Spelt, raspberry, blueberry and ginger cake

I’ve been dabbling with spelt recently (I have, at present, two other spelt recipes waiting in the wings to share) since Mr CC bought me a big bag of wholemeal spelt flour from his travels in Norfolk.  The flour was milled at LeatheringsettWatermill in Holt, where the mill has been working since 1802.

Spelt is an ancient grain enjoying a surge in popularity at present.  It is higher in vitamin B and protein than other wheat and some people with wheat sensitivity find that they can eat spelt due to its lower gluten content.  It certainly tastes different to ordinary flour and I’ve found that it adds more texture and a strong nutty flavour to my bakes.

This cake was meant to be a spelt, rhubarb and ginger cake.  For the past few weeks I have admired the forced rhubarb in my local supermarket and – of course – this week they didn’t have any.  It’s like they do it on purpose.  Grrr.  Knowing that spelt added nuttiness to a bake I opted for fruits that work well with nuts.  And I never tire of how beautiful raspberries and blueberries look baked into the top of a cake.

The topping was incredible and so simple.  Brushing the ginger syrup over the top of the hot cake gave a good surface for the sugar to stick to and it created a flavoursome crunchy thin crust.  Here it is just sprinkled:

Here it is after it’s cooled and sunk into the fruit:

There’s a forecast of snow for tonight.  I seem to be one of the few people I know who freely (and vocally!) admits to loathing snow.  Rather than stress at the weather forecasts I shall focus on my lovely cake!

Ingredients

For the cake:

450g raspberries and blueberries
140g unsalted butter
200g soft brown sugar
2 eggs
4 pieces of stem ginger in syrup – chopped as small as possible (I used my mini food processor)
200g wholemeal spelt flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

For the topping:

Stem ginger syrup from the jar
3 teaspoons caster sugar

Method

Wash the fruit and leave to dry – there is nothing worse than putting wet fruit on top of a cake batter and watching it sink and ooze moisture over everything!

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan oven 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Line a 18cm x 28cm pan with baking paper or non stick foil.  I used my mini roasting pan which was the perfect size.

Melt the butter over a gentle heat.

When melted, remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar.

Put to one side and leave to cool for a couple of minutes.

Place the eggs, chopped ginger, flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl and mix.

Add the butter and sugar mix and stir rapidly to incorporate all the ingredients.  It will be a gloopy batter similar to ginger cake or sticky toffee pudding.  Take care to ensure no dry ingredients are stuck at the bottom of the bowl.

Pour into the prepared tin and tap sharply on the work top so the batter levels out.

Scatter the fruit over the top.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Check it after 3o minutes as I found the cake needed turning in the oven to ensure it cooked evenly.

Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

While the cake is still hot brush some of the syrup from the ginger jar over the top of the cake – just enough so the whole top is shiny.

Scatter caster sugar over the top and leave the cake to cool completely.

Serve in large squares on its own, or with cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.