Blackberry and apple crumble tray bake cake

This blackberry and apple crumble tray bake cake was a bit of an experiment, but an outright success. It’s a beautifully moist cake with a crisp crumbly topping. Best in the autumn/fall time after picking a HEAP load of blackberries.

What a busy week or so I’ve had. I planed to do so much in the kitchen this last week but I just haven’t had time.

Saturday last was my Eleanor’s cousin who is a good friend of ours wedding day. We we’re really worried as the weather was not holding up on the Thursday or the Friday. The forecast really didn’t look great but fortunately, the bride turned up in a horse drawn carriage and then the sun came out.

Natasha’s wedding had a vintage theme and the wedding breakfast was a vintage tea party. It was great! Everything was homemade and they did a cracking job. Home made cakes and sandwiches presented on vintage plates and cake stands which they’d spent months collecting. Home made beer too and one of the best hog roasts I’ve eaten. This country life isn’t too bad at all huh?

Anyway yesterday (Sunday) was the first chance i was able to really get into the kitchen just for the fun of it. Piggy, who is one of our best mates, doesn’t cook bless him. His mum and dad are away in Canada for three weeks having an amazing holiday and Piggy is left to fend for himself. We were watching the Inbetweeners film Thursday and he told me his diet last week was burgers and microwave meals. We invited him over for dinner yesterday and have found that we’ve invited him for a couple more evenings just to make sure he’s actually eating!

So, in the end I cooked a full roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings, my vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate fondant cakes (which I was going to photograph and share my recipe but they went really quickly, I’ll have to do another batch soon!) and finally the champion of this post, something I’m really pleased with how it turned out, a blackberry and apple crumble tray bake cake!

Blackberry and apple crumble tray bake cake – When to bake!

I’ve picked so many blackberries over the past 2 weeks that I am looking for every opportunity to use them and having had the start of this years Great British Bake Off it seemed only right to make a cake. This is a great way to make a small cake for sharing and use some fresh ingredients. I used a bramley apple to pair up with the blackberries because its such a classic combination. The result was a crunchy topped cake with a moist, sweet inside.

Print Recipe

Blackberry and Apple Crumble Tray Bake Cake

A moist tray bake cake with a crisp and delicious crumble topping. Perfect for sharing!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Keyword: apple, Blackberry, blackberry and apple, blackberry and apple crumble, cake, crumble, forraged food, tray bake cake, tray cake

Servings: 12 People

Ingredients

For the crumble topping

• 25 g Self Raising Flour
• 25 g Unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp Demerara Sugar
• 1 tbsp Ground Almonds
• 2 tbsp Porridge Oats

For the Cake

• 175 g Self Raising Flour
• 175 g unsalted butter
• 175 g Demerara Sugar
• 1 tbsp Vanilla Bean Paste Extract is fine if you don't have
• 3 Eggs
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 200 g peeled and chopped apple. 1 large Bramley cooking apple was more than enough/
• 100 g blackberries Fresh picked is better, but seasonal. If you're using frozen, let them thaw but not fully so they hold their shape.

Instructions

• Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (Gas mark 4)
• Grease and line a 23cm square tin and set to one side
• In a bowl, put the flour, sugar butter almonds and oats for your crumble and rub between your fingers until its well combined and doesn't stick to your fingers. You can pulse blitz this in a food processor to get the same result. Just be careful of your fingers when working with any food processor. When ready, put to one side somewhere cool.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until it is pale and has risen in volume. Add the vanilla bean paste, eggs and water and using a spatula to fold through the mix, add the self raising flour.
• Fold through half the apples and the blackberries and carefully pour into the tin.
• Scatter the remaining apples and blackberries on top and cover with the crumble mix.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through. Use a clean knife to test by piercing the highest point. The knife will leave the cake clean if it's done.
• Gently remove the cake from its tin and allow to cool before cutting into squares. 12 is a good number for this cake!