Every year I more or less patiently wait for the blackberry season to start. I get excited when the first berries begin to ripen and then suddenly the whole bush explodes. This year I it hasn’t been easy keeping up with the berries. I made several jars of jam, next came a huge portion of ice cream we’re still working on and then I made this cake twice. We still have a lot of berries coming our way and I think we may have to freeze some.
This crumb cake is slightly adapted from a Fine Cooking recipe I tore out of an issue a few years ago. The original recipe used cranberries and I have made it several times to great success. The tart berries are delicious with the crumble. I decided to use blackberries instead and the cake turned out beautifully. I’ve made it with two rectangular tart pans, with a round spring form pan and with little tart forms. The rectangular pans are great for cutting into bars and the round pans are perfect for slices. Choose what you prefer.
Blackberry Crumb Cake
Crust
- 150 g almonds
- 100 g sugar
- 320 g flour
- 225 g cold butter, cut into pieces
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 egg
Filling
- 500 g blackberries
- 35 g chopped, dried apples
- 50 g sugar
- 70 g maple syrup
- 2 Tbs Amaretto, apple juice, cider, Calvados or water
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Finely grind the almonds with the sugar in a food processor. Add the flour and baking powder to blend. Add the butter and blend until crumbly. Remove about 200 g of dough and set aside. Add the egg to the remaining dough and mix to blend. Press the dough into and up the side of a round 29 cm spring form or two rectangular tart pans (35 x 11 x 2,5 cm). Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork and bake for 15-20 min until golden. Cool on a rack.
Combine the blackberries, chopped apples, sugar, maple syrup and your chosen liquid in a pot and heat over medium to high heat. Stir and cook until syrupy. Either use a sieve to remove excess liquid or carefully spoon the berry mixture into the baked crusts. Crumble the remaining dough over the berries and bake for 20-30 minutes until the crumble is golden. Remove and cool in the pan.
Serve as is or with ice cream.
