Defiant women in a man’s world

We are looking forward to welcoming bestselling author Kate Mosse to Sherborne next month for an evening talk and signing with her brand new book The Ghost Ship. A sweeping and epic love story, taking the reader from France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s. Across the seas of the seventeenth century, two seafarers are forced to fight for their lives. The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water – it is known only as the Ghost Ship. Manned by a courageous crew of mariners from Italy, France, Holland and the Canary Islands, for months it has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved during the course of their merciless raids. But the bravest among the crew are not who they seem and the stakes could not be higher. If arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?

The sequel to The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship is the third novel in The Joubert Family Chronicles. Published on 6th July, it is a thrilling novel of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the High Seas. Most of all, it is a tale of defiant women in a world run by men. You can pre-order The Ghost Ship from Winstones and all good bookshops, but if you book to go along to the talk on 9th July, you can choose to receive a signed copy of the book as part of a £20 entry ticket.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who sometimes gets a hankering for a certain type of cake. Recently I was after a really lemony, soft cake with oodles of deliciously squidgy blueberries and something crunchy to finish (I’m oddly specific, I know)... And this is the result. It’s super-simple to put together as the cake ingredients just get mixed all in one go. I also chose to bake it in a loaf tin, which requires a slightly longer bake time, but I wanted the deep cake under the crunchy crumble topping. You could of course swap the berry to another fruity favourite if you wish. I also chose to make mine with Oatly greek style yoghurt – you could quite easily make this with a vegan butter alternative for a dairy-free cake.

Blueberry and lemon crumble loaf

Ingredients

For the cake

• 150g caster sugar

• 100g butter

• 100g Greek-style yoghurt

• 1 egg

• Zest and juice of 2 lemons

• Punnet of blueberries

• 200g self raising flour

• 1 level tsp baking powder

For crumble topping

• 75g plain flour

• 50g Demerara sugar

• 50g butter

Optional

• Icing sugar to drizzle, made up with the juice of 1 lemon.

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180º/160º fan/gas 5. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin (about 10cm deep).

2. In a bowl, add all the crumble topping ingredients. Using your hands, mix and squish together until you form a crumbly mix.

3. Into a large bowl or stand mixer, add all the cake ingredients except the blueberries. Mix together, gently at first and then mix well to make sure it is well combined.

4. Add in roughly 90% of the blueberries – keep some back for the top – and stir in gently.

5. Tumble the cake mixture into the loaf tin and smooth out. Sprinkle the crumble topping over to cover the cake mixture. Top the crumble mix with your remaining blueberries.

6. Bake in the oven for 45 to 55 minutes**. The cake will be done if the topping is golden brown, if it no longer jiggles when you very gently shake it and when you insert a skewer, it comes out clean.

7. Leave to cool.* Optional – mix a little icing sugar with either water or the juice of a lemon and drizzle over the top of the cake before cutting.

*You don’t necessarily need to leave to cool completely … I didn’t, and can personally confirm that it is actually wonderful when served still-warm with a cup of tea. Just be very careful when moving the cake before it’s completely cold as it has a very soft texture and will easily break.

** Loaf cakes take much longer to cook as they are quite deep. It can be a tricky to balance getting the middle cooked without the top/sides becoming overcooked. Do adjust according to your oven. If after 45 minutes the top is still pale, then nudge the temperature up slightly to brown it.