Probably not, but with those health affirming berries on top, it certainly makes having that extra slice feel less guilty.
As the summer wears on, culinary minds start to think about the Autumn berry season with hedgerows bulging with fruit, and trying to make sure your dog doesn’t get there first!
But in doing this, it is all to easy to overlook the humble blackcurrant, which is in season right now (July - August)
These home grown super-berries are often neglected as we wait for the autumn blackberries, and their season is relatively short - about 4-6 weeks.
Don’t let them all go to the Ribena factory (most of the UK’s fruit goes to make the blackcurrant cordial) but look for them at your nearest, fruit farm, supermarket or farm shop, and you'll be rewarded with a fantastically juicy, tart and sweet berry that has more vitamin C than an orange, and is jam-packed with health giving antioxidants.
They freeze very well, so buy more than you need and keep them in the freezer ready for jams, coulis and a superb sauce for venison later in the year.
Combined with the more common and almost equally healthy Blueberry (another super-berry) this cake has a layer of virtue nestling between its sponge base and crumble top.
For me that’s pretty close to the perfect cake.
INGREDIENTS makes 8-10 pieces For the crumble 40g cold butter, cut into pieces 40g caster sugar 75g oat four (75g porridge oats whizzed in mini processor until very fine)
Line a deep square baking tin (I used a 23cm/9” tin) and preheat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan.
Rub together the cold butter, caster sugar and oat flour to make a crumble mixture, leaving some larger lumps in the mix, then refrigerate until needed.
Put the softened butter, caster sugar, flour, vanilla and eggs in a food processor and blitz until you have a nice smooth creamy batter. Don’t over-mix though, about a minute or so should do it.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin, level out, and place the blackcurrants and blueberries over in an even layer.
Finish with the cold crumble mix, then sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top.
Bake in the oven for about 40-50 minutes (depending on your oven), or until a skewer comes out clean with no raw cake mixture on it. (it may have hot fruit on it which is fine, but no yellow cake mix).
Leave to cool in the tin, and cut into squares or bars, whatever you fancy.