Tag Archives: blackberry cake

Blackberry bakewell slice

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Having made some blackberry jam I thought it was only right to find a use for it! I love Bakewell tarts – that combo of almond frangipane and jam is just delish! So I thought I’d make a blackberry version!

You can obviously use shop bought jam for this but if you fancy making it yourself then you can follow my recipe here (blackberry jam). If you have the time, and inclination, you can make your own short crust pastry (recipe below) or you can just buy the ready made stuff from the supermarket! This made one tray and three small tarts – approx 20 slices, at 299 cals each!

You will need:

For the pastry
300g plain flour
125g cold butter or dairy free ‘butter’/ spread
30g sugar (or 15g half spoon to save cals)
1 egg
2 tbsp non dairy or dairy milk (optional)

Or one pack of ready made short crust pastry.

For the filling:
approx 200g blackberry jam

A handful of blackberries

A handful of flaked almonds
250g dairy free spread
100g caster sugar (or 50g half spoon sugar)
5 eggs
250g ground almonds
2 tbsp self-raising flour

If you are making the pastry put the flour, butter and sugar into a processor and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and pulse until it comes together into a rough dough. If it is too dry add a little milk. Add one of the eggs and pulse until the mixture comes together to form a rough dough. If the dough is too dry, add a bit of milk. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 20-25 mins.

Unwrap the dough (or open up your packet of ready made pastry!) and turn out onto a floured surface. Roll it out until it is large enough for your tray (l used one thought 20 x 15 cm, and then three small round tart cases).

Grease the tin or line with baking parchment and then lay the pastry tins and trim off the excess. Pop in the fridge to chill for 10 – 20 mins and preheat the oven to 200 C.

Remove from fridge, prick with a fork across the tin and line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans (or dried pulses or rice if you don’t have any). Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly golden-brown.

Remove the paper and beans and brush the pastry with a little spread, beaten egg or milk and then return to the oven for 5 mins or so until golden brown. all over with the remaining beaten egg. Remove the pastry from the oven and turn the oven down to 180 C. Once done remove and leave out to one side.

Now start on the filling. Beat the spread and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat gentle each time (don’t worry if it appears to split a bit). Add the flour and ground almonds and beat together.

Spread the jam over the pastry, be as generous as you like – I love the jammy bit so I like a thick layer!

Gently spoon or pipe the filling over the top and smooth it down. Press in the whole blackberries, and sprinkle with a little sugar and flakes almonds.

Bake for 45-50 mins. The frangipane should be cooked all the way through with a sugary crust on the top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Slice and serve – on its own or with some ice cream or custard!

Enjoy 🙂

Xx

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Apple, Plum and Blackberry Almond Cake 

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I love this time of year – all my favourite fruits are just coming in to season. I was lucky enough to receive some delicious homegrown plums from my mum’s garden, some apples from my lovely friend Mandy, and we foraged for some wild blackberries locally so I couldn’t resist putting them all together in this yummy almond cake!

It’s so quick and easy to make and is gluten and dairy free too!


You will need:

125g unrefined Raw sugar or Coconut palm sugar

200g Ground almonds

2 Eggs

100 ml Almond oil (you can use mild Olive oil if you prefer

1/4 tsp Vanilla extract

1/8 tsp Almond extract (if you have it)

Late summer fruits of your choice – plums,apples, blackberries etc 

Ground cinnamon (for dusting)

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C and line and grease a 20cm cake tin – if you have a springform tin then use that as it makes it easier to get it out without it breaking. If not a loose bottom tin is the best option.

Add the oil and sugar to a bowl and use a hand mixer to beat together (you can do it by hand with a fork if not). Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then add in the extracts and mix well. Fold in the ground almonds with a metal spoon. Once mixed pour in to the tin.

Prepare your fruit. Half (or quarter if they’re big) the plums, remove the stone. Peel, core and slice the apples, wash the blackberries. Place the fruit in to the batter. Push them down a little bit so they’re well bedded in there. Sprinkle the top with ground cinnamon.


Pop in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes. It is worth starting to check it at about 20 minutes. Once a skewer comes out clean then it’s done. Let it cool for 10 minutes in the tin and then carefully remove it and allow it to cool on a wire rack. Slice and enjoy!🙂

Blackberry and cinnamon cakes with blackberry and mint swirled cashew cream!

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I managed to get a mahoosive haul of wild blackberries last weekend so decided I’d better find some ways to use them! I fancied a light, muffin/fairy cake kinda thing for tea so came up with this little beauty. They’re delicious on their own, but if you want something a bit special then serve them with this blackberry and mint swirled cashew cream for a bit of afternoon tea!

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For the cakes you will need:

1 cup of non-dairy Milk
1 tsp Cider apple vinegar
1 1/4 cups Gluten-free flour or Spelt flour
2 Tbsp Cornflour
3/4 cup Raw unrefined sugar/ coconut palm sugar
3/4 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp Himalayan rock salt
1/3 cup Olive oil
2 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
Blackberries – couple of handfuls (depending how large they are!)

For the cashew cream you will need:

A cup of cashew nuts (or however many you want to use!)
Some water
maple syrup/agave syrup/rice malt syrup (optional – to taste)
handful of Blackberries
handful of fresh Mint leaves
A blender/ vitamix

Soak the cashews overnight in water (so that they are well covered).

To make the cakes:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Put the milk and vinegar together in bowl and whisk together, then leave to curdle for a few minutes. Add the milk mixture, oil, sugar and vanilla extract to a large bowl and mix together. Sieve the flour, cornflour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into the liquid mixture and stir well until no large lumps remain. Gently stir the blackberries in to the mix. Pour into cupcake liners in a muffin pan – this should make approximately 15 cakes. Make sure the blackberries are covered with batter (you may need to just gently push them down).

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Place in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once done place on a wire rack to cool.

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To make the cashew cream

Drain and rinse the soaked cashews and then pop them in to the blender. Start by adding about half as much water as cashews to the blender and give it a blitz. Continue adding water until the cashews are smooth and you have the consistence of cream that you want – less water, thicker cream! If you want to add some sweetness add your choice of liquid sweetener to taste.

Smoosh the blackberries up a little bit with the back of a knife, and chop the mint finely. Stir it in to the cream and adjust quantities to taste.

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Serve your cakes with a big dollop of the cream and a sprig of mint!

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Blackberry and Apple Tray Bake!

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Now obviously with all those yummy blackberries I had to make something cake-based too… so I had a go at a blackberry and apple tray bake. It’s topped with meringue so isn’t egg-free, though it is dairy-free. For the cake itself you can either use eggs or an egg replacement (see below). This is super sweet and super moist and siuper yummy! It’s a perfect Autumn afternoon snack.

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You will need:

140g dairy-free Margarine

140g Coconut sugar

1 egg and 2 egg yolks beaten together (or 3 tbsp Chia seeds soakes in 9 Tbsps water)

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

100g white Spelt flour and 1 tsp Baking powder (OR 100g self-raising gluten-free flour mix)

100g ground Almonds

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon

pinch of Himalayan rock salt

1 large Bramley Apple, sliced (approx 140g once peeled and cored)

125g Blackberries

For the Meringue topping:

25g Blackberries

100g unrefined Golden caster sugar

2 Egg whites

1 tsp Lemon juice

pinch of Himalayan rock salt

2 tbsp toasted Almond flakes

Pre-heat oven to 160 C or 140 C (fan oven) and grease and line a square tin (approx 23cm).

Beat the margarine and coconut sugar together until pale and creamy. Then beat in the egg and yolks (or chia seeds), and the vanilla. If you are using a self-raising gluten-free flour mix then sieve that in together with the baking powder and spices and salt. If you are using spelt flour sieve the baking powder (both measures of baking powder) and spices in to the spelt flour and then sieve it in to the butter mix. Next add in the ground almonds and fold it all together to form a thick batter.

IMG_0081Chop the apple up in to small chunks or slices (whatever you prefer) and fold in to the mix. Pour the batter in to the tin and then scatter with the blackberries. Poke the blackberries down a bit so they are well bedded in to the batter.

IMG_0084Pop in the oven and bake for 40 – 45 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Once you remove the cake leave the oven on.

IMG_0085While it is baking you can prepare the blackberry sauce for the meringue. If you are not using meringue this sauce can be drizzled over the cake 🙂

Put the remaining blackberries and 1 tsp sugar in a bowl and cover with cling film. Pop in the microwave for 30 secs and then mash until saucy! 🙂 You can also do this in a saucepan over a low heat. Set aside to cool.

Take the 2 egg whites and whisk with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt until they form stiff peaks – and if you’re brave do the whole “holding the bowl upside down above your head” test to see if they’re stiff enough! Add the sugar 1 tbsp at a time and whisk in well. Add the blackberry sauce and ripple through with spoon. Then spoon the mixture in to a piping bag or in to a plastic freezer bag and snip off the corner.

Pipe the meringue on to the cake – I aimed for one meringue per piece so it was about 16 little meringues but you can do whatever pattern you like! Scatter the almonds over the top and place the cake back in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes until the meringues are set.

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Then remove and allow to cool in the tin for 30 mins. Cut in to little squares and enjoy!

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