Berry & basil cake with salted honey whip

blackberries or raspberries, you choose

I’ve made this cake both ways. First with blackberry which was delicious and second with raspberry, not intentionally, but I couldn’t find organic blackberries in either of the two of the stores we went in that day so I settled for raspberries. Somehow the raspberry tasted even better than the blackberry. It’s tart and sweet and pairs with the lime beautifully. I also love blackberry and basil together. Whatever you choose to use, something beautiful will be created.

We ate a couple of slices before dinner, dipping the cake in a freshly whipped bowl of salted honey cream. Divine. I asked Judah how he’d describe it and he said “tart, moist and ambitious”.. so there you have it. I hope you enjoy!

For the berry mixture you’ll need:

• 6oz of blackberries or raspberries, or a mix if you’d like!

• 3 tbs of lime juice

• 1 tsp of plain flour

• 7 medium sized basil leaves, less if your leaves are bigger

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour

• 1/2 cup of sugar (I’ve used cane sugar and light brown sugar, both worked)

• 3 eggs

• 1/2 cup of olive oil

• 1/4 cup of butter (melted)

• 1/3 cup of milk

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

• 2 tbs lime juice

For the whip:

• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

• 1/2 tbs of honey (more if you fancy. Taste it as you go along and adjust to your liking)

• a sprinkle of flaky salt

raspberry swirl

1. First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C and grease/line your cake tin.

2. Pick the basil leaves, chop or tear them into small pieces and sprinkle into a pot. Add in the lime juice and flour. Heat gently on low until the juice slightly thickens. Put the berries into the pot and heat until they’ve released some juice and have started to become soft. Keep some of the berries whole and allow some to mash slightly. Take the berry mixture off the heat and set it aside while you make the cake.

3. Mix the oil, melted butter and sugar together in a bowl. Next, add the eggs and whisk well until combined.

4. Pour the lime juice and milk into the mixture and stir, then add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix together.

5. After the cake batter is smooth and fluffy, put half of the mixture into the prepared tin. Gently spoon half of the berry mixture on top of the batter. Swirl some of the juice into the cake mix. Then, add the remaining batter on top of the berries and repeat the same process once more.

6. Pop the cake into the oven and bake. In my oven it took 45 minutes. I’d suggest setting a timer for 35 minutes and then checking every 5 minutes after that to see if it needs more time! Once a knife in the middle of the cake comes out clean, it’s done. The edges will be lightly golden and the top of the cake will be firm to the touch.

7. While the cake cools, you can start on the whip. Add the cream to a bowl and whisk until it starts to thicken. We don’t have an electric mixer so I do this by hand which I find really fun and satisfying! But if you do have one, feel free to use it. Once it’s thickened, add in the honey and salt. Gently mix and spoon over the top of the cake, or leave it to be served alongside a slice. I actually prefer to leave the whip off the top of the cake so you can see the lovely swirl pattern made by the berries.

I hope you love this cake as much as I do!

Love,

Em xx