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Lemon tendercake with blueberry compôte

Preparation time Cooking time

less than 30 mins 30 mins to 1 hour

Serves Dietary
Serves 8–12

I have played fast and loose with this recipe from a Kansas City café, and turned it into a tender sponge, to be
topped with coconut-milk yoghurt and – like a retro cheesecake topping – blueberry compôte.

By Nigella Lawson
From Nigella: At My Table

Ingredients

For the cake

225g/8oz plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp fine sea salt
150ml/5fl oz vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
150g/5½oz caster sugar
275ml/9½fl oz coconut milk
2 lemons, zest and juice
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the compôte

150g/5½oz blueberries
1 lemon juice, juice only
1 tbsp caster sugar
1½ tsp cornflour

For the topping

250g/9oz coconut milk yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2½ tsp icing sugar

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease the sides and line the base of a 20cm/8in
springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. To make the cake, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk the oil, sugar and coconut milk together in a jug, followed by the lemon zest and 3 tablespoons
of juice and the vanilla extract.
4. Pour the jug of liquid ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, whisking to combine, then pour into
the prepared tin and bake for 30–35 minutes, by which time the top will be golden brown, the sides
shrinking away from the tin and a cake tester should come out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and leave
the cake to cool completely in its tin. It may sink slightly as it cools.
5. To make the compôte, put the blueberries, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, caster sugar and 50ml/2fl oz of
cold water into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer, stirring gently
every now and again, for a couple of minutes until the blueberries have softened. Remove the pan from
the heat.
6. Mix 1½ teaspoons of cold water with the cornflour in a small cup and stir the paste into the compôte.
Put the pan back over the heat and stir gently for about 30 seconds until bubbling and thickened. If you
 feel it has become too jammy and thick, simply add a little more water and stir it in over the heat. Pour
the compôte into a small heatproof bowl or jug to cool and set.
7. Just before serving, remove the cold cake from its tin and place on a cake stand or plate.
8. Mix the coconut-milk yoghurt and vanilla together, spoon the icing sugar into a tea-strainer, then sieve
it over the yoghurt and stir it in before spreading and swirling this soft mixture over the top of the cake.
Loosen the blueberry compôte a little with a fork and gently spoon on top, leaving a gleaming white
frame. Serve immediately.

Recipe Tips
Don’t shake the tin of coconut milk, as it’s best to get as much of the thick creamy part as possible. However,
please don’t worry too much about it: the better-quality cans of coconut milk tend to be thicker anyway. But
you are not allowed even to think about using light coconut milk.