Mmmm… cake. I was very much on a baking kick a couple weeks ago, the result being that we gain weight and the blog gains a few recipes. When I went to our local market one Saturday, as soon as I laid my eyes on these fat, glossy, juicy blackberries, I knew they’d end up in a cake. Of course, then Blai asked if they were the same berry that we ate off a wild bush on a recent bicycle ride. Yes, doh! I could’ve just ridden up there and picked some wild blackberries; if you have access to a wild bush, pick them there!
Coffee cake was what I had in mind – and no, there’s no coffee in it; instead it’s a snack cake meant to be eaten while having coffee. Confused? Yes, why can’t it just be called cake?! Or snack cake? Quite often, they have a crumbly topping, as mine did, so why not just… crumble cake? The original recipe I based my cake on made use of sour cherries and I reckon any tart berry would be a good substitute. I reduced the sugar in the original recipe as we tend to find a lot of North American recipes to be too sweet and I thought the sweetness level what resulted was just right.
I love fruit in cakes: the sweet-tartness of the berries burst through the butteriness of the tender cake and the crumbly shortbread-like topping, creating an incredibly moreish snack cake. Heck, late the next evening, we ate over half of the cake for dinner, with Larb Pretz on the side.
Blackberry Coffee Cake
adapted from Martha Stewart Living, via Lottie + Doof
For the topping
50g unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 cup caster or granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
For the cake
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
50g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 punnet of blackberries
Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius. Butter and flour an 8-9 inch square baking pan (or equivalent area pan).
Mix the topping together. In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, salt and cinnamon. Drizzle in the melted butter and stir together until mixed together and lumpy. Set aside.
Now mix the main cake batter together. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth. Add the vanilla and stir in. Add half the flour mixture, stir until just combined, add the milk, stir again, add the rest of the flour and stir until just combined again. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Dot the batter with the blackberries and then sprinkle the topping evenly over it all.
Bake in the preheated oven until a skewer comes out clean when poked in the centre of the cake – this should take about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool a bit and serve.
Tue, 28 Sep, 2010 at 11:04
berries look wonderful and the cake looks delicious!
Tue, 28 Sep, 2010 at 15:22
This season We have picked about 6kl. of wild brambles (as it is known in Scotland the blackberries) near our house in La Garrotxa (Girona). Love making all sort of puddings, we will try your recepie soon.
Tue, 28 Sep, 2010 at 15:29
Oooh the cake looks yum! I’ve never tried baking with blackberries. Blackberries and coffee is a new combination to me too!
Tue, 28 Sep, 2010 at 16:26
That cake looks really good! I can believe it’s moreish too! I fancy some of that now! ;0) All the more better if you create food from what you have picked from the wild!
Tue, 28 Sep, 2010 at 20:33
I do love a crumble cake and this looks gorgeous!
I too love my baking – for which my work colleagues are most grateful!
Wed, 29 Sep, 2010 at 07:27
Bit late for wild blackberries now … country lore says they shouldn’t be picked after the 19th December, because on that night, the Devil goes around and pees on them & makes them taste bitter.
(In actual fact, the date varies, accoring to where in the country you are, and what sort of summer we had)
Looking forward to your reports on real Chinese food, and wonder if it’s anything like that served at the Happy Garden and such?
Wed, 29 Sep, 2010 at 08:26
Sorry, that should read 19th September
Fri, 1 Oct, 2010 at 11:01
wow, fat and juicy…the berries always end up in my stomach before I could use it for anything else.
Fri, 1 Oct, 2010 at 15:54
welcome back, dear Su-Lin- you’ve been away, hope you had a fab time. what a beautiful cake. perfect with a cuppa. love the way the blackberry juice bleeds into the cake. x shayma
Sat, 2 Oct, 2010 at 19:17
It looks so good! I was hoping to go bramble-picking this year, but we have been way too lazy on weekends.
Thu, 7 Oct, 2010 at 12:01
kat: Thank you!
La Rectoria: Oh, I remember all the wild bushes in Catalunya! 😀 I also remember the figs we’d filch from people’s trees… so much more delicious than the sad, dry figs I buy here.
Jessie: Ah, but there is no coffee in this cake! It’s just to be eaten with coffee – that’s where it gets its name.
PlumLeaf: Yup – and next time I will certainly make it with wild berries! (Not sure how to carry them back on my bicycle…have to figure this one out)
LexEat: I love baking and I really should do it more often now that I’m in a larger office!
travelrat: Yikes – devil’s pee? That’s the first time I’ve heard that one and it’s quite amusing too! Lots of Beijing posts coming up – the food was generally excellent and much better and more varied than what you get at the local takeaway!
pigpigscorner: I quite like baking with blackberries – the seeds don’t get stuck in my teeth so badly!
shayma: Thank you very much! I’m quite happy to be back!
Foodycat: I need to find a good bramble patch near me that’s uh… not too close to a motorway.
Thu, 1 Sep, 2011 at 16:59
Hi Su-Lin,
A colleague of mine made this on Tuesday for a bake sale at work and it was lovely – the blackberries come out lovely, just as you say in the recipe, a lovely contrast.
Great recipe.
Alex
Sat, 27 Oct, 2012 at 17:52
Reblogged this on wanderfullywendy.
Tue, 19 Mar, 2013 at 11:46
Great cake / pudding. I made it with Blueberries as my hubby does not like Blackberries. Tasted great.