What would Martha do?: Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Honey Ganache

I wasn't going to post about this cake. To be honest, I'm a bit embarrassed about the way that it turned out. I know people make mistakes with cooking all the time. The above picture makes it look okay, but it looked worse in real life. But really, this blog isn't about gaining perfection (no matter how nice that would be!), it's about trying out new things, or new recipes anyway and posting about my experiences.

I'm not sure exactly what happened - whether there were too many blueberries, or whether the blueberries all sunk to the bottom of the tin for some reason, or whether I had the wrong size/shape tin - but half of the cake ended up sticking to the tin and falling apart. I managed to put it back together, but it wasn't very pretty. Not like the pictures from the blog I got the recipe from - Raspberri Cupcakes. But I must say, it tasted delicious! The cake was moist and lemony and the chocolate honey ganache was very rich and sweet.

The cake was for my sister's baby shower my family was throwing for her. When I say baby shower though, it's very low key and just our immediate family. It's become a little tradition for our family, since none of us sisters are really into the big events that baby showers can turn into these days. Although I must admit the food that usually comes with those events is so adorable. Anyway, I wanted to make something a bit special especially since it's my sister's first. And she deserves it, just for being my amazing, beautiful big sis!

If I was going to point out one thing I'd change about the cake it would probably be to omit the ganache the next time I make it. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but despite all the sweet things I love to make, I'm not actually that much of a sweet tooth and I found the ganache to be a little too sweet for me. I think it was just me though - everyone else enjoyed it. :)

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake with Milk Chocolate Honey Ganache
165g softened butter
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Rind of 1 lemon
200g plain flour
100g self-raising flour
1/3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
230ml buttermilk
125g bluberries, fresh or frozen

Ganache
200ml cream
200g milk chocolate
6 tbsp honey
Blueberries to decorate (optional)
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 160C. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing between each addition, then add vanilla and lemon rind.
3. In a seperate bowl sift together the flours and bicarbonate of soda with a pinch of salt. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture and then half of the buttermilk. Repeat with the other half of the flour and buttermilk.
4. Add the blueberries to the mixture, and gently stir in by hand until just combined.
5. Pour the mixture into your prepared cake tin making sure the top is smooth and then bake for 45-50 minutes (or until cake is golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean). Cool in the tin for approximately 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cake rack and cool completely.
6. To prepare the chocolate honey ganache - in a small saucepan over medium heat bring the cream and honey just to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate to the hot mixture. Leave for a minute to allow chocolate to melt, then stir until the mixture is smooth.
7. Set the ganache aside to cool completely and then chill it in the fridge until cold and thick.

8. To serve, pour the ganache over the top of the cake and decorate with fresh blueberries (if you wish). Serve immediately.