I thickened some with arrowroot and used as a glaze with fresh blackberries on top
125 g butter, softened, plus extra for
greasing
100 g caster sugar
2 large free-range eggs
200 self-raising flour
A splash of milk (no more than 50ml)
For the blackberry syrup:
500 g blackberries
A good squeeze of lemon juice
25–50g caster sugar
Preheat the
oven to 180oC/Gas 4. Butter a suitable dish.
Beat the
butter and sugar together for several minutes until very light and fluffy,
ideally in a mixer or with a handheld electric whisk.
Beat in the
eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of the flour with each if the mixture
looks like it is splitting.
Add the rest
of the flour and fold in lightly with a large metal spoon, adding a splash of
milk towards the end to obtain a good dropping consistency.
Spread the mixture
in the prepared dish. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden; a skewer inserted
into the centre should come out clean.
Meanwhile,
put the blackberries in a saucepan with the lemon juice and 2–3 tablespoons
water and 25g of the sugar.
Bring to a
simmer and cook gently for about 5 minutes until the fruit is soft and has
released lots of juice. Tip into a
sieve over a bowl and stir and press the blackberries to extract as much juice
as possible.
Taste: it
should be lightly sweetened but with a pleasant tartness (as the sponge is also
sweet). Add more sugar only if needed. As soon as
the cake comes out of the oven, make lots of deep holes all over the surface
with a fine skewer.
Carefully
pour on the blackberry syrup, covering the whole cake and letting it seep down
the sides.
It may seem
too much syrup but don’t worry – it will all be soaked up!
Leave for at
least 20 minutes to allow the juices to seep in.
You can
serve the cake while it’s still warm, or wait until it is cold.
