It’s Mum’s birthday and Mother’s Day, so she deserves something special. I said I’d make a cake. I used to make cheesecakes, but this time I wanted something I’d never made before, so she can try something new.

This apple & blackberry crumble cake recipe is from bbc good food. It’s one of the more involved recipes I’ve tried. Nothing difficult, just time consuming and fiddly.

For the cake:
150g unsalted butter
150g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs, beaten
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
150g crème fraiche

For the fruit topping:
25g unsalted butter
1 tbsp sugar
4 eating apples, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges
150g blackberries

For the crumble topping:
50g unsalted butter
50g soft brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
75g plain flour
50g blanched hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Step 1: make the crumble topping
melt the butter, then mix in the sugar, cinnamon, flour and nuts. Set aside

Step 2: prepare the apples
melt the butter in a frying pan, add the sugar and apple wedges
cook for 10-15mins until the apples and soft and golden. Set aside to cool

Step 3: make the cake
cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
add eggs one at a time
fold in flour, baking powder
add crème fraîche

Step 4: assemble
spoon roughly 2/3 of the cake mixture into a round cake tin
scatter 1/3 crumble mixture
top with the remaining cake mixture
scatter 1/3 crumble mixture
arrange apple and blackberries
top with remaining crumble mixture

bake at 190°C for 1.5 hours, covering with foil halfway through if crumble browns too quickly
cool for 10 mins then cool on wire rack
serve with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup and crème fraîche