fibre 3g
protein 7g
salt 0.6g

Ingredients

4 large eggs
225g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
175g butter, melted and cooled
200g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
85g pistachios, ground
50g blueberries
100g butter, softened
200g icing sugar
seeds from 6 cardamom pod, ground
200ml double cream
85g pistachios, roughly chopped
200g blueberries

Tip

Ground pistachios

If you can’t find ready-ground pistachios, blitz your own to a fine powder in a food processor. Keep an eye on them – if you blend for too long, they will become greasy, which can make your cake heavy.

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly grease and line the base of 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment. Grease the tins again, dust with a little caster sugar and a little flour, then tap out any excess.
Put the eggs and sugar in a heatproof bowl and, using an electric whisk, mix briefly to combine. Place the bowl over a pan of steaming water and continue to whisk until the mixture is pale and thick – when the whisk is lifted, the mixture should leave a trail on the surface lasting about 5 secs. Remove the bowl from the pan and continue beating for 2 mins.
Continue to whisk the mixture while trickling the melted butter around the edge of the bowl. Sift in the flour and ground pistachios, very gently give the mixture 2-3 folds, then add the blueberries and fold again, being careful not to knock out all the air. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25-30 mins, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
To make the filling, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the cardamom, then drizzle in the cream. Continue to beat until light and airy.
Cool cakes in their tins for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack. Remove lining paper when completely cooled. Sandwich the cakes together with the cardamom cream, top with some more, then decorate with pistachios and blueberries.