Apple and Blueberry Crumble Cake Recipe

This tender, fine textured cake is topped with a moist apple and blueberry layer and a sweet crumble flavoured with a hint of cinnamon.

If you would prefer not to stew the apple yourself, you could use 300 grams (about 1 1/4 cups) of canned pie apple. We recommend using frozen berries if fresh berries are not at their peak.

The cake is at its best on the day of making as the crumble topping softens over time.

Preparation time: about 40 minutes (excludes cooling and baking times)

Yields about 15 pieces (each about 5cm long by 5cm wide by 3.5cm high)

We use a 20ml tablespoon and 250ml measuring cup for all of our recipes.

Apple and Blueberry Layer
470g (about 3 medium) Granny Smith apples
10ml (2 teaspoons) water
18g (1 tablespoon) sugar
100g (2/3 cup) fresh or frozen blueberries

Crumble Topping
100g (2/3 cup) plain flour
80g cold butter, chopped (we use salted butter)
80g (1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon) caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cake
125g (1/2 cup) sour cream (about 35 percent fat)
2 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml) vanilla extract
100g cold butter (we use salted butter)
180g (3/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons) caster sugar
100g (2/3 cup) self-raising flour
100g (2/3 cup) plain flour

Peel apples. Cut apples into quarters and remove the cores. Slice each quarter lengthways into four or five pieces.

Place apple in a medium saucepan. Add water and the 18g (1 tablespoon) sugar to the saucepan.

Cover saucepan with a lid. Place saucepan over high heat, and when the water boils, reduce heat so that the mixture simmers. Cook apple for about 12-15 minutes, until tender (the point of a knife should pierce the apple easily).

Transfer apple mixture to a heatproof bowl and place in the fridge or freezer while preparing the other ingredients. When assembling the slice, the apple needs to be cold or at room temperature. It will probably take about 40 minutes for the apple to cool in the fridge or 20 minutes in the freezer.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Celsius fan-forced). Move oven rack to the middle shelf position (not necessary for a fan-forced oven). © exclusivelyfood.com.au

Grease an 18cm by 27.5cm (top inside measurement) slice pan that is at least 3cm deep. Line with baking paper, extending the paper about 2cm above the sides of the pan. The excess paper can be used as handles to lift the slice out of the pan.

To make the crumble topping, place crumble ingredients in a food processor and process on medium speed until the ingredients are combined and the mixture starts to form clumps (about 20-40 seconds).

Tip crumble mixture into a bowl, cover and refrigerate while preparing the cake batter. (You need the food processor to make the cake batter).

In a small bowl, stir together sour cream, eggs and vanilla.

Place butter, caster sugar and flours in the food processor and process on medium speed until no large pieces of butter remain (about 30 seconds). The mixture should look similar to almond meal.

Add sour cream mixture to the food processor and process on medium speed until combined into a thick batter (about 10 seconds). Scrape down the side and base of the processor and process again for about 10 seconds.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Using a spatula or the back of a spoon, spread batter evenly over the base of the pan.

Place the cooled, cooked apple over the batter.

Sprinkle the blueberries over the apple.

Sprinkle crumble topping over the fruit.

Bake cake for about 48-55 minutes, or until a thin-bladed knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out without any batter attached. The cake should spring back when lightly pressed in the centre and the crumble should be lightly browned.

Serve cake warm or at room temperature, on its own or with cream and/or ice cream.

Store cooled cake in an airtight container. In hot weather, or if keeping for more than a day, we store the cake in the refrigerator, but allow it to come to room temperature before serving. Not suitable to freeze. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au