Blueberry Butter Loaf Cake
I don’t know about you, but me and cake? We have a special relationship. I eat cake when I turn a year older, when I get a new job, when I feel stressed, when I am happy, when I feel fat (true story), before, during and after a break-up.. she’s never been out of my life all these years, really.
She’s quite up there enjoying the same status as fried chicken, almost. There’s reallyyy a very thin line there. Sometimes she wins, and that’s a big deal.
My favourite cake is black forest cake. Chocolatey sponge with a cherry filling and fresh cream, topped with bright red cough-syrup maraschino cherries. I love those cherries so much, sometimes I picture myself going to Mustafa and buying a huge bottle home, but it never happens. What? You don’t like the cherry on your Swensen’s Sticky Chewy Chocolate sundae? GIVE ME.
Enough about ice-cream. They don’t really have a place in this post. Don’t get me started on people who mix GUMMY BEARS into their ice-cream. Why would anyone do that? I’ll never understand.
So today I made a light butter cake with blueberries and lemon zest. Blueberries and lemons. You know how these two go together like best friends who could just talk and talk for five hours straight. The last time I almost did this was when I was 11, with Hui, when we were on the quest to break the JSPS world record for being on the phone for over four hours straight. I don’t think I will ever will never break this record.
p/s- JSPS stands for Jin Shan Primary School which was in Clementi. I say “was” because my school has since been torn down. That says alot about how 歷經風雨 I am.
Back to the cake. I whipped the egg whites separately to get the light, airy, spongey texture, but at the same time, it is moist and substantial. I don’t know how else to describe it because my vocabulary sucks, and I don’t know how it happened the way it happened because I am an accidental but sometimes successful baker. So there.
If you want to go really budget, leave out the blueberries or substitute with a cheaper ingredient. I have a good mind to bake them again tomorrow! Oh, and thank you Egg Story for the pasteurised eggs.. I think it is time to make some earl grey chocolate mousse with them!
Makes: One 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf tin
Total cost per cake: $6.58 (less if you omit the blueberries)
What you need:
135g salted butter, cubed
110g fine caster sugar
3 eggs, separated (I used Egg Story’s 55g pasteurised fresh eggs)
120g self raising flour
5 tablespoons milk (you can use plain yogurt!)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 package blueberries, 125g
Steps:
Preheat oven to 170C. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf tin and line with baking paper.
In your stand mixer, beat egg whites still stiff peaks form. When done, keep in fridge til later use. For a tutorial on how to beat egg whites, please see this post.
Combine the butter and sugar. Beat on low speed til pale and creamy.
Add the egg yolks, one by one (about 30 seconds before adding the next one), plus the vanilla essence.
Sift the flour and baking powder. Add in two additions, followed by the five tablespoons milk. Scrape down the sides as you beat to combine.
Add the whipped egg whites and fold in til combined. Set aside 18-20 blueberries to decorate. Dust the rest with a bit of flour first before folding them into the batter together with the lemon zest.
Pour the batter into your prepared tin and decorate the top with blueberries. Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before eating, but I never do.
How much I spent:
$2.20 for butter
$2.98 for blueberries
$0.00 for eggs (thank you Egg Story! but they cost about $0.30 each)
$0.40 for lemon
Everything else from my pantry
19 Comments
Yiwen
Hello may i know where i can buy the cooling rack you have? I tried looking at many places but was not able to locate it anywhere. Thanks!
Chrissy@budgetpantry.com
Hi Yiwen, I got it from Phoon Huat, Star Vista a few months back. There are a few sizes, not sure if this one is still available. I can’t remember the price too! You can try calling Phoon Huat outlets to check :)
sandra
Hello where can I get lemon zest?
Chrissy@budgetpantry.com
You grate a lemon?
aaynoor
Great recipe, will try it soon it looks yummy. On the other hand, if you are an expat and plan on moving to Singapore, do check out http://www.placematch.sg. I found it to be very useful in finding a place.
Karen
Hi Angela, when u says substitute yogurt wif milk n how much can we use? Issit the same quantities as the milk?
Karen
Sorry. Ur name should b Chrissy. Paiseh!
Chrissy
Yes same quantity!
Karen
Thx
Lynn
Hi Chris! I chanced upon your blog while searching for air fryer recipes and I had a pleasant surprise today when I read this post. I was from JSPS too! So nice to find a fellow schoolmate. Just wanna say “hi”! And that, I really like your blog..keep it up! :D
Chrissy@budgetpantry.com
Hi Lynn! Sorry I missed this comment! Wow.. I never thought I’d meet someone from JSPS too. I graduated in ’93. Are we the same batch? Hehe. And thank you for liking my blog! :))
Lynn
Hi Chris, I graduated in 1990….3 years ur senior then…I saw one of ur article mentioning that you stayed Clementi Ave 1 before?? I used to stay that area too! So qiao right… :D
Chrissy@budgetpantry.com
Ahh.. Clementi! I guess no matter where we move to, we’ll always be a “Clementi Kid” at heart! :) Just wondering if you remember a Chinese teacher by the name of Ms Tan Wan Wan back in JSPS?
Lynn
Mmmm…nope…don’t think she taught me..I only remembered Ms Evelyn Tan…i could pass my PSLE only because she drilled me a lot…haa!
Chris
Ms Evelyn Tan was my form teacher too! I don’t think I will ever forget her :) have a great Sunday Lynn.. keep in touch through the blog! :)) Chris
Lynn
*high five*!!! Good Sunday to you too!
Ann
Hi, just wanted to let you know I tried this recipe and it turned out perfectly! Thanks so much! :)
Chris-budgetpantry
Thank you Ann, this is a really simple recipe.. anyone can make it! I’m happy it turned out well and thank you for letting me know!
Jeslyn Seah
Hi, I was wondering why the TOP of my loaf is not as nice as yours. Mine have a split and the top surface isn’t even