Orange and blueberry cake with rum syrup

This post is a mash-up of two recipes from books currently sitting on my bench. Like many people reading cookbooks – specifically, baking books that consist mostly of sweet bakes, rather than bread – is my Thing. 

I get sent heaps of cook books in my Day Job and I borrow masses from the library so my house always looks like an outpost of the Amazon warehouse.

Getting quite a workout is Margaret Fulton Baking: before Donna Hay there was Margaret Fulton, the queen of Australian baking. This woman, who I had the pleasure of meeting a few years ago, is such a powerhouse of cooking and is still passionate about teaching people to cook real food. The cake is from her book.

The other hot fave is the new Naked Cakes by Lyndel Miller. So many lovely recipes, all gorgeously styled and the syrup is from here.

I reduced the sugar in the cake as there is plenty of sugar in the syrup.

Orange and blueberry cake

GATHER:

2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

¾ cup caster sugar

2 eggs

¾ cup milk

1 orange, juiced and zested

130 grams melted butter

200g blueberries – frozen is fine.

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 22cm round lose-bottomed tart tin.

In a large bowl stir together flour and sugar then add eggs, milk, rind, juice and butter – stir until combined.

Scrape into tin and top with half the blueberries, bake for 20 minutes.

Scatter over remaining berries then bake for another 20 minutes.

Allow to cool for half an hour before tipping over the syrup – you may not need all the syrup but it will keep in a clean container in the fridge for at least a week.

BOOZY RUM SYRUP:

150 grams caster sugar

150 mL of water

30 mL rum

Place all ingredients in small saucepan and over a low heat, stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil then immediately reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes – you want a thick, soup-like consistency. Take off heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before drizzling over cake.

Tags: alcohol, baked, baking, blueberry, butter, cake, eggs, food, from scratch, orange, recipe, rum, sugar, syrup cake