This super simple lemon cake is full of flavour and delicious juicy blackberries.
The blackberries have been going (and growing) wild here and I can’t stop picking them and I won’t stop picking them. Our house backs on to allotments and the bushes all around have been so abundant – the blackberries are just too good to resist. Even Teddy Roosevelt wanted to get in on the action!
When I was a kid, I lived right next to Epping Forest and the path I took to school was lined with brambles. I have such fond memories of picking blackberries and arriving at school with purple fingers! In those days, we weren’t so germ obsessed and we never bothered washing our berries, we used to eat them as we went! Good times, good times!
Anyhoo, while I was pondering what to do with all my berries, my ex-neighbour sent me a blackberry recipe that she had found in the Waitrose magazine – this Lemon and Blackberry Traybake. It had my name all over it!
I love that this traybake is so simple to make – I use my Thermomix but this recipe is so simple, all you really need is a bowl and a spoon. The ingredients list is pretty simple too although the original recipe calls for sour cream, I prefer to use yoghurt as I think it’s healthier and I always have a pot of it in the fridge.
The sponge is super light and the tartness of the blackberries is really balanced with the zinginess of the lemon. The cake looks as pretty as a picture too and it’s delicious served at room temperature for a teatime treat or with some custard or ice cream for dessert.
I know you won’t be surprised to find that I put my excess berries in the freezer so I can make this traybake again soon – I know my future self will thank me for it!
Do you like to go foraging? If you had a load of blackberries, what would you make?
Serves 9-12
Ingredients
FOR THE SPONGE
60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil (regular, not extra virgin)
150g Greek yoghurt
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
200g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 unwaxed lemons, zest only
FOR THE BLACKBERRIES
150g blackberries
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
juice of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
FOR THE LEMON ICIN
juice of 1 1/2 unwaxed lemons
50g icing sugar
How to – Traditional
- Preheat oven to 190C. Grease a 20cm square tin and line with baking paper.
- Put the yoghurt and caster sugar tin a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Whisk in the eggs one at a time.
- Add the rest of the sponge ingredients until you have a smooth batter. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin.
- Place the blackberries, caster sugar and cornflour in a small bowl and gently mix together until the berries are coated and purple liquid starts to seep out.
- Pop the berries into the batter (but don’t use the excess liquid,) gently pushing them into the batter.
- Bake for 20 minutes then turn the tin in the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile make the icing by simply whisking the icing sugar and the lemon juice together until the icing sugar dissolves.
- The cake is done when it’s golden in colour and bouncy to the touch. Remove from the oven and immediately brush all over with the icing. Allow to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.
How to – Thermomix
- Preheat oven to 190C. Grease a 20cm square tin and line with baking paper.
- Start making the sponge. Add the yoghurt and caster sugar to the TM bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl.
- With the blades running on speed 4, add the eggs one at a time through the hole in the lid allowing 10-15 seconds between each addition.
- Add the rest of the sponge ingredients and mix for 5 seconds on speed 4. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin.
- Place the blackberries, caster sugar and cornflour in a small bowl and gently mix together until the berries are coated and purple liquid starts to seep out.
- Pop the berries into the batter (but don’t use the excess liquid,) gently pushing them into the batter.
- Bake for 20 minutes then turn the tin in the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile make the icing by simply whisking the icing sugar and the lemon juice together until the icing sugar dissolves.
- The cake is done when it’s golden in colour and bouncy to the touch. Remove from the oven and immediately brush all over with the icing. Allow to cool in the tin for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.
