Name: Blackberry and apple tea cake with blackberry cream
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 8 - 10
Ingredients: 1 cup butter (230-250g), softened; 1 cup golden caster sugar; 1/2 tsp vanilla paste; 3 free range eggs; 60 ml cream; 1 cup self-raising flour; 2 Braeburn apples, 1 peeled, cored and cut into 1cm dice; 1 cut into thin wedges; 250 g blackberries, fresh or thawed from frozen; 2 tbsp brown sugar; icing sugar, for dusting; Blackberry cream; 1 cup mascarpone; 1/3 cup cream; 1 tsp icing sugar; finely grated zest 1 lemon; 6 blackberries

Blackberry and apple tea cake with blackberry cream

In the late afternoon, there’s nothing nicer than a slice of this tea cake with lashings of blackberry cream, but it’s even more satisfying when you’ve foraged the berries yourself. If you can’t find wild berries, frozen ones will work just as well

Serves 8 - 10

Prep

15M

Cook

50M

Total

1H 5M

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Ingredients

1 cup butter (230-250g), softened

1 cup golden caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla paste

3 free range eggs

60 ml cream

1 cup self-raising flour

2 Braeburn apples, 1 peeled, cored and cut into 1cm dice; 1 cut into thin wedges

250 g blackberries, fresh or thawed from frozen

2 tbsp brown sugar

icing sugar, for dusting

Blackberry cream

1 cup mascarpone

1/3 cup cream

1 tsp icing sugar

finely grated zest 1 lemon

6 blackberries

Method

1.For the blackberry cream, whisk together mascarpone, cream, icing sugar and zest until smooth. Using a sieve, squeeze juice from blackberries and gently fold juice into the cream to form ripples. Cover and store in fridge.

2.For cake, preheat oven to 180˚C fanbake. Grease and line a 24cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

3.Using electric beaters, cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Gently fold in cream.

4.Fold in the flour by hand until only just combined. Fold in the chopped apple and two-thirds of the blackberries. Pour mixture into tin and arrange the remaining blackberries and apple wedges on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

5.Bake for around 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

6.Dust top of cake with icing sugar and serve slices with a generous dollop of blackberry cream and a cup of tea.

Fiona Hugues