Ingredients:
- 225g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 110g cold butter
- 140g sugar plus 2 tbsp
- 1 egg
- 120ml milk, approx.
- 2 large cooking apples
- 2 handfuls of brambles
Method:
- Mix flour and baking powder. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the texture of breadcrumbs. Add 140g of sugar, beaten egg and enough milk to form soft dough, the mix should be quite wet and will be lumpy.
- Butter an ovenproof plate and spoon half of the mixture over it, not quite to the edge.
- Peel, core and chop up the apples, place them on the dough on the plate with 2tbsp sugar and the brambles.
- Spoon the remaining dough onto the apples and spread to cover the fruit.
- Bake, in a moderate oven, 170°C fan, 180°C conventional for approx. 45minutes, or until cooked through and nicely browned.
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with sugar, allow the cake to cool slightly before serving with softly whipped cream.
Video Explaining Method and Ingredients:
Live Demonstration of Irish Apple & Bramble Cake (Second half of the video is Seaside Foraged Salad)
Nostalgia:
Notes from Alison (The cook in the video above). Irish Apple & Blackberry Cake evokes strong memories of growing up in Ireland for me, my mum would without fail make one every Friday afternoon, to me it just smells like autumn.
The first time I remember making one that could rival my mum’s was when I was at Cookery School at Ballymaloe (With deepest thanks to Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House), and ever since that point it is a recipe that I have returned to and adapted every autumn.
Irish Apple & Blackberry Cake is incredibly rustic, cooked on an ovenproof dish. This cake is not the smart restaurant style dish that is immediately pleasing to the eye, but sometimes the best tasting dishes don’t look the prettiest.
If you follow this recipe, you will be able to feed 8 people and your home will immediately smell like autumn.