Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake for My Sister

25 years ago on this very date my parents gave me the most lovely present I could have ever imagined – my sister. Firstly I didn't like her very much. I thought of her like of a toy doll with which to play but she didn't seem to be very interested in my games. She did nothing but crying, eating and sleeping. So I wasn't very pleased with my toy's design and behaviour and secretly was dreaming that my parents could change it for something better. Later, through the years as a typical teenager who changes their mind every few minutes I hated her and loved her. But she was my little sister so all the children who behaved bad with her had a great deal of trouble with me.

Then she grew up, we both grew up. And before one realises it she became my best friend, the person I could always rely on, the person I would always love and be proud of.

Since she lives in France we are celebrating her birthday without her and I made this Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake because I know this is exactly her type of cake – something between spongy cake and cheese cake, topped with blueberries – all her favourite things. I'm eagerly looking forward to her coming in the summer. Then I'm planning to indulge her with a lot of sweet treats and baked goodies.

This recipe comes from Jane's Sweets - a blog I really enjoy reading. All of Jane's recipes I've tried so far turned out to be amongst my favourites. This one too.

This cake consists of 4 layers – spongy cake, cream cheese layer, blueberry jam and crumbled top.
In the original recipe Jane uses fresh blueberries and reduces them to a sauce, but I have a lot of home made blueberry jam and it suits very well.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake Recipe:
Adapted from Jane's Sweets

• 270 gr flour;
• 150 gr granulated sugar;
• 100 gr butter;

• 1 Tbsp baking powder;
• ¼ tsp salt;
• 200 gr sour cream;
• 1 tsp vanilla extract;
• 1 big egg;

• 250 gr cream cheese;
• 80 gr granulated sugar;
• 1 big egg;

• 220 gr home made blueberry jam.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Line a baking pan with paper and butter it lightly.

Make the crumbs - place 150 gr sugar and the flour in the bowl of the food processor and pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add in the cold butter chunks, and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Separate out 1 cup (approximately 100 gr) of this mixture and set it aside as this will be used later as crumbs topping. The other part of the mixture will be added to the spongy cake.

Make the spongy cake - add the salt and the baking powder to the bigger part of the crumb mixture in the bowl of the food processor. In another large bowl beat the egg. Mix in the sour cream and the vanilla extract. Add in the flour mixture and stir to combine. The batter will be quite thick.
Using a small offset spatula, spread the batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan – this would be the spongy layer.

Make the cream cheese layer - pulse the cream cheese, 80 gr sugar and the egg in the food processor until smooth. Spread this on top of the spongy layer.

Now pour the blueberry jam on top of the cream cheese mixture. Use the spatula to spread it evenly, but not very close to the sides of the pan.

Sprinkle with the reserved crumbs over the blueberry jam.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the filling seems set, and the cake's topping is light golden. Cool the cake in its pan, on a rack, for 10 minutes then carefully pull it out of the pan and let cool completely on the wire rack.