Blackberry and Red Apple Cake

This is a recipe from the archives of a previous blog. I hope you enjoy it!

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Christmas is my favourite family holiday! Although I’ve been obsessed with presents and surprises since I was little, what makes me happiest are the moments shared with the people I love.

Sadly, I don’t have any memories of helping with the Christmas preparation, as kids were not allowed in the kitchen – the women in my family like to prepare everything themselves and find it hard to trust anyone, even when it comes to shopping for ingredients. I’m no exception in that respect: I love making cakes and dishes on my own, but I truly feel the Christmas spirit when I can use fruit, compotes, jams and preserves that come from my relatives’ gardens. Today’s recipe is from the Good Food calendar for 2013, but it is special to me because the blackberries and apples come from my grandmother's garden.

The ingredients won’t surprise you with anything unusual, but if you’re making this recipe at a time of year when blackberries aren’t in season, you can use frozen ones.

Ingredients

• 135 g softened butter

• 135 g sugar

• 3 large eggs, beaten

• 50 g ground almonds / almond flour

• 100 g self-raising flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder (if using plain flour)

• 2 1/2 small red apples (about 100 g once peeled and cored)

• 100 g blackberries

For the topping:

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tbsp brown icing sugar

• 25 g butter, thinly sliced

• 25 g hazelnuts, halved

How to prepare the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Prepare a 22 cm cake tin, line it with baking paper.

2. Peel and slice the apples into slices that are neither too thin nor too thick.

3. Cream the softened butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Gradually add two thirds of the eggs, beating continuously. The recipe gives the following tip: “If the mixture starts to curdle, add some flour.” Mine did curdle; I added a little flour, which didn’t make a huge difference, so if it happens to you too – don’t worry. Just carry on.

4. Using a spatula or spoon, fold in the remaining eggs, then add both types of flour and the baking powder, if using plain flour.

5. Add the blackberries and two thirds of the apple slices to the batter. Pour the mixture into the tin and level it as best you can. Scatter over the remaining apple slices, cinnamon, sugar, butter and… hazelnuts. The original recipe suggests adding the nuts at the end if they’re already roasted, but I toasted them again and then sprinkled whole nuts on top for extra indulgence.

6. Bake for 50 minutes, until golden. Testing with a skewer is a good idea, but almost impossible in practice, as you’re much more likely to hit an apple or a blackberry than a bit of plain cake.

7. Leave to cool and dust with icing sugar, if you like.

The result is a very tasty and moist cake. Thanks to the butter, it has a fragrant, crisp crust, while the inside is light and full of fruity surprises. If you pair it with green tea, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, and some cosy clothes, there’s a real risk of “losing” an hour or two in true Christmas bliss!

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NIB & Ember