Election Cake (Or, Blackberry and Walnut Brown Sugar Cake)

This is not a political blog by any means, but I figured since everybody likes cake, and as it’s been such an enormous, emotional day for my home country, we should all sit down and enjoy a piece of this blackberry-studded number together.

A few days ago on Facebook I mentioned whipping up my mom’s Cherry and Brown Sugar Cake as a remedy for the occasional woes of long distance living. Then things got unexpectedly busy, leaving less time than I expected for a date with my kitchen.

Today, as I sat glued to the election coverage on TV, I could think of no better way to calm my nerves than to pick up where I left off. I had plump blackberries in the freezer and a giant handful of crunchy walnuts; just enough for a little twist on the chewy, brown sugary treat I’ve loved for all these years.

One of the best things about this cake is its versatility with the topping. Fresh and frozen fruit work equally well. If your frozen fruit has gotten a bit icy, just dust off the ice and stick it directly into the batter, even if it’s still ice cold! Trust me, this is a supremely valuable asset in those adrenaline-fueled circumstances, when the only thing that will do is something rustic, crumby and carby.

It’ll also sink in the middle, depending on how heavy your fruit is. This is also valuable – the middle will be moist and fruity, while the outsides are chewy and caramel-y.

Funny business aside: Red/blue, liberal/conservative, or whatever other labels we apply to each other, we should all applaud ourselves for the massive effort we made to get to the polls (and, for people like me, go through the hoops of voting from abroad) to support the candidate we believed in. It makes me happy to see Americans going out and having their say, and getting fired up about making the US a better place for everyone.

ELECTION CAKE // BLACKBERRY AND WALNUT BROWN SUGAR CAKE

A small twist on my mom’s classic cake, originally posted here

Provisions:
4 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1.5 cups raw sugar
2 cups flour (I do half plain, half wholemeal)
2 tsp vanilla (I used 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped)
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups (roughly) fresh or frozen blackberries
Handful chopped walnuts
2-3 tbsp light brown sugar, for sprinkling
Optional: thickened cream, for serving

Method:
Grease and flour a 9″ springform pan. Preheat oven to 180C / 350F.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and sugar until smooth. Whisk in the flour, vanilla and baking powder until just combined. The batter will be thick.

Smooth the batter into the prepared cake tin. Press the blackberries gently into the surface, all over the top of the cake. Sprinkle with a big handful of chopped walnuts, then sprinkle the brown sugar on top of that.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the cake is gloriously golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Audio pairing: Flume, “Holdin On”