Recipe

July 31, 2024

Blackberry Almond Snacking Cake

Recipe: Tom Moore

“Where I grew up, we had some lovely friends, the Olsons, who lived down the road. They had an orchard in their backyard, full of trees teeming with deep-red plums, plump orange apricots, and gorgeous Mission figs. Every year they would generously share their bounty with us, either in raw form or in a selection of wonderful baked goods. And man, could Mrs. Olson bake! One way she would use up her abundance of fruit was to make a simple white cake, toss a bunch of fruit on top, and let it bake into a big, delicious pudding. That’s what this cake is all about. Simply made, quickly tossed together, and ready for snacking any time of day.” – Tom Moore

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (see Kitchen Note 1)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup almond flour, lightly packed
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • 3 eggs, at room temperature
  • ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1½ cups fresh or thawed frozen blackberries, divided (see Kitchen Note 2)

Blackberry Icing

  • 1½ cups  icing sugar
  • 3 tbsp fresh blackberry juice, strained of any seeds
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

Yield:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray or brush a 10-inch (25 cm) square baking pan with a neutral oil and line it with parchment paper.

Make Cake

  1. Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the flour and baking powder into a medium Stir in the almond flour.
  2. In a stand mixer, combine the butter, granulated sugar and salt. Using the paddle attachment, beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat until well mixed and pale, about 2 minutes.
  3. With the machine running on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each egg before adding the Scrape down the bowl so everything is incorporated. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla and mix on low speed until fully combined, about 30 seconds.
  4. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the flour mixture until just
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and gently smooth the top with a Evenly distribute 1 cup of the blackberries on top.
  6. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating it after 30 minutes to help it bake evenly, then cover loosely with foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the cake has begun to rise a bit in the center and doesn’t wobble, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean (see Kitchen Note 3). Be sure not to stick a skewer into a blackberry! Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Make Icing

  1. In a small bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, blackberry juice, butter, and lemon juice until dissolved into a smooth icing.
  2. Smear the icing over the cake and cut into sixteen Serve cold or at room temperature with the remaining blackberries.

This cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2–3 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze it for up to 1 month before icing it. Thaw the frozen cake in the fridge overnight before icing and serving.

Kitchen Notes

  1. I love this cake because it is simple and flexible—it even works great if you replace the all-purpose flour with an equal amount of gluten-free flour.
  2. You can use other fruits or berries, such as raspberries, halved summer apricots, pitted cherries, or halved blood-red plums, in place of the
  3. Be careful not to overbake this It’s at its best when it comes out moist with a little chew and a perfect crumb. It might look a little underdone at the top center, but if the skewer comes out clean, consider it ready!
Source:

Excerpted from Crust by Tom Moore with Rebecca Wellman. Copyright © 2024 Tom Moore and Rebecca Wellman. Photographs by Peter Bagi and Rebecca Wellman. Photo on page xiii by Dominic Hall. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.