We were out grocery shopping recently, getting the essentials for the week, and Joey disappeared (as he often seems to do) while we were in the produce section and came back holding a pint of some of the biggest blackberries I’ve ever seen.
“These are on sale,” he said, knowing how to appeal to my weaknesses.
I quickly looked on my “Recipes to Try” Pinterest board on my phone and found a really simple cake that called for fresh berries, and we tossed two pints into the cart.
We also decided to add a pint of vanilla ice cream to our shopping list—just to make sure we had the perfect pairing for serving warm cake later that evening.
I found this recipe on the blog “Peanut Butter and Peppers.” You can see it at http://www.peanutbutterandpeppers.com/2014/07/20/blackberry-cake-sundaysupper/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.
Blackberry Cake
Ingredients
- 2 pints fresh blackberries washed
- 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a nine-inch spring form pan (line the bottom with parchment if you want to be able to transfer it to a plate. If you’re fine with just serving it from the metal bottom, don’t bother).
- Combine the blackberries, lemon juice and tablespoon of sugar in a bowl and stir to coat the berries. Set it aside.
- In another bowl, cream the butter and other 1/2 cup of sugar for a few minutes until it’s light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Beat in the flour, baking soda and salt until the mixture is just combined.
- Pour the batter into the spring form pan and then evenly distribute the blackberries and any juices in the bowl over top of the batter.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool for about 30 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. Let it cool completely if you’re planning on transferring it to a separate plate, or serve it warm otherwise.
- Store in an airtight container.
The recipe’s author suggests letting the cake cool completely, wrapping it up, and letting it sit on the counter overnight. After eating it both warm and a day later, I can say that I don’t think the flavor changes any between day one or day two. Plus, who doesn’t like warm cake?
I also liked that this was super pretty with no effort on my part. And the flavor was spot on.
I asked Joey if he was happy with how his blackberry request turned out. He just smiled with slightly purple teeth.
I think I nailed it.
This piece first appeared in print on May 10, 2018.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.
