Meera Sodha’s recipe for blackberry and almond cake
Most cakes I can take or leave, but I never regret a slice of almond cake.
Ingredients · Servings 8-10
- 180g unsalted butter melted, plus extra for greasing
- 180g caster sugar
- 150g ground almonds
- 80g plain flour
- 1 lemon zest finely grated to get 1 tbsp
- 1tsp baking powder
- 0.5tsp fine sea salt
- 500g blackberries washed
- 3 large eggs
- 1.5tsp vanilla extract
- 200g icing sugar
Method · 1 h 25 min
- Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas mark 5, and grease and line a 20 cm springform cake tin with baking paper.
- Put the sugar, almonds, flour, lemon zest, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Sprinkle in 300 g of the blackberries and stir to coat them in the dry ingredients.
- In a second bowl, mix the eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract, then pour into the bowl of dry ingredients and gently fold in until you have a smooth batter.
- Pour this into the lined tin, then bake for 45-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Remove and leave to cool in the tin.
- While the cake is cooling, mash 150 g of the remaining blackberries in a small bowl, then push them through a small sieve (or tea strainer) to extract the juice (eat or discard the pulp and seeds).
- Put the icing sugar in a small bowl, add three tablespoons of the blackberry juice, mix well until smooth, then mix in up to another tablespoon of blackberry juice, until the glaze is the thickness of double cream.
- Once the cake is cool, remove it from the tin and put on a plate.
- Slowly pour over the icing, then gently press in the remaining 50 g blackberries to decorate.
- The cake will keep in the fridge for up to three days.
Blackberry and almond cake
180g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing 180g caster sugar 150g ground almonds 80g plain flour 1 lemon, zest finely grated to get 1 tbsp
Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5, and grease and line a 20cm springform cake tin with baking paper.
While the cake is cooling, mash 150g of the remaining blackberries in a small bowl, then push them through a small sieve (or tea strainer) to extract the juice (eat or discard the pulp and seeds). Put the icing sugar in a small bowl, add three tablespoons of the blackberry juice, mix well until smooth, then mix in up to another tablespoon of blackberry juice, until the glaze is the thickness of double cream.
