Satisfy cake and dessert cravings in one go with this fruity blackberry crumble cake. A simple almond sponge traybake topped with a layer of berries and crumble. Heavenly!
I had been planning to make a crumble cake for months, years even. Whenever I see them or read about them my mouth waters and I plan to go and buy some suitable fruit. Somehow though, actually making a crumble cake had eluded me. Until now.
We're lucky enough to have a few blackberries in our new garden. Unfortunately not enough to make a cake. But fortunately there are plenty of local hedgerows just full of blackberries that have ripened in the last few days. I therefore did what I had intended to do for years. I picked a large bag of ripe brambles and took them home to decide what to do with them.
What can you make with blackberries?
There are so many things you can bake with blackberries. Should I put them in some bread or a pie, a cobbler or even just a crumble? Luckily, I was reminded of my hankering after crumble cakes by seeing blueberry crumble muffins in one of my recipe books.
I considered making muffins, but I didn't really have any cases big enough and I actually prefer to make cakes.
What is a crumble cake?
A crumble cake is basically a cake with a layer of sponge topped with fruit that is topped with a crumble mixture.
What ingredients are in this blackberry crumble cake?
This blackberry crumble cake has a simple madeira cake sponge as the base but with almond extract rather than vanilla. This gives it a gorgeous almond flavour which goes beautifully with the blackberries.
The crumble layer is made of butter, sugar and flour. It's a very basic crumble. However, that does not mean it's not delicious. I know you can add oats, spices and nuts to a crumble but I also know so many people who actually prefer the basic ingedients alone. My husband is one of them!
How long will this cake last?
Because of the blackberries, this cake won't last longer than three days. However, it is so tasty you'll be lucky if there's any left on day 3!
Can you freeze this blackberry crumble cake?
Yes, if you wrap this cake in baking paper or cling film you can freeze it for up to three months. Just defrost it at room temperature. If you cut it up before freezing it you can just take out individual pieces.
Can you adapt this blackberry crumble cake?
By all means feel free to vary the berries you use in this cake. You could use blueberries, mixed berries or even plums.
I gave the cake an almond flavour by adding a little almond extract. You could vary the flavour by adding a different extract. You could use vanilla, coconut or lemon.
If you want to make the crumble topping a little more interesting, you could add a few oats, nuts or some brown sugar to give a little crunch too.
This cake has a delicious almond flavour but if you prefer coconut then why not make my blackberry and coconut tray bake instead?
Recipe
Blackberry Crumble Cake
Equipment
- 20cm square cake tin with a loose bottom
- Large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 120 g butter at room temperature
- 120 g sugar
- 2 eggs
- 120 g self raising flour
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 200 g blackberries
Ingredients for the Crumble Topping
- 50 g butter
- 70 g sugar
- 100 g plain flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°c (160°c fan).
- Begin by making the cake. If the butter is too hard then soften it a little in the microwave for 10 seconds. Add the sugar and beat with a wooden spoon or whisk until it goes light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one. Then add the flour in three batches, beating it into the wet mixture each time. Add the almond extract too.
- Line a square 20cm tin with baking parchment and grease the sides. Pour/spoon the cake mixture into the tin.
- Put the blackberries on top of the cake mixture.
- Using your fingertips, rub together the butter and flour for the topping until it is like breadcrumbs. Then stir in the sugar and put it on top of the cake.
- Bake in the oven at for about 40 minutes.
- Serve warm or cold, alone or with cream or ice cream.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Delicious Fruity Cake Recipes
If you love baking then why not have a look at one of my other bakes? They are perfect as snacks or dessert.
Keep in Touch
Do let me know if you make this blackberry crumble cake. I love to get feedback from readers.
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Liz
Gorgeous cake, came out better than I expected. Left it in the oven a bit longer for a crispier topping. Thank you for this fab recipe, I'll be using it again!
Corina Blum
Thank you so much for letting me know! I'm really pleased you liked it.
Corina
Rebecca Graham
A delicious cake but I can’t see what size tin you used. I tried a Swiss roll tin but it seems a little flat. Smaller tin?
Corina Blum
Hi Rebecca
I'm glad you liked the cake. It is a fairly flat cake. I used a square 20cm cake tin to make this in and I have now updated the recipe to show this. I'm sorry that information was missing before.
Corina
Debi
Ab. Delicious cake , so light and moist , tasted amazing using almond essence and blackberries from garden .
Corina Blum
Thanks Debi, I'm so pleased you liked it.
Handy
Had a bowl of lightly stewed brambles in the fridge (had just added a little sugar and brought them to the boil briefly because I knew I wouldn't be using them straight away. They were still whole berries.)
Strained them and used them in this recipe.
Perfect results.
Absolutely delicious.
Corina Blum
I'm so pleased you liked the recipe and that it worked even though the berries had been briefly cooked already. Thanks for letting me know.
Nicola Malloy
Chose your recipe because you said that it could be frozen and I had a bit of a glut of cakes but needed to do something with the freshly picked blackberries. It was a good choice-thank you. Easy to follow recipe and it froze really well. Delicious.
Corina Blum
Thanks for letting me know that Nicola! I'm so pleased you liked this recipe - I've been planning to remake it myself this summer to update the pictures but still haven't had chance!
Annette Hanley
made this today after we came back from blackberry picking. Got the thumbs up from hubby and kids double helpings all round will definitely be making again.
Corina
I'm so glad you liked it. It's definitely a cake I'll be making again too.
Marie
I made this last night with raspberries, absolutely gorgeous! Thanks.
Corina
I'm so glad you liked it. I'm sure it would be delicious with raspberries in.
annelifaiers
Goodness, I know what you mean. Just looking at your cake has made my mouth water! I love the look of it, so crumbly and delicious. I am bookmarking this to make myself very soon I hope! Thanks for entering Four Seasons Food with this yummy offering.