It’s that time of year again when the apples are starting to ripen and the hedgerows are bursting with beautifully ripe blackberries waiting to be picked. I still go blackberry picking every year. And why not – it’s free food!
I’m also lucky to live in the countryside where I have easy access to hedgerows away from main roads and the use of agricultural pesticides. In fact the hedgerows that line the narrow country roads are so healthy they make driving a little challenging at times! But it’s worth it to see and hear the diversity of birds and insects. Although rather worryingly the bee, butterfly and even wasp population seems to be low this year. Apart from the cabbage white butterflies which are thriving in my vegetable patch. Their caterpillars love my kale! It’s a constant battle between them and me – and I’m losing 😉
Both apples and blackberries contain a selection of healthful nutrients including vitamin C, potassium and quercitin. Many of these are lost in the cooking process, so eating them raw provides more health benefits. However, even after cooking, they retain a few nutrients. Mainly though, the fibre becomes the star ingredient once cooked. Particularly in apples as pectin is released.
You may well associate pectin as an agent for setting jam and jellies. It’s why apple is often included in jam recipes, or pectin is added to preserving sugar. But pectin has a much more important role when it comes to body health, specifically to gut health. Friendly microbes living in the gut just love to eat it. When they’re well fed and flourishing, these microbes produce compounds like short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) that support our health so we can flourish too.
Unfortunately, apples are often grown using large amounts of pesticides so make it to the ‘Dirty Dozen’ list – fruit or vegetables with the highest levels of chemicals. Apple trees are prone to attacks from a range of pests including codling moths and worms and canker that can ruin a crop. So farmers have moved towards using a high amount of chemicals rather than looking at more labour intensive natural options.
Wherever possible, buy organic. If you have the space, plant an apple tree in your garden and grow your own or make friends with a neighbour who has a healthy and over-productive tree. Community orchards are popping up so get involved with your local one and reap the benefits. Or you could buy a house with a well-established tree like we did. But that’s a very expensive way of getting good apples 😉
It can be hard to keep the bugs off naturally. This year I used a natural method of keeping the moths away which seems to have helped – so far anyway!
Apple sauce is used as an oil replacement in this recipe although it does still contain a small amount of oil. If you are oil-free, use extra apple sauce instead of the oil. If you are used to cakes without added sugar, then again feel free to omit the sugar but add a little more cinnamon to enhance the flavour.
You may have noticed I’ve added a lemon icing drizzle to the top. This is definitely not a low sugar option! It does however taste lovely; the sharp lemon and sweet sugar really add to the flavour of the whole cake. However, if you are added sugar free, then leave this off. The cake will still taste wonderful.
This cake works really well with wholewheat or gluten free flour. Which makes this recipe suitable to most people using food as medicine, or with food allergies or sensitivities. Because we all need a bit of cake every now and then! It also freezes well, so make a batch to enjoy later in the year when you might enjoy a reminder of sunnier days.
As I have a glut of apples and lots of blackberries to hand, I made this cake for the lunch club at the new plant-based community kitchen in Exeter yesterday. This is a fabulous new facility run by Love Food CIC. As well as weekly community lunches made from surplus produce, there will be lots of classes and workshops plus their plant-based community fridge will be relocated here next month. If you live in the Exeter area, do look them up and support this fabulous facility. You can find out what’s on by following them on Facebook or Eventbrite.
I hope you enjoy making this beautifully moist and tasty apple and blackberry loaf cake. And if you have lots of apples to use and fancy creating some more beautiful sweet treats, check out my apple and oat muffins, apple and date flapjacks, apple and blackberry galette and apple and sultana loaf for more appley goodness.
Apple and blackberry loaf cake
Ingredients
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 180℃. Line a 2lb loaf tin with non-stick baking paper
- Place the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and coconut sugar together in a large bowl. Stir well to combine.
- In another bowl, add the soya milk, ground flaxseed, apple puree and olive oil (if using). Whisk well to combine.
- Add the apple pieces to the flour mix and stir well.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir well to combine, adding the blackberries as you mix. Take care to keep the blackberries whole.
- Pour the mix into the prepared tin. Make sure it's spread out into the corners. Tap the tin on the worktop and place in the middle of the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Check the middle of the cake with a skewer - if it's still wet then return to the oven for another 5 minutes and check again. If your mix is very wet it can take a few goes before the skewer will come out clean.
- Once done, remove the tin from the oven and leave the cake to settle for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Remove the baking paper and leave to cool completely.
- If you are adding the icing drizzle, pop the lemon juice in a small bowl. Add the icing sugar a little at a time until it becomes thick but not too thick. It needs to drip off the spoon but not slide off the cake!
- Drizzle the icing over the top and sprinkle the grated lemon zest on top.
- Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
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