Blackberry & Coconut Crumble Cake

Further to my blackberry post the other week, Thomas and I went out foraging again yesterday for more for this recipe. They were so juicy that I think we have caught them just before the season ends.

This is the second time I have made this now and tweaked it to make the base more cakey and fluffier. If you would prefer it more like a slice base, then halve the ingredients for the cake.

I served this up smothered in vanilla bean custard, to friends who came for lunch .... so delicious.

I can't claim this as an original. I took it from Raspberri Cupcakes, a Sydney based blogger I just love. She has based the cake on her mum's old apple cake recipe.

Freshly out of the oven - a lovely golden brown on top.

 I used just half of the crumble in this recipe and froze the rest as I prefer it thinner on top - but I put LOADS of blackberries on the cake mixture - covering the cake really.

The vanilla bean custard just topped it all off. So delicious. We all loved it.

Blackberry & Coconut Crumble Cake

For the cake:

230g self raising (approx. 2 cups plain flour + 4 tsp baking baking powder), sifted

a pinch of salt

120g butter, softened

120g sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp milk 

1 cup blackberries - fresh or frozen. If using frozen, do not thaw before using. You can use more if you want. I used enough to completely cover my cake mixture.

1.  Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Cream butter and sugar for the cake until light and creamy.
3. Add in the egg and vanilla then beat on medium until combined.
4. Add the flour (and baking powder if using), milk and the salt and beat on low until just combined. Avoid over-beating. The mixture should be a thick-ish paste. I actually added an extra tablespoon of milk to make it slightly wetter and easier to spread. 
5. Spread the mixture fairly evenly over the base of a square cake tin, lined with baking parchment.

For the crumble:

85g self raising (approx. 1/2 cup plain flour + 1 tsp baking powder)

60g sugar

30 butter

1/2 c desiccated coconut

1 tbsp water for mixing

1. Put butter, flour (+ baking powder), coconut and sugar in a bowl and rub the mixture between your fingers to combine them. Lift the mixture up high with your hands and let it fall so it traps a bit of air. Gradually add a 1/2 tablespoon of water at a time, while still combining with your fingertips until the mixture starts to form fairly bit clumps of around 0.5 cm diameter, rather than fine breadcrumbs. We added about 1.5 tbsp. water.
2.  Place your blackberries over the cake mixture in the tin then top with the crumble mixture. As mentioned above, I used half the crumble mixture and froze the rest for the next time.
3. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and the topping is a golden colour.