On the Plate: Kinda blue

The word ‘blue’ has many connotations.

The one that springs to my mind first up is ‘blue with cold’ for obvious reasons! What an icy blast of a winter it’s been! American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis’s album Kind of Blue, recorded in 1959, is often described as one of the greatest jazz albums ever. It’s one that is on high rotation in our house (and if you’re a regular reader, you’ll know music is very important to me!). Music has such a great ability to alter, lift, comfort you depending on the mood.
I like nothing better than gradually increasing the stereo volume, particularly on Saturday mornings, humming or singing along to the music whilst tackling any mundane chores.
Blue as a colour is essentially a ‘calming or soothing’. Strong blues can stimulate clarity of thought, whilst the soft hues aid concentration, aiding a sense of serenity. We all probably need more blues in our somewhat challenging times at present?
In culinary terms ‘blue’ can refer to all manner of delicious things – a blue-rare steak; delicious blue-mould soft cheese, but I never did find a ‘blue heaven’ milkshakes even mildly tempting as a kid! There are some edible blue flowers such as borage, and blue-swimmer crabs are often a gourmand’s delight.
I may be stretching it a little to include blueberries here, as you may we’ll argue that like grapes, plums, even some varieties of potatoes, they’re really various shades of purple. But for this lil’ blues ballad, let’s include the berries in the blue spectrum!
Colour and the appeal of food are very closely aligned, and I hasten to add here that sometimes, there’s just no accounting for taste! Can’t tell you how many times I’ve kicked myself for not having that slogan printed on a t-shirt – I reckon it’d be a best seller, applicable to thousands of scenarios! I’ve said it before that ‘first we eat with the eyes’, and research has shown that if dining in the absolute dark, or perhaps blindfolded, there is definitely an important element of enjoyment subtracted.
Having said that, there’s probably not enough column space here to tease out the ‘blues’ that arise round the dinner table when trying to encourage young folk to try the brussel sprouts, asparagus, fresh beans, cabbage – all that ‘horrid’ green stuff? Hmm – medals should be handed out when victory reigns!
But my taste buds were hankering after something sweet, kinda healthy, comforting and bingo, my friend Annie nailed it when she sent me a photo of a very luscious looking blueberry, yoghurt, coconut, lemony cake. With those slightly ‘tropical’ sunny ingredients (think Greek islands, Sunraysia citrus groves, berries warmed by the sun, coconut palms waving in warm sea breezes)- my mind drifted into virtual travel mode!
So here’s a cake that’s delicious with a warming cup of tea mid-afternoon, or even ranks highly enough to be called a dessert. Hope you enjoy it, those blue, (spring) skies are not too far away, and will be smiling at you, just as the song says!

Lemon and blueberry cake

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup caster sugar
125g butter (at room temperature)
zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsp lemon juice
3 large eggs
1+1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup fine polenta
1/4 cup cornflour
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
3/4 cup plain Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 cup blueberries (1 punnet – fresh preferably, but if using frozen thaw in fridge on paper towelling)
Additional 1/2 cup yoghurt, drained through muslin, or a clean chux cloth.

METHOD
Preheat oven – 170C. Grease a loaf tin. Carefully toast the coconut in a shallow, dry pan, or in the oven. Place all the cake ingredients into the bowl of a food processor, except for the blueberries and coconut. Blend until the ingredients are smooth and well combined, approximately 3 minutes.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan, and stir in 3/4 of the blueberries, smooth the top. Bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes until the cake is golden and the centre is cooked. Test by using a bamboo skewer to the very centre of the cake – it should come out ‘clean’. Allow cake to cool in the tin for 15-20 minutes, remove from the tin and allow to cool completely.
Serve with the additional yoghurt, toasted coconut and the reserved blueberries.