The best fruit crumble cake

I’m going to be bold and call this the best fruit cake. It really is that good! Soft, springy and packed with fruit, it stays lovely and fresh the next day too. It has a beautiful buttery flavour and a crisp, golden crumble topping. I baked mine with fresh strawberries, and the smell that filled the kitchen was… simply incredible. It was as though summer had arrived in the house! Some of the cake disappeared while it was still warm, almost straight out of the oven, and the children were practically “fighting” over the last few pieces before school ;). This is definitely a recipe worth keeping and coming back to, especially with the fresh fruit season just around the corner. Use strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, apricots, plums or any other fruit you fancy – there are so many possibilities.

Ingredients for the cake:

• 200 g butter
• a pinch of salt
• 160 g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 200 g plain flour
• 40 g potato starch or 1 packet of unsweetened custard powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 600 g fruit of your choice (e.g. strawberries, hulled and halved)*

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer until light and fluffy. Add a pinch of salt and continue beating. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, potato starch and baking powder directly into the mixture and fold together with a spatula, just until combined.

Line a 20 x 30 cm baking tin with baking paper. Transfer the batter to the tin and smooth the top. Arrange the fruit over the batter, cut side up. Sprinkle evenly with the crumble topping.

Bake at 175°C for about 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Ingredients for the crumble topping:

• 150 g plain flour
• 100 g cold butter
• 50 g icing sugar

Place all the ingredients in a bowl and quickly chop the butter into the dry ingredients. Rub together between your fingers to make a crumble. If the crumble is too wet, add a little more flour.

Enjoy!

*This cake also works beautifully with frozen fruit. There’s no need to thaw the fruit before adding it to the batter; simply toss it in potato starch and arrange it over the cake while still frozen. The cake will need a little longer in the oven, but always bake it until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean (the cake pictured below was made with frozen summer fruit).