Apple and Blackberry Cake is moist, full of vanilla and fruit flavors, and even sweeter with a drizzle of sweet and boozy vanilla hard sauce.
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Apple and blackberry. Before my trip a few years ago to Ireland with my mom and sister, I didn't realize just how beautiful these two fruits are together. Or how beloved blackberry and apple desserts are in Ireland.
My sister had a dish of Apple Blackberry Crumble at a stop on the scenic Slea Head Drive in Dingle, and it was incredible. (She was nice enough to share!) That's when my fascination with this sweet fruit pairing began.
These fruits are a favorite pairing in Irish desserts
Darina Allen, founder of the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, Ireland researched ingredients and gathered recipes from across the country for her acclaimed book Irish Traditional Cooking.
She writes, "Most traditional Irish desserts are based on the fruits readily available in the garden or orchard, or on those found in the wild. My own mother taught me many of the recipes I still use; she would vary the fillings according to the season, from rhubarb to green gooseberries, blackberries, and apple."
These desserts include the well-known Irish apple cake as well as breads and traybakes with both fruits mixed together.
Whether you get your apples from the orchard, your blackberries from the brambles, or stumble upon both fruits in the dead of winter at the store, apple blackberry cake is a tantalizing way to showcase their flavors.
If you do head to the orchard, remember to pick up some fresh, apple cider donuts!
And the Vanilla Hard Sauce? Well, with full bottles of Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey and Tullamore Dew on hand, it seemed only fitting to whip up a smooth and sweet whiskey sauce to drizzle over the slices.
I think Mary from "Hurry, Hurry Mary Dear" would love this apple cake with her tea!
Why you'll love this recipe
Blackberry and apple cake is so moist, and brimming with tart apples and floral blackberries. It's sweet but not too sweet, and such a nice treat to have at breakfast or as an afternoon tea cake.
You could enjoy this delicious cake all on its own, but the Vanilla Hard Sauce gives it a little somethin' somethin'.
The sauce is smooth and sweet, with a boozy kick that tastes pretty darn fine with the apples, berries, and vanilla-laden cake.
With flavors inspired by Ireland, this blackberry apple cake recipe is one you should definitely make for St. Patrick's Day. (It'll be a nice change from the green milkshakes. Not that I have anything against green milkshakes, mind you!)
Don't save it just for holidays, though: make this cake for brunch or a potluck, or to bring to a friend!
What is hard sauce?
According to The Food Lover's Companion, hard sauce is a blend of butter, sugar, and spirits such as brandy, whiskey, or rum. It was customary to chill the sauce to solidify the butterfat, which is why the dessert sauce is called "hard."
Hard sauce is a traditional accompaniment for old-fashioned treats like bread pudding, Christmas puddings, mincemeat pie, and plum pudding.
My vanilla hard sauce recipe, made with Irish whiskey, is smooth, pourable, and wonderful with this apple and blackberry cake.
🔪 How to make Irish Apple Blackberry Cake
Ingredients:
- All-Purpose Flour: My go-to brand is King Arthur Flour
- Baking Powder: To help the cake rise
- Salt: Just a little
- Apples: I use McIntosh apples in this recipe
- Blackberries: Us fresh-picked or the best you can find in the produce section
- Sugar: This is white granulated sugar
- Brown Sugar: Packed, light brown sugar
- Butter: Choose a good quality, unsalted butter
- Eggs: I use large eggs in this recipe
- Vanilla Extract: Nielsen-Massey is the extract brand I like
- Milk: To add moisture to the cake
- Confectioner's Sugar: Use this to make the hard sauce
- Whiskey: Irish whiskey for the hard sauce
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 2: Get your fruit ready
Peel and core the apples, and dice them into cubes. Have the blackberries ready to go—slice the really large ones in half.
Step 3: Combine the wet ingredients
Stir together the sugars, butter, eggs, and vanilla.
Step 4: Bring the batter together
Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, alternating with milk. Stir until the batter is smooth, then fold in the apples and blackberries.
Step 5: Bake!
Spoon the batter into a greased pan, and bake the cake for just under an hour.
Step 6: Serve
Once the apple blackberry cake cools, serve slices with a generous drizzle of hard sauce over the top.
🔪 How to make the hard sauce
Step 1: Whisk it together
Beat together butter, vanilla, sugar, and whiskey to make a smooth, sweet sauce.
FAQs
You can make a nonalcoholic, sweet sauce by simply omitting the whiskey in the recipe and using milk instead.
You can also choose to skip the hard sauce altogether, as the apple blackberry cake is sweet and moist enough to serve all on its own.
Covered and stored in the fridge, your vanilla hard sauce will stay fresh for weeks. It may form up once chilled: let it sit at room temperature to soften, then whisk to bring the sauce together again.
Tips:
- I use McIntosh apples in this recipe, which are both tart and sweet and are a great choice for baked goods including pies.
- No need to lug out your stand mixer for this recipe: it's a cinch to stir together by hand, which also lessens the chance of overmixing the batter.
The recipe for this Irish Apple and Blackberry Cake with Vanilla Hard Sauce is below. Check out these recipes, too: all inspired by flavors found in Ireland.
💬 How do you like them apples... and blackberries and cake and sauce? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Irish Apple and Blackberry Cake with Vanilla Hard Sauce
Ingredients
Cake ingredients:
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 medium tart apples ( I prefer McIntosh) (about 15 ounces))
- 6 ounces blackberries, rinsed and allowed to air dry
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 8 ounces milk
Vanilla Hard Sauce Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons Irish whiskey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease an 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.
Blend the dry ingredients:
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Hold it aside.
Prepare the fruit:
- Peel the apples and remove the cores. Slice the apples into small cubes around 1 to 1½ inches in size.
- Slice any large blackberries in half so that your whole berries and berry pieces are all about 1 to 1½ inches in size.
Mix the wet ingredients:
- Pour the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and melted butter into a large bowl, and stir them together into a smooth mixture.
- Add in the eggs, stirring to fully incorporate them with the butter and sugar. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Combine the mixtures:
- Pour about half of the flour mixture into the bowl with the butter-egg mixture. Fold the flour in using a few strokes.
- Pour in half of the milk, and stir it in. Add in the rest of the flour mixture and stir. Pour in the last of the milk. Stir the batter until it looks smooth.
- Fold in the diced apples and the blackberries. Don't overmix, but try to distribute the fruit as evenly as you can through the batter.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared baking dish and even out the top.
Bake
- Bake the cake for 50-55 minutes. The top of the cake should be golden brown with a few cracks, and a knife inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Move the pan to a cooling rack and let the cake cool completely.
While the cake bakes, make the Vanilla Hard Sauce:
- Put the 2 tablespoons of butter, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar into a small bowl.
- Beat the ingredients together with a hand mixer or a spoon.
- Add in the whiskey, and continue beating the mixture to make a smooth, spoonable sauce. If it's too thick you can add in a teaspoon or two of water - or more whiskey, but this will make it even boozier!
Serve:
- When the cake is cool, cut it into slices. Serve the slices with a little drizzle or a generous spoonful of the whiskey hard sauce.
Option: Booze-free sauce
- To make a nonalcoholic sauce, replace the whiskey in the sauce ingredients with milk.
Notes
- I love using McIntosh apples in this recipe, which are both tart and sweet, and are a great choice for baked goods including pies.
- No need to lug out your stand mixer for this recipe: it's a cinch to stir together by hand, which also lessens the chance of overmixing the batter.
- If you prefer to skip the hard sauce, the apple blackberry cake is sweet and moist enough to serve all on its own. You can also make a nonalcoholic sauce by simply omitting the whiskey and using milk instead.
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