Blackberry Coconut Macaroon Tart

In London, blackberry season is in full swing. Every week, we save the big tubs we buy litres of Greek yoghurt in for blackberry picking at the weekend. With their handle and lid they make the perfect vessel to bring home plenty of berries. I was never a very good blackberry picker (it was a case of two for me, one for the tub) so now my parents go and I wait for them to return, tubs overflowing with juicy fruit. It feels a treat to be able to go berry picking in the middle of London – they grow wild along the Thames. Once we have had our fill of the berries fresh or blitzed into a compote and served with nectarines and sour cream– it’s time to get baking.I didn’t want anything too heavy – I love a classic pie but at the moment it is just too hot to deal with melting pastry – so I searched through my bookmarks until I found this. I’ve made a few variations of crumble bars in the past because they are such an easy (but still, most importantly, tasty) way to use up fruit or jam but I liked the twist of the macaroon topping on this recipe. And with spelt flour in the base, and a generous layer of fruit sandwiched in the middle – this is basically health food! Somehow even the small slices that I cut are filling enough and the different textures of the crunchy shortbread, juicy fruit and chewy coconut are delicious together. Now, just to think of uses for the two remaining tubs of berries waiting in the fridge… 

Blackberry Coconut Macaroon Tart, adapted from this recipe
Crust: 1 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup golden caster sugar
pinch of salt
90g unsalted butter, melted

Filling: 1 cup shredded coconut
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 large egg whites
250g fresh blackberries, halved if large

1. Preheat oven to 180’C and lightly grease a 13x36 long tart tin, or 9inch round cake tin – a removable base is important.
2. Combine the flour, coconut, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in the melted butter until evenly distributed. Press the mixture firmly in the bottom of the pan to form a even layer. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden and firm. Remove and set aside to cool for a few minutes while you prepare the filling.
3. Stir together the coconut, sugar and egg whites. Evenly distribute the blackberries across the tart base. Spoon over the macaroon mixture and spread out lightly – it’s nice to still be able to see some berries.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the peaks of the macaroon filling are golden. Remove from the tart tin and cut into slices. Enjoy!

Blackberry, Lime and Elderflower Cake

It appears lime recipes on this blog are like buses – you wait forever for one and then two come at once. I was really surprised when I was tagging my Lime & Rosewater cake that I’d never blogged anything limey in all 5 years of blogging – especially considering I have made 18 lemon and 16 orange recipes. It was actually a sheer coincidence that I ended up making two limey recipes so close to each other after years of nothing, but the tasty results of both cakes have persuaded me to make sure another 5 years of blogging doesn’t go by before I use it again.In this cake the limes are paired with a whole load of fresh blackberries. The bramble bushes near my house are ripening rapidly now – the fruit can’t be picked fast enough! I remember going blackberrying with my parents when I was younger – spending hours in amongst the huge brambles, perfecting a routine of one berry for the bucket, one for me, one for the bucket, one for me. Now my parents go together to pick the berries all growing by the river or the common – I think its great that even in London there is still fruit growing wildly. My Mum uses the fruit to make jars and jars of blackberry jam for gifts and to last us through the winter, and I take advantage of this wealth of free fresh fruit to bake with. This recipe makes a big tray of cake but it’s not rich (and it is addictive) so you’ll definitely find yourself repeatedly going back for more, and also the drizzle keeps it super moist. I really liked the combination of flavours in this cake – lime and blackberry isn’t something I would have put together but they really work – but I think I would have liked the elderflower to be a bit stronger. It’s only a delicate flavour that got slightly overpowered by lime, so I would up the cordial and reduce the lime juice in the drizzle next time. Also, I think I would stir the blackberries right into the cake mixture rather than place them on top so that they release a bit more juice and flavour into the cake. Overall though I was definitely pleased with this traybake – it was super quick to make and really versatile. I’m going to submit this cake to my first ever Calendar Cakes challenge, hosted by Dolly Bakes and Laura Loves Cakes.The August theme is ‘Summer Lovin’ using seasonal ingredients or summer memories and this cake combines both! Enjoy :)

Blackberry, Lime and Elderflower Drizzle Cake, adapted from Waitrose Kitchen Magazine
Ingredients: 225g self raising flour
75g ground almonds
250g softened butter
250g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
1 lime, juiced and zested
2tbsp milk
200g blackberries
Drizzle: 100ml elderflower cordial
6tbsp granulated sugar
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 lime
1. Preheat the oven to 180’C. Line a 22cm x 33cm cake tin.
2. Blitz all the cake ingredients apart from the blackberries in a food processor (or with an electric whisk) until smooth.
3. Tip the cake mixture into the tin and top with the blackberries, pressing in lightly (or stir the blackberries into the cake mixture gently before tipping into the tin). Bake for 30 minutes.
4. Use a cake skewer to poke holes all over the surface of the cake – this will enable the drizzle to properly soak into the cake. Mix together the drizzle ingredients and spoon over the hot cake. Cool in the tin before slicing. Enjoy!