It always gives me great pleasure to create impromptu food which is good enough to be written down as a recipe. Fabrice and Valerie are two friends from Paris who visited me in the country. I had just picked some ripe and juicy blackberries and raspberries, and so I invented this extremely easy recipe for them.
Serves 8
200g (7 oz) raspberries
600g (1 lb 5 oz) ripe blackberries (cleaned weight)
8 medium eggs
300g (10 1/2 oz) caster sugar
150g (5 1/2 oz) plain flour
200g (7 oz) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp baking powder or 1 sachet Lievito Bertolini Vanigliato (an Italian version)
Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F/ Gas 6. After hulling the berries, briefly wash them.
You can either mix the sponge ingredients in a bowl or alternatively a food processor, which will take you half the time. Beat the eggs first, then stir in the sugar, flour and butter. Mix well, then thoroughly beat in the baking powder.
Grease a baking tin of 30 x 25 cm (12 x 10 inch) and 5 cm (2 inch) deep with a little extra butter. Pour the mixture into the tin, then add the blackberries, followed by the raspberries. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the centre of the cake is solid and not runny. You can serve the cake warm or cold, sprinkle with extra sugar.
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