Mulberry Butter Cake

Hello once again. Have you had a good week? I hope so. Mine's been good. Beautiful weather makes all the difference, doesn't it?

I'm sorry, I'm making small talk again.

I guess this week was a bit overwhelming for me. I started Year 12! As soon as we got back to school, it was go, go go. Quite frankly, all the important talk gave me the heebie-jeebies. But I guess it's kind of exciting at the same time too. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this blog up throughout the year! It's relaxing and fun for me :)

Mulberries, to me, are the ultimate symbol of my childhood. We have a mulberry tree in the backyard, and as a kid, my sister and I used to wait for months until the berries began to appear, and when they did, we would pick bucketfuls, the purply-red juices staining our hands (and our mouths) in the process. So this cake is special, and extra delicious to boot!

It's taken from Bill (once again). He uses blueberries, so if mulberries are lacking to you, you could use them, or even blackberries would do the trick. I just love the juiciness and dark flavour of the humble mulberry, so I substituted those into the recipe. The crumble topping gives a little bit of crunch too, which is highly desirable for any cake, I think.

*You need a springform pan to make this cake.

Mulberry Butter Cake

Makes one big, glorious cake. (Serves 12)

Ingredients:

- For the topping:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup plain flour

75g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes.

- For the cake:

2 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

125g unsalted butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup sour cream

2 cups mulberries, washed and de-stemmed

Method:

To make the topping, combine brown sugar and flour in a bowl. Add the butter cubes and rub with your fingertips, mixing with the sugar/flour until the mixture is crumbly and coarse. (This may take a while, but perservere!)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Place the butter and caster sugar in a bowl and cream using electric beaters. Add the eggs and mix again. Add the dry ingredients and sour cream little by little, alternating. Mix yet again until the batter is smooth.

Pour batter into a greased 23cm springform pan. sprinkle with mulberries and the crumble topping.

Bake for 50 minutes - 1 hour, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave in the pan for 10 minutes, then spring the pan out and transfer the cake to a wire rack.

Serve the cake warm, or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream. (See delicious picture below!)