This Spelt Apple Blackberry Crumble Cake puts two ingredients together that make the season worth celebrating: apples and blackberries. Paired with warming spices, they create a rich, comforting flavour that perfectly complements the sweetness of the fruit. The spelt flour adds a wholesome, nutty depth to the cake, while the crumbly topping provides a lovely contrast in texture. I adore the tartness of the blackberries, the sweetness of the apples, and the satisfying crunch of the crumble—making it an ideal dessert for cozy autumn days.
Windfall apples, which naturally fall from trees, may be slightly bruised but are still full of flavour and perfect for cooking or preserving. Paired with wild blackberries, foraged from hedgerows or fields, they create a rich, tangy-sweet blend ideal for rustic cakes, crumbles, or jams. Together, these fruits capture the essence of late summer and early autumn.
I store apples from the garden in my shed for winter usage, blackberries have been picked and frozen in batches to dip into for crumbles and cakes throughout the rest of the year. Feel free to substitute the fresh blackberries used here for frozen, or even for other fruits, supermarkets generally sell mixed bags of frozen berries which also works so well. All you really need is something small and sweetly tangy to cut through the sweetness of the sponge.
I’ve used white spelt flour in this sponge mix however I have also blended white and wholemeal spelt too, approximately 60/40 ratio.
Serve with pouring cream or Greek style yogurt.
Spelt, Apple and Blackberry Crumble Cake
Ingredients
- 190 g white spelt flour
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom or substitute this with ginger
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- a pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 65 ml whole milk
- 135 g unsalted butter melted, cooled to room temperature
- 100 g golden caster sugar
- 60 g light brown sugar
- grated zest of half a lemon
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 2 small dessert apples peeled cored and diced
- 160 g blackberries if using frozen expect the cake to take longer to cook.
For the Crumble
- 80 g white or wholemeal spelt flour or a blend of the two
- 50 g cold unsalted butter
- 40 g light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 45 g cobnuts or hazelnuts, chopped or pecans
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C 160°C fan/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm (8in) spring form cake tin and line with baking parchment.
- To make the crumble topping: In a bowl, rub the butter, flour, sugar and cinnamon together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, add the nuts. Set to aside.
- Sift the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking powder, salt into large bowl. Mix the grated zest of the lemon with the prepared apples and blackberries.
- In a stand food mixer beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and cooled melted butter until really thick and creamy; this will take about 5 minutes on high speed. With a large metal spoon fold in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk,. Don’t over mix as this will result in a tough cake.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, scatter the apples and blackberries on the cake mix, pushing them down a little. Now sprinkle with the crumble mixture, bake in the preheated oven for approximately 55-65 minutes or when a skewer is inserted in the centre of the cake and comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the tin for about 20 -30 minutes, then remove. Serve warm with cream.
Notes
Tips:
- substitute cobnuts with hazelnuts or pecans
- try rhubarb & apple as an alternative
- adjust the spices to suit your taste
Warm Winter Salad of Beetroot, Kale & Creamed Goats’ Cheese
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