Summer Berry Drizzle Loaf Cake

Sometimes, an irresistible baking urge will creep over me, and I am left with no choice but to bake. However, this means overcoming an annoying (all be it probably practical) rule put in place by my Mother to prevent me baking every single day; I am not allowed to bake without an excuse.

An excuse soon cropped its head up though, in the form of six hungry men doing a days work on a farm together. My Dad was more than pleased when I offered to bake a cake for him to take along, so I went for something simple and portable.

This cake definitely isn't a visual stunner, but it gets 10/10 from me for taste. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

175g very soft butter 

175g golden caster sugar

250g self raising flour 

2 large eggs 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

175g mixed summer fruits, stoned (I used strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and a few cherries.) - I actually used closer to 275g and the cake turned out perfectly... 

140g granulated sugar 

1-2tsp lemon juice 

Method:

Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 fan). Grease a 900g loaf tin and line the base and ends with a long strip of baking parchment.

Put the butter, sugar, flour, eggs and vanilla extract into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer for 5 minutes until pale an creamy. The mixture will be very thick. 

Spread one third of the mix into the tin, then scatter over some of the fruit. Carefully dot and spread over another third of the mix, and scatter with some more fruit. Dot the rest of the mix over and gently spread with the bake of a spoon. You will have some fruit left but this will be used for the topping. Bake for 1 hour.

Remove the cake from the oven. Dot all over the top with a skewer. Put remaining fruit in a bowl with the granulated sugar and the lemon juice and mash/stir. Spoon over the cake. Leave in the tin until the cake is cool and the topping is set and crisp.

This is such a super simple summer bake that you really have no excuse not to bake it. Although I didn't get a chance to guzzle more than half a slice before my Dad whipped it away, I bet it would be beautiful with a dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche.