Where Crust Bakery co-owner Tom Moore grew up, he had friends with an orchard in their backyard, full of trees teeming with deep-red plums, plump orange apricots, and gorgeous Mission figs. Every year, they would generously share their bounty with his family, either in raw form or in a selection of wonderful baked goods. One way they would use up their abundance of fruit was to make a simple white cake, toss a bunch of fruit on top, and let it bake into a big, delicious pudding. That’s what this cake is all about. Made simply, quickly tossed together and ready for snacking any time of day.

Ingredients

Cake

1 cup (150 g) all-purpose flour (see note)
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup (120 g) almond flour, lightly packed
1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (180 g) fresh or thawed frozen blackberries, divided (see note)

Blackberry Icing

1 1/2 cups (195 g) icing sugar
3 Tbsp (45 ml) fresh blackberry juice, strained of any seeds
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray or brush a 10-inch (25 cm) square baking pan with a neutral oil and line it with parchment paper.
  2. Make the cake: Using a fine-mesh sieve, sift the flour and baking powder into a medium bowl. Stir in the almond flour.
  3. In a stand mixer, combine the butter, granulated sugar, and salt. Using the paddle attachment, beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat until well mixed and pale, about 2 minutes.
  4. With the machine running on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each egg before adding the next. Scrape down the bowl so everything is incorporated. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla and mix on low speed until fully combined, about 30 seconds.
  5. Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the flour mixture until just combined.
  6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and gently smooth the top with a spatula. Evenly distribute 1 cup (125 g) of the blackberries on top.
  7. Bake for 40 minutes, rotating it after 30 minutes to help it bake evenly, then cover loosely with foil and bake for another 10–15 minutes or until the cake has begun to rise a bit in the centre and doesn’t wobble, and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean (see note). Be sure not to stick a skewer into a blackberry! Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
  8. Make the icing: In a small bowl, whisk together the icing sugar, blackberry juice, butter and lemon juice until dissolved into a smooth icing.
  9. Smear the icing over the cake and cut into sixteen slices. Serve cold or at room temperature with the remaining blackberries. This cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2–3 days or in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze it for up to 1 month before icing it. Thaw the frozen cake in the fridge overnight before icing and serving

Notes:

1. This cake is simple and flexible—it even works great if you replace the all-purpose flour with an equal amount of gluten-free flour.
2. You can use other fruits or berries, such as raspberries, halved summer apricots, pitted cherries or halved blood-red plums instead of blackberries.
3. Be careful not to overbake this cake. It’s at its best when it comes out moist with a little chew and a perfect crumb. It might look a little underdone at the top center, but if the skewer comes out clean, consider it ready!

Excerpted from Crust by Tom Moore with Rebecca Wellman. Copyright © 2024 Tom Moore and Rebecca Wellman. Photographs by Peter Bagi and Rebecca Wellman. Photo on page xiii by Dominic Hall. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.