Blueberry butter cake

Part crumbly golden sponge, part cheesecake

To begin with I’d like to say a heartfelt “Thank You” to Year & Day for sponsoring this edition. Their generous support keeps this edition of the newsletter free and open for everyone to enjoy.

I really hope you’ll bake today’s cake— it’s an absolute delight. Unusual in method, ridiculously easy to make, and honestly one of the most delicious, summery things I’ve tasted recently. Fair warning: resisting a second slice is futile.

I was recently in San Francisco and spent a few nights at the 1 Hotel. It’s one of those rare places where the big ideas—sustainability, slowness, care—actually show up in the details. There’s a rooftop garden that smells of herbs and sweet, damp soil, and a resident beehive quietly doing its work nearby. The spa feels like an exhale, and the restaurant serves food that’s fresh, seasonal, and quietly confident in its simplicity.

If you find yourself in San Francisco, I’d highly recommend checking in. And make sure you don’t just drop off your luggage and rush straight to the usual tourist spots. Instead, take some time to linger, slow down, and truly soak in the calm and care woven throughout the place.

One special feature of the hotel is that it is situated directly across from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. From my corner room vantage point I could see the early crowd begin to gather, a patient, winding line forming at one particular stall. A simple sign read: Blueberries.

It’s blueberry season in California. Of all the fruits that crowd the summer stage, blueberries are the least likely to steal the spotlight. Peaches perfume the air. Cherries burst and stain. Strawberries arrive in a flush of pink—eager, sun-warmed, impossible to ignore. But blueberries arrive with no fanfare. They wait their turn, tucked into punnets like pocketed secrets. Still, those who know, understand their potential. Fold them gently into a buttery sponge, add lemon to brighten, almond to echo their faint woodiness— and their sweetness turns darker, juicier. Less sunshine, more shadow.

I wasn’t quite sure what to call this cake. It’s part sponge, part cheesecake—though cheesesponge doesn’t exactly whet the appetite. There’s a resemblance to a St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake, but this confection is lighter - more crumb and less cloying. This is because we’re starting with a proper homemade sponge, not a box mix. For now, I’m calling it Blueberry Butter Cake, mostly because it’s unapologetically rich and—yes, I’ll say it—moist. So.darn.moist. Said it twice - sorry!

When I was testing this cake, I FaceTimed my dad— a man who hasn’t baked in at least six years. The last time was a sudden jolt of inspiration from a Financial Times article, which led to a Honey & Co. plum cake… and a kitchen that looked like Jackson Pollock had taken a swing at pâtisserie with a bag of flour. The cake was good— so good we haven’t stopped hearing about it since.

Mum is usually the cook and the baker, but she’s on a sugar cleanse at the moment, so no baking! Dad, desperate for a sweet treat and clearly envious of my kitchen tests asked me to send him the recipe. “I’m going to bake the cake right now” he proclaimed.

He got to work. No mise en place—wouldn’t dream of it. A generous load of blueberries went into the sponge, unmeasured. As for the topping: when he realised there wasn’t enough powdered sugar for the cheesecake layer, he confidently improvised and added light brown sugar. Clearly, it turned out well—the cake became dinner (warm, straight from the oven), then breakfast the next morning.

A few photos arrived in the family WhatsApp group: his proud, slightly chaotic masterpiece, a scoop taken clean out of the centre. “The best bit,” he said. Naturally.

That’s the thing about this cake: it doesn’t care about precision. It’s forgiving, impossible to mess up, and now officially Dad-approved. See his review below!

The base is simple enough: equal parts butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. But the magic is in the margins—lemon zest and juice for brightness, a drop of almond extract for depth, and finally a layer of sweet perfumed almond cream cheese, threaded with blueberries. As it bakes, the batter rises around the fruit so that the crumb is streaked as the berries soften and burst. At the same time the cream cheese ripples and cracks, caramelizing at the edges. In places, it sets into something almost like custard. What comes out of the oven is golden and tender, decadent yet feather-light. A little wild. Deeply comforting. Entirely irresistible.

I serve this cake with vanilla-salted whipped cream and market-fresh blueberries, tossed gently in lemon juice and a spoonful of sugar. I love summer baking.

You could use any fruit— strawberries, rhubarb, cherries all work beautifully. Feel free to experiment with flavor additions like orange zest or a pinch of cardamom (see the chart below), but I’d start with blueberries. Search for the juiciest ones you can find - preferably from a farmers’ market, still warm from the sun, tasting faintly of the field.

You might have noticed the plates and tablecloth in the photos—they’re from Year & Day. Designed in California and hand-finished in Europe, each piece reflects a quiet devotion to craft. A commitment to the finest materials, and the use of time-honored techniques in collaboration with responsible production partners, has ensured that the result is something that feels both modern and enduring.

I love the restraint in their design—the calm it brings to a tablescape. There’s a quiet confidence in things made to last. That matters to me.

Blueberry butter cake

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Blueberry Butter Cake

The Sponge

• 3 large eggs (weigh them and match flour, butter, and sugar accordingly—three eggs typically weigh approx. 175g)

• 175g (1⅓ cups/6 oz) self-raising flour

• 1 tsp baking powder (level)

• 175g (¾ cup/6 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

• 175g (¾ cup/6 oz) caster sugar

• Grated zest of 1 large lemon (approx. 1 tbsp)

• 1 tbsp (15ml/0.5 oz) lemon juice

• 1 tsp vanilla paste

• ½ tsp almond extract

• A pinch of salt (kosher if possible)

The Topping

• 150g fresh blueberries

• 250g powdered (confectioners') sugar

• 2 eggs, room temperature

• 1 tsp almond extract

• 230g cream cheese

• A pinch of salt

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F (175°C)

Make the sponge
Sift the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining sponge ingredients and beat with an electric hand mixer for approx. 1 minute, until smooth-ish and light. Pour the mixture into a greased and lined 9 by 9 inch square tin. Level with a spatula.

Make the topping
Whisk together the cream cheese, eggs, almond extract, and salt. Slowly beat in the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Bake
Pour the topping over the sponge batter in the tin and level. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 40–45 minutes, but start checking around 40 minutes.

Note: Oven temperatures vary, so if the cake looks golden on top and feels cooked through, trust your instincts and take it out — you know your oven best!

Tip: If the cake needs a little more time, try increasing the oven temperature to 365°F (185°C) and bake in 5-minute increments—no more than 15 minutes total. The slightly higher heat helps finish the bake and encourages a bit of extra crunch around the edges. You’re looking for a top that’s golden, gently crackled, and set. See the photos above!

Allow to cool before serving or serve slightly warm.

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To Serve

• Fresh blueberries tossed in a squeeze of lemon and a teaspoon or two of caster sugar.

• Whipped cream, with the addition of a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of vanilla paste, and a little powdered sugar.

• For a lighter option try a dollop of crème fraîche or Greek yoghurt