Apple and Blackberry cake is a brilliant way to use up the last of summer’s blackberries. A soft and fruity bake that’s sweet, moist, and packed with flavour. Perfect with an afternoon cuppa, or even custard.
I always feel as though September is a bit of a reset.
The kids are back at school after a wonderful break, and it’s time to get back to work, refreshed and filled with ideas.
And while I hate being cold, Autumn and early winter are filled with excitement and fun activities. Of course, an excuse for wonderful autumnal baking, and big filling casseroles is always great too!
Autumn Baking
I freely admit to not being a massive autumn fan. I love the summer. I’m always a little sad that it’s over.
But, I do like the run-up to Christmas and all of the food.
Autumn is the perfect time for fruity bakes (what is it about autumn that screams apple and cinnamon?) and big comforting meals, which have got to be two of my favourite things.
It’s time to get warm and comfortable. Blackberry and Apple Cake is perfect!
We’ve got an apple tree in the garden, and a freezer filled with blackberries for our annual picking trip, so I’ve been experimenting with apple and blackberry recipes.
This Apple and Blackberry Loaf Cake, Toffee Apple Cake and Apple and Cinnamon Blondies are some of my favourite apple recipes.
Tips for Blackberry Picking
Me and the kids love going blackberry picking. We go a couple of times every summer.
I’m very conscious that at some point Michael might not want to do this with us anymore, but for now, it’s a lovely family activity that we all enjoy, so I’m making the most of it.
I’m by no means an expert, but my top blackberry picking tips are:
- Avoid the low ones that are covered in dog wee!
- Find your spot – we live near a nature reserve with perfect blackberries and go on the same route every time because we know it will be worth it.
- The best blackberries are big, shiny, and firm.
- I’m always told that the best time to pick is late august into September. But, actually at our nature reserve by the end of August, most are starting to die. We find early August is better. Get to know your spot!
- Take a tall person (me!) that can reach the big juicy ones that no one else gets.
- Don’t put them all in one bag. Take a few bags or tubs, so that they don’t squash each other on your way home.
- Take your time. There are plenty of thorns and nettles when berry picking. Take your time, and be careful, to reduce the risks.
Can You Freeze Fresh Picked Blackberries?
Yes!
If you wash them and put them in the fridge, they’ll be good for 2-3 days.
If you pick loads, like we do, I recommend freezing them in portions (around 150-200g is good) to use later in all of your autumn baking!
You can just put them in sealable bags in the freezer if you don’t mind them getting a little squashed and stuck together.
But if you want to bake with blackberries straight from the freezer, or keep them whole and neat freeze them in single layers to avoid too much sticking together.
Other Blackberry Recipes
If, like me, you’d got an abundance of berries, other recipes you might want to try include:
Ingredients for Apple and Blackberry Loaf Cake
For the cake mixture:
Butter – You can swap for margarine, something like Stork is great
Demerara Sugar – Caster sugar, or light brown sugar work too. Or a mixture.
Eggs
Apples
Self-Raising Flour
Blackberries
And for the blackberry glaze, which is completely optional but is a lovely jammy finish:
Lemon juice
Icing sugar
You can get full quantities and instructions at the bottom of this post.
Making Blackberry Drizzle for Cake
You can serve your blackberry and apple loaf cake as it is. It’s a lovely cake, and apple and blackberry is such a great combination.
You could also make an apple and blackberry cake with crumble topping, in which case, I divert you to my rhubarb and custard cake post, which has a crumble topping that you can steal.
I tend to add a jammy blackberry glaze for cake.
This super simple blackberry glaze isn’t like a lemon drizzle. It’s thicker, and sticker, almost like thin jam.
For my blackberry drizzle, I simply heat some leftover blackberries in a pan, and kind squash them down. I add a small splash of lemon juice and 2tbsp of icing sugar. You can add a little water if it’s too thick to drizzle.
But, I don’t bother to get rid of all of the lumps, which means if you use a piping bag to drizzle, you need a decent hole, so it doesn’t jam.
You could also spoon your drizzle on, or even make it a little thicker than mine (either with more sugar or skip the water) and spread it onto your blackberry and apple loaf. Check out my post filled with loaf cake tips for more help and advice!
Apple and Blackberry Cake
Ingredients
For the Apple and Blackberry Sponge:
- 175 g Butter or Margarine
- 175 g Demerara Sugar
- 3 Medium Eggs
- 2 Medium Apples
- 230 g Self-Raising Flour + 1 tablespoon to toss the berries in
- 120 g Blackberries
For the Blackberry Drizzle:
- 30 g Blackberries
- Splash Lemon Juice
- 2 tablespoons Icing Sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
- Toss 2/3s of the Blackberries gently in 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan-assisted) and grease or line a 2lb loaf tin.
- Whisk together the butter and sugar until well combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix in.
- Grate the apples into the mixture, stopping when you get to the core.
- Whisk together well.
- Sift in the flour.
- Add the flour-dusted berries and gently mix through until evenly distributed.
- Tip into the cake tin.
- Scatter the last 1/3 of the berries onto the top.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour, testing with a skewer to make sure it’s cooked.
- Cool completely in the tin.
For the Drizzle:
- Gently heat the berries in a small pan with a splash of lemon juice for 5 minutes, using a fork or spoon to break them down.
- Remove from the heat and cool in a small bowl.
- Add the icing sugar and mix vigorously until smooth (don’t worry about small lumps).
- Add a little water if you need to, to achieve a thick, drizzly consistency.Use with a piping bag or spoon to drizzle onto the cooled cake.
Notes
- Demerara is courser than caster sugar, so you’ll still be able to see it mixed in with the butter, this is fine, just try to get rid of lumps of butter.
- You don’t have to peel the apples, but you can if you prefer.
- Be careful not to over-mix the berries. It’s better to undermix than overmix.
- Your skewer (or cocktail stick, or sharp knife) should come out clean, if it doesn’t, bake for five more minutes and try again. This is a reasonably long bake, so if the top of your cake is golden brown, but the middle isn’t yet cooked, lightly cover with foil to avoid burning the top.
- If possible cool in the tin. If not, leave in the tin for at least 10 minutes before tipping out onto a wire rack.
- This drizzle is thick, lumpy, and a bit jam-like.
Nutrition
Any nutritional information is given as a general guide only and may not be accurate. The information is provided using an online calculator and is specific to my ingredients. Please make your own calculations if you want precise information.
Can it be frozen ?
Yes, Just make sure it’s well wrapped, or in an airtight box/tub
I am a useless baker but had a glut of apples and blackberries and gave it a go! Can’t have been bad as was gone in a day lol ! Highly recommend
I’m not a great baker either if I’m honest. So if I can do it, anyone can! Really glad you enjoyed it.