by hickybank » July 11th, 2017, 7:27 am
Blackberry upside down cake
Serve warm with ice-cream as a pudding or cold with lightly whipped cream or crème fraîche at tea time. Makes one 22cm cake.
370g blackberries
220g caster sugar
200g plain flour, plus more to dust
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
120g unsalted butter, softened, plus more to grease
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of a lemon
150ml buttermilk, well-shaken
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp icing sugar
To serve
Icing sugar (optional)
Vanilla ice-cream, whipped cream or crème fraîche
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Butter a 22cm x 5cm loose-bottomed cake tin, line the bottom with baking parchment, then butter the parchment. Dust with flour and shake out any excess. Scatter the blackberries into the tin in an even layer, sprinkle over two tablespoons of sugar and shake to coat evenly.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, beat the butter and remaining sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and adding a bit of flour if it looks like curdling, then beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Add the flour and buttermilk alternately – flour/buttermilk/flour/buttermilk/flour – folding in until just combined.
Spoon the batter over the berries, smooth with a spatula and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean – cover with foil if it looks as if it's browning too quickly. Meanwhile, put the lemon juice and icing sugar in a small pan and simmer for a couple of minutes. Cool.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for five minutes, then loosen the sides and invert on to a plate. Peel off the parchment and trickle over the lemon syrup. Dust with icing sugar, if you like, before serving.
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