Justin saw Nigella’s recipe for lemon tendercake online somewhere and immediately submitted a request for me to make one.
I’d never heard of a tendercake before, so I searched the internet for other versions – I couldn’t really find anything else.
The recipe is three separate stages – the cake batter, the coconut yoghurt topping and the blueberry compote.
There isn’t a lot of flour in the batter recipe – it’s quite runny. But don’t despair, that’s what makes it a tendercake; the texture is melt in the mouth.
And, quite unintentionally, this cake is 100% vegan – no eggs, no butter, no milk!
In my opinion, the amount of coconut yoghurt topping and blueberry compote is a bit much. The quantities can probably be reduced by about a third; I shouldn’t have put it all on top of the cake. What I should have done was combine the excess into home-made blueberry yoghurt for breakfast!
And Justin’s verdict? Very nice indeed! He says the coconut yoghurt topping tastes just like the frosting you get on a carrot cake (which is a good thing, in his book). There’s a nice balance of sweet and the slightly sour. A great-tasting and attractive cake. It will undoubtedly be revisited in the future.
Click here to save Nigella’s lemon tendercake to Pinterest
- 225g/8oz plain flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 150ml/5¼fl oz vegetable oil (plus more for greasing)
- 150g/5¼oz caster sugar
- 275g/9¾oz coconut milk (see recipe introduction)
- 2 lemons (finely grated zest, plus 3 x 15ml tbsp of juice)
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 150g/5¼oz blueberries
- 1 x 15ml tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 x 15ml tablespoon caster sugar
- 50ml/1¾fl oz cold water plus 1½ teaspoons
- 1½ tsp cornflour
- 250g/8¾oz coconut milk yoghurt
- 1tsp vanilla extract
- 2½tsp icing sugar
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Grease the sides and line the base of a 20cm/8" spring-form cake tin with baking parchment
- Combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a mixing bowl large enough to take all the other ingredients later
- In a large measuring jug (or another bowl), whisk the oil, sugar and coconut milk together, followed by the lemon zest and juice and the vanilla extract
- Pour the jug of liquid ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients, whisking to combine, then pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes, by which time the top will be golden brown, the sides shrinking away from the tin and a cake tester should come out clean
- Transfer to a wire rack and leave the cake to cool completely in its tin. It may sink slightly as it cools, but this need not concern you in the slightest. While you're waiting, you can get on with making the blueberry compote
- Put the blueberries, lemon juice, caster sugar and the 50ml/3 tbsp of cold water into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer, stirring gently every now and again, for a couple of minutes until the blueberries have softened in the now garnet-glossy liquid. Remove the pan from the heat
- In a small cup, slake the cornflour with the 1½ teaspoons of cold water and stir this paste into the pan of blueberries, making sure you scrape every last bit out
- Stir together, put the pan back over the heat and stir gently for about 30 seconds, by which time the sauce will have started bubbling again and will have thickened. If you feel it has become too jammy and thick, simply add a little more water and stir it in over the heat
- Pour the compote into a small heatproof bowl or jug to let it cool. It will set once cold
- Do not assemble the cake until just before serving. So: unclip the completely cold cake from its tin, unmould it and turn it over (so the underneath is now on top) onto a cake stand or plate
- Mix the coconut milk yoghurt and vanilla extract together, spoon the icing sugar into a tea-strainer, then sieve it over the yoghurt and stir it in, too, before spreading and swirling this soft mixture over the top of the cake
- Thrash the blueberry compote a little with a fork to loosen it, and gently spoon it on top, leaving a gleaming white frame
- Serve immediately