Fresh Berry Sour Cream Cake

My take on Francesca's lovely cake

Thank you so much Francesca Lobban for this gorgeous & ever so easy recipe. The sponge uses the all in one method and it turns out beautifully moist with the addition of sour cream and fresh berries. As always I have to put my own take on it, I'm not a great fan of anything too sweet so I dropped the cream cheese icing and placed a white chocolate coating instead. Below you will see both alternatives.


Blueberry and raspberry sour cream cake with cheesecake frosting

 Ingredients
 • 175g soft butter
 • 175g golden caster sugar
 • 3 large eggs
 • 225g self-raising flour
 • 1 tsp baking powder
 • 2 tsp vanilla extract
 • 142ml carton soured cream
 • 375g of blueberries, raspberries etc. ( I added strawberries & Cherries cos I'm greedy)
 • 200g tub Philadelphia cheese
 • 100g icing sugar (I used a lot more!)
 • 1 tsp vanilla extract

on my take I fill the cake with a little whipped cream & I used a large bar of white chocolate, melted with 3 tbsp of double cream to top and lots of fresh berries & cherries to finish.

 Method

 1. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C /gas 4 and butter and line the base of a loose-based 22cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper or reusable Bake-o-glide.

 2. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder and vanilla in a bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes, or with a hand electric beater for 1-2 minutes, until lighter in colour and well mixed. Beat in 4 tbsp soured cream, then stir in half of the berries with a large spoon.

 3. Tip the mixture into the tin and spread it level. Bake for 50/60 minutes until it is risen, feels firm to the touch and springs back when lightly pressed. Cool for 10 minutes, then take out of the tin and peel off the paper or lining. Leave to finish cooling on a wire rack.

 4. To make the frosting, beat the soft cheese and vanilla with
 the icing sugar and the remaining soured cream in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Spread over the top of the cooled cake (don't be impatient as the frosting will melt if the cake is too warm) and scatter with the remaining berries.

5. Dor's alternative topping,  Fill the cake with a little whipped cream  then I melted a large bar of white chocolate with 3 tbsp cream. As it starts to thicken slightly again on cooling, pour over the cake and spread, top with lots of berries. I sprinkled over some dehydrated strawberry flakes for taste and effect.

 The cake will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. Bring it to room temperature for about an hour before serving.

 The first time I made this I used a 22cm cake tin like the recipe says but I didn’t have one of those here (because I am in America at the moment) so I used two 8 inch sandwich tins, sharing the mix between the two and baking for about 35 minutes instead.