WHOLE LEMON & BLUEBERRY CAKE WITH BLUEBERRY HONEY

PREP + COOK TIME 2 HOURS 30 MINUTES (+ COOLING & STANDING) SERVES 8

10g butter, melted

2 medium unwaxed lemons (280g) 3 eggs

1 cup (220g) caster sugar

2½ cups (300g) natural ground

almonds

1 teaspoon baking powder

250g fresh blueberries

½ cup (180g) honey

125g fresh blueberries, extra edible flowers (optional)

1 Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan. Grease base and side of a 20cm straight−sided ring cake pan with melted butter.

2 Place whole lemons in a medium saucepan, cover with water; weigh down with an upturned small heatproof plate to keep the lemons submerged. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer, covered, for 1½ hours, ensuring lemons remain covered with water. Drain; cool. Quarter lemons, discard any seeds. Place lemons in a blender; blend until smooth.

3 Beat eggs and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 3 minutes or until ribbons form when beaters are lifted. Gently stir in lemon puree, ground almonds and baking powder. Pour mixture into pan; top with half the blueberries.

4 Bake cake for 1 hour or until golden and cooked when a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Stand cake in pan for 15 minutes before turning out, top−side up, onto a wire rack to cool.

5 Place honey in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes or until a deep caramel. Add remaining blueberries; gently swirl pan to coat berries. Remove pan from heat; stand for 10 minutes.

6 Serve cake topped with blueberry honey, extra blueberries and edible flowers, if using.