Making the most of seasonal fruit, this moist cake is delicious as a warming pudding served with custard or you can leave it to cool and enjoy it with a mid morning cup of coffee.
Makes 8 Slices. Ready in 1 hour 20 mins plus cooling.
Ingredients:
- 350g self-raising flour
- 2tsp ground mixed spice
- 175g unsalted butter, chilled and diced, plus extra for greasing
- 150g golden caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 2 large dessert apples, peeled cored and diced
- 200g blackberries
- 50g Demerara sugar
- 50g roasted hazelnuts, chopped
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190C, Fan 170C, Gas Mark 5. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat up. Grease a 20cm x 24cm cake tin and line the base and sides with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour and mixed spice into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles rough breadcrumbs. Remove 175g of the crumble mixture to a second bowl and set aside.
3. Stir the caster sugar and beaten egg into the larger amount of crumble to make a soft and slightly sticky dough. Press into an even layer in the base of the cake tin using floured hands. Scatter over the diced apple and berries.
4. Stir the Demerara sugar and chopped hazelnuts into the rest of the crumble mixture and spoon over the fruit, pressing down gently.
5. Place the cake tin on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake for 40-50 mins until the cake is risen and golden brown (cover the top of the cake loosely with foil after 30 mins if it starts to overbrown). Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 20 mins then remove by gently lifting the parchment. Serve warm or cold.
Top Tip: You can vary the fruit filling, try pears with blueberries or thickly sliced plums and replace the hazelnuts with chopped blanched almonds.
