Blackberry and apple cake

Preparation

• 1
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, or 160 degrees fan oven.
• 2
  2. Lightly grease a round cake tin and line it with baking parchment.
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  3. Into a large bowl, sift the flour and add the baking powder, sugar and allspice. Mix them together. Cut the softened butter into small pieces, drop it into the bowl and rub everything together lightly with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs.
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  4. Break the eggs into a small bowl and beat until frothy. Add them to the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring to combine everything, but try not to over mix it.
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  5. Take the zest from the lemon, peel, core and grate the apple and gently fold them both into the mixture. [I used a cooking apple from my garden, which worked very well, but some recipes suggest that you use eating apples if you want a sweeter flavour.]
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  6. Wash the blackberries if you need to, handling them gently as they are a delicate fruit and are easily squashed, drain them well and tip onto kitchen towel to remove excess water. Reserve a large handful, then carefully fold them into the mixture, trying not to break them up
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  you don’t want a pink cake!
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  7. Gently tip the mixture into the prepared tin, smoothing the top and making sure that it reaches the sides. Then place the reserved blackberries evenly on the top and sprinkle on the Demerara sugar to give the topping a crunch.
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  8. Place the cake in the preheated oven to bake for about 50 minutes. Check it by using a skewer to ensure that it is cooked right through, and feel to see if the top is firm in the centre. It might need a little longer
• 10
  if it does, you can prevent the top from browning too much by covering it in foil.
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  9. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the tin, then place it on a cooling rack. Once completely cool, dust lightly with icing sugar.
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  Enjoy a slice of this lovely fruity cake with a cup of tea, or serve it as a delicious dessert accompanied by a dollop of fresh cream, or even hot vanilla custard!