Blackberry and Apple Cake

Blackberry and Apple is a classic autumn combo of flavours and one you normally use in crumbles or cakes but today I’ve combined these flavours and different textures into one heavenly autumnal cake! This great recipe is by one of my favourite food writers, Nigel Slater and if you’ve never tried his recipes, this is the perfect one to start with. This cake delivers a moist almond based sponge, a layer of juicy fruits and a layer of buttery crunchy crumble! I will definitely be making this cake again and it would also make a mouth-watering pudding, with lashings of hot custard of course.


Blackberry and Apple Cake

Serves 8-10

For Cake:
150g softened butter
150g caster sugar
3 large eggs
75g plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
110g ground almonds
1 large dessert apple
150g blackberries

For Crumble:
100g cold butter
100g plain flour
110g demerara sugar
2 tbsps whole rolled oats
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Grease a 20cm loose-bottomed springform cake tin, 6cm deep and line with baking parchment.

Preheat oven to 180oC/fan oven 160oC/gas 5.

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer until light and fluffy. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly with a fork, then add them bit by bit to the butter and sugar. If it appears to curdle, add a little flour. Mix the flour and baking powder together, and fold the flour into the butter mixture with a metal spoon, followed by the ground almonds. Spoon the batter into the cake tin and smooth the top. Core and quarter the apple then cut it into thin slices. Push the slices gently into the top of the cake. Tip the blackberries over the top. For crumble, rub the butter into the flour, then stir in the sugar, oats and cinnamon. Scatter the mixture over the top of the cake. Bake for 1 hour, and then push a skewer into the centre. It will come out slightly wet from the fruit, but should have no cake mixture on it. Leave to cool, then dust with icing sugar.