Blackberry and Apple Skillet Cake

, from Issue #49. August, 2015
Photography by Aaron McLean.
Blackberry and Apple Skillet Cake

You don’t need a cake tin to make great cakes – this heavy-duty skillet cooks cakes beautifully and looks a treat!

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

2 large apples, peeled, I used Braeburn
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon caster sugar
juice 1 lemon (remove zest for cake first)

Cake
1¾ cups plain flour
pinch of salt
1 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
finely grated zest 1 lemon
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups frozen blackberries
¼ cup slivered almonds
1 tablespoon demerara or raw sugar

26 cm cast iron skillet or springform cake tin greased and base lined with baking paper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170˚C.

Quarter the apples, core and slice 1 cm thick. Melt the butter and sugar in a sauté pan and cook the apples for about 10 minutes until golden and tender but not falling apart. Cool.

Cake: Combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder and soda in a large bowl.

Whisk the sour cream until smooth then whisk in the lemon zest, eggs and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients and gently but thoroughly combine, then add the apples and mix through.

Tip into the skillet or tin and smooth the top. Scatter over the blackberries and almonds then the sugar.
Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cover the top loosely with foil if browning too much before the cake is fully cooked.

Serve just warm, dusted with icing sugar and softly whipped cream.