It was time to make a birthday cake for my little brother, Justin, 6 foot 1 inch tall and about twice my weight, but still my little brother. He doesn’t really get excited about cake so I struggled a little over this one. Lon reminded me that Justin isn’t into frosting. It seems he often wipes some off. Janny reminded me that Justin likes blueberries. So, despite using blueberries on a cake just recently, I was going to do it again, but in a birthday cake with no frosting. I know some would not call it a birthday cake if it does not don the billowy puffs and swirls of sugar, so if that’s you, just call this a perfect tea time cake.

Blueberry Topped Slice 4

The texture is so fluffy soft, better than the fanciest of toilet papers. You can see the feather light crumb in the picture right? The flavors are so bright and spring-like. Neither fruit topping nor cake is ultra sweet. Even with dainty lady-like bites, the whole thing was gone before we knew it.

The name sounds all fancy but all Fiori Di Sicilia is, is an extract. It has the wonderful aroma of vanilla and citrus, as if they were in full bloom. All I did was tweak a Sour Cream Cake recipe from The Cake Bible (by Rose Levy Beranbaum) and top it with a blueberry compote. It’s really so simple, and you could do it too. Get some Fiori di Sicilia and just swap it with the vanilla next time.

Blueberry Topped Fiori di Sicilia Cake wedge cut

Blueberry Topped Fiori di Sicilia Cake
~8 servings

Fiori di Sicilia Cake

  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 2/3 cup sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia
  • 2 cups sifted cake flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Blueberry Topping

  • 1 3/4 cup frozen wild blueberries
  • 2 tablespoon agave
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions –

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9″ springform pan and line the bottom with parchment. Grease and flour again.

2. In a small bowl, combine yolks, 1/4 of the sour cream, and the fiori di sicilia. Set aside.

3. In the mixer bowl, use  the paddle attachment (or beater blade plus) to combine dry ingredients  on low speed for 30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining sour cream and mix on low until moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat for 90 seconds.

4. Add 1/3 of the egg yolk mixture at a time, beating 20 seconds in between each addition, scraping down when necessary. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.

5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

cooling cake

6. While the cake is cooling, stir all of the blueberry topping ingredient together in a small pot and heat over medium-low flame until the blueberries are no longer frozen and it looks soupy.

7. Turn up to medium-high and stir continuously as it thickens, until it reaches a jam-like consistency. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

8. When cake and topping are both cooled, remove parchment paper form the cake and invert back onto serving plate. Score the cake lightly.

Fiori di Sicila Cake

9. Pour the topping on in the center and use a spatula to push outward into an even layer on the cake.

Blueberry Topped Fiori di Sicilia Cake 4

Serving

  • If you are serving it the same day. You can cover the cake and leave it in room temperature.
  • If you want to make the cake a day or two ahead of time, make the cake and blueberry topping separately and store them separately in the refrigerator, cake wrapped in plastic wrap and blueberry topping in an airtight container. Bring to room temperature and assemble before serving.

posted by jessica at 11:59 AM Filed under Desserts, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.