Steamed Ombre Blackberry Cake – Recipe

Yep, my oven's still out of action, so here's another small steamed cake.

There are loads of blackberries growing wild near my workplace, so yesterday, like the weirdo I am, I got in an hour early and walked along the path picking them. Picking blackberries is an annual habit of mine, and I usually end up making either blackberry jam and/or blackberry custard pie. However I already still have lots of blackberry jam, and I need an oven to make pie. So steamed cake again it is.

Ready? Let's go.

Ingredients for Cake:

2 eggs, separated
2 tbsp caster sugar
100ml olive oil
150g more caster sugar
150g self raising flour
100ml milk
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
Purple gel food colouring

Ingredients for Filling:

300ml double cream

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Blackberry jam

200g blackberries

Method:

1. Whisk all the cake ingredients together and divide into three bowls. In the first bowl, mix in three drops of food colouring. In the second bowl, mix in four drops of food colouring. In the third bowl, mix in five drops of food colouring.

2. Steam each layer in a greased an lined 7" round baking tin one by one, letting each layer cool a little before turning out onto a cooling rack, cleaning the tin and steaming the next layer. Let all three layers cool completely after cooking.

3. Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla together until spreadable. Lay the darkest layer of cake on a serving plate. spread on a little jam, and dot blackberries around as you like. Fill the gaps with cream, and repeat with another layer. Finish with another layer of cake and top with cream.

4. Chill in the fridge for an hour to let the cream set before serving.

Enjoy, and have fun.