Raspberry and Blueberry Lime Drizzle Cake

I had some old uni friends stay over last weekend and us girls all love baking. One of the Katie's had made an amazing blueberry sponge cake (with a bunt cake tin so it had a big hole in the middle), so conversation naturally turned to recipes we liked. I mentioned that one of my absolute favourites was a Citrus and Poppy seed cake from 101 Cakes & Bakes by Good Food, which, given that I got it free with my electric whisk, is one of the best baking books I own. The other Katie decided she absolutely had to try this recipe so bought all the ingredients at the local Co-Op (I gave her what was left of my poppy seeds) before heading out on the 3hr journey back to Cambridge. The next day I got a text thanking me for the recipe and saying that it was most definitely a success with her flatmates, to which I responded that the only thing I thought was better was the recipe for the Raspberry & Blueberry Lime Drizzle Cake, again from 101 Cakes & Bakes. That book can do no wrong!

I was going to e-mail her the recipe today but I thought it might be nicer just to post it up on here and then anyone else who wants it can find it easily enough :)

This cake is really moist and absolutely packed with fruity flavour. Plus, everyone knows that blueberries are a super food, just loaded with antioxidants, and limes are great for dental hygiene, so it's an all-round winner in my book :) The first time I made it, one of my friends was expecting her first baby so we invited the group round for food and cake and I stupidly decided to cook two cakes and two lasagnas in one evening (but only had enough cake tins for one at a time), so it was a pretty hot and stressful afternoon, and I ended up enlisting the help of my mother to help get everything done in time. That being said the cakes and lasagna were delicious, and my friend's waters actually broke the following evening so I like to joke that we helped bring little Ffion into the world in some way!

Anyway, enough rambling, time for the recipe itself!

BBC Good Food Recipes: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes

Raspberry & Blueberry Lime Drizzle Cake (takes 1hr and 25min)
Serves 12 (in my experience 12 people fighting over it could get ugly, I'd go for fewer, bigger portions personally)

Ingredients
225g/8oz butter, softened
225g/8oz golden caster sugar
4 eggs
250g/9oz self-raising flour, sifted with a pinch of salt
grated zest and juice of 2 limes
25g/1oz ground almonds
100g/4oz blueberries
100g/4oz raspberries

For the syrup
8 tbsp lime juice (about 4 limes)
grated zest of 1 lime
140g/5oz golden caster sugar

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180c/Gas 4/fan oven 160c. Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in square cake tin and butter the paper (I used a round tin and it still turned out fine, but will probably try it again now I have more tins at my disposal).

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs, adding a little of the flour towards the end to prevent curdling. Beat in the lime zest, then fold in the rest of the flour and the almonds. Fold in about 3 tbsp of lime juice, giving a good dropping consistency.

3. Fold in 3/4 of the blueberries and raspberries and turn into the prepared tin. Smooth, then scatter the remaining fruit on top. The fruit will sink as the cake rises.

4. Bake for about 1 hour until firm.Test this with a prod in the centre, or use a skewer to check if it comes out clean. If the cake is starting to brown too much you can cover with foil.

5. Gently heat the lime juice, zest, and sugar in a saucepan, without allowing it to bubble. While the cake is still hot, prick it all over with a skewer (this is my favourite part, before eating it!) then spoon the syrup over it.

6. Carefully remove the cake from the tin, discard the lining paper and cut into 12 pieces to serve.

The lovely people at Good Food even give you nutritional information, but don't pay too much attention to it if you want to enjoy the cake in all it's fruity glory!

• Per serving 370kcal, protein 5g, carb 49g, fat 19g, sat fat 10g, fibre 1g, added sugar 32g, salt 0.16g

NB. Seasonality - I know blueberries and raspberries are summer fruits, and I can't really condone people transporting out of season produce from the other side of the world (my friend David threatens me with eco-hell), but if you can get hold of these ingredients at this time of year, then it is a cracker of a recipe!