Old but Gold Wild Berries Cake with Cardamom and Almonds
Summer is slowly getting over and I am at home, sitting at the balcony (in a rather warm sweatshirt) and eating a pice of a berry cake that I decided to bake rather late in the evening yesterday (which is the real reason why I got to work later than usually today), while going through pictures and recipes that I collected during the last few weeks, just hadn’t yet time to write down and post.
Generally, I haven’t been much active when it comes to my blog recently, but please, don’t give up on me, I am still here!
Some half a year ago, I changed my job – since March, I have been working in Criollo Sjokoladebar, vegan cafe with own production of (raw) cakes and chocolate. And though it might seem to those of you who follow my blog as if I just stopped baking, making cakes and creating new recipes, the opposite is true, actually.
I have been creating new recipes ever since I started my current job – I absolutely love it and I would say that I put a lot of effort into learning, studying techniques and coming up with new ideas, recipes and solutions for new cakes and chocolates. Unfortunately, one of it’s effects is that I haven’t spent much time on my blog and on baking, making food or writing – during many months now!
And as you might recognise for yourself, once one stop doing something regularly, it is so difficult to get back! I suddenly realized that I actually have a pile (tiny one, but still!) of recipes that I would love to bake, even some pictures and recipes that I already made – I just need to sit down, start writing and post them!
Well well, maybe it’s time to do something about it!
In this post, I won’t be presenting any surprising, original cakes, nope. This time, I decided to share with you those old but gold classic summer recipes that I must bake every single year, cause I simply cannot help it, I can’t stand seeing blueberries in the forest and not bake a berry cake, not make sweet dumplings!
What I found surprising is that here in Norway, or at least around where I live, picking berries and using them in kitchen does not seem to me as being a big thing. I haven’t even seen any blueberry cake at any place in the town, neither people with purple colored hands (and tongues) in the forests around.
But there’s something good about it – in the forest, there are loads of berries left for me 😀
Do you have any tips on what to bake/ make with wild berries? I’m all ears! Just comment bellow and tell me what is the “must bake with berries” for you!
Old But Gold Wild Berry Cake with cardamom and almond crumble
When I started baking this kind of cake, I did so in an even more simple way than now – using no other spices than vanilla and making just sipmle sugar/butter/flour crumble.
But over time I started using cardamom in the batter and sliced almonds as a “second crumble”. I would say that both fit perfectly into the whole! Cardamom and a little hint of cinnamon in the combination with fresh lemon zest give the cake an irresistable smell and the almonds add a nice crunchiness and nutty flavor.
When it comes to berries, I use simply what is available – blueberries alone or a mixture with raspberries, wild strawberries, blackberries, cranberries…
Just be careful about how sweet, sour or bitter the berries you use are. For me, as long as I use blueberries or raspberries, I do not add any sweetener, but I do if using blackberries or cranberries.
I also add a spoon of flour to the berries and cover them in it – in this way, they won’t sink to the bottom of the cake but will stay where they should.
INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE CAKE:
180g fine whole wheat flour
150g Sukrin (erythritol)
165g full fat milk
125 softened salted butter
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Zest of 1 lemon
FILLING:
250g wild berries
1 tbsp coarse whole wheat flour
CRUMBLE:
60g coarse whole wheat flour
50g Sukrin (erythritol)
50g soft salted butter
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Sliced almonds
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to oven to 180º.
Grease and flour a 26cm cake pan.
In a large bowl, mix both flours, cardamom, baking powder and lemon zest. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and Sukrin (or sugar).
Incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter, blend well.
Prepare the crumble by combining flour, butter, cinnamon and Sukrin. I suggest doing this part by hands.
Last but not least, mix berries and flour.
Now just pour the batter into the cake pan, distribute evenly berries onto the batter and then cover the berries by the crumble. As the last thing, sprinkle the sliced almonds evenly over the cake.
Place the cake into the preheated oven and bake for 50 – 60 minutes.