No need for icing on this cake-in-a-skillet. The richness is all inside from the delicious mascarpone.

Words: Extract from Keepers by Cherie Metcalfe  Photo: Melanie Jenkins

Let’s be honest here: I’m not much of a sweet baker because I cannot follow a recipe to save myself, and sometimes when baking that can go awry. But this cake is one of a couple of super-easy-to-whip-up gems that I keep up my sleeve.

I cook it in my skillet now because I have given up on cakes and donated all of my cake tins to more-skilled bakers. Also, skillet desserts are just that little bit more interesting. No need for icing on this baby, the richness is all inside from the delicious mascarpone.

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

90 g (3¼ oz) butter
250 g (9 oz) mascarpone
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅔ cup caster sugar
1¼ cups blueberries (frozen is fine)
icing sugar, to dust

Spice blend*:
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
*or  use 1 tsp Pepper & Me Bakers Blend, plus extra for the top

METHOD

Step 1 is to leave all of the ingredients on the bench for an hour — we want them all room temperature, especially the mascarpone. I know this is annoying because we want cake quickly, but the recipe does work much better this way.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 26 cm (10½ in) skillet with baking paper and grease it with a little butter.

Melt the butter, and whisk together with the room-temperature mascarpone, eggs, vanilla and lemon zest. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and spice blend in a separate bowl, then stir through the mascarpone mixture. Add 1 cup of the blueberries — just gently fold the mixture a couple of times so it doesn’t go purple.

Spoon the mixture into the skillet evenly. Sprinkle the extra blueberries on top, and a little extra spice blend over the cake — this gives it a little bit of a crunchy texture. Bake for 45 minutes.

Dust with a little icing sugar, and serve warm as a dessert, or in slices with a dollop of yoghurt and fresh hot coffee.

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Extracted from Keepers by Cherie Metcalfe, published by Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP $45, photography by Melanie Jenkins.