Raspberry and Apple Crumble Squares

Another new bake for the weekend!  After a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon wandering around Tyntesfield gardens (accompanied, of course by a trip to the café and a lovely cream tea!), I realised that I was meeting friends for lunch the next day and should rustle up a cake to take along.  Again, I didn’t feel like making anything too time-consuming so I had a rustle through my recipes and found this recipe for Raspberry and Apple Crumble Squares from BBC Good Food Magazine.

I decided to add a bit of cinnamon to the crumble topping for flavour, and added some chopped hazelnuts for extra crunch. I’ve reduced the amount of raspberries slightly – partly because most punnets of raspberries are 150g and also because this amount spread across the top of the cake perfectly.

To ensure an even bake, I wrapped my magi-cake strips around the baking tin before placing it in the oven. As a warning, the crumble layer on top means that it is difficult to tell when this cake is cooked. I baked the cake for just over an hour (my oven always takes longer to bake than recipes say) – the crumble was lovely and golden, but it turned out that the cake wasn’t quite cooked.  Next time, I’ll bake for even longer, covering the top with a layer of foil to prevent the crumble burning.

Even though the cake was slightly undercooked, overall the cake tasted great: the hazelnuts in the crumble added a lovely crunchy texture and an extra flavour dimension and the fruit in the cake was delicious. It’s great on its own with a cup of tea, but would also be fantastic with a nice dollop of custard for dessert. I'm sure that this cake would taste fantastic with other fruits as well: blackberry and apple, peach and raspberry, strawberry and rhubarb, etc.  

Raspberry and Apple Crumble Squares

Ingredients

1. 1 large, or two small Bramley apples, peeled and diced
2. 100g butter, softened
3. 175g golden caster sugar
4. 1 egg, whisked
5. 280g self-raising flour
6. 125ml milk
7. 150g raspberries

For the crumble topping

1. 50g butter , diced
2. 85g self-raising flour
3. 100g golden caster sugar
4. 60g chopped hazelnuts
5. 1 tsp cinnamon
6. Zest of 1 lemon

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line a 20 x 30cm cake tin with baking parchment.
2. Put the apple in a small pan with 2 tblsp water.
3. Cook over a low heat, stirring regularly, until the apple starts to soften.
4. Meanwhile, make the crumble topping: rub the butter into the flour, sugar, cinnamon and lemon zest until it resembles breadcrumbs.
5. Stir in the hazelnuts and then set the crumble mixture to one side.
6. Use a hand/stand mixer to beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy – this will take about 5 minutes.
7. Gradually add the egg, beating to incorporate.
8. Gently stir in half of the flour and then half of the milk.
9. Stir in the remaining flour and then the remaining milk.
10. Stir in the apples.
11. Spoon the mixture into the tin, smooth the surface, then dot with the raspberries.
12. Sprinkle over the crumble topping.
13. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean and the crumble is golden. You may need to cover the top with foil after about 45 minutes, so that it does not burn while the rest of the cake is still baking. 
14. Once baked, remove from the oven and leave in the tin to cool. 
15. Once cool, remove from tin and cut into 16 pieces.