Blackberry and Apple Crumble Cake

680 g Cooking apples

450 g Blackberries

75 g Caster sugar

Juice and rind of 1 lemon 10 ml Arrowroot mixed with

15 ml Cold water

75 g Unsalted butter

75 g Caster sugar

1 Egg, lightly beaten

5 ml Baking powder

75 g Ground almonds

225 g Plain flour

2 1/2 ml Ground cinnamon

12 Whole almonds to decorate

Peel, core and slice cooking apples and place in a pan with blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and rind and 45 ml water. Simmer gently for 10 mins until the fruit

is just softened. Add arrowroot mixture and stir until thickened. Cool. To make the base and topping, blend together butter and sugar in a processor unti soft and fluffy. Add beaten egg, baking powder, ground almonds, flour and ground cinnamon and process until just crumbly. Turn mixture into a bowl. Grease and line a 23 cm springform pan. Turn out 2/3 of the crumble mixture onto a floured surface and knead gently together to combine. Use to cover base of prepared pan, simply pushing any cracks together. Spread cooled blackberry and apple mixture over base. Sprinkle reserved crumble mixture evenly over fruit topping and decorate with whole almonds. Bake at 350 F for 50 mins until pale golden. Serve warm or cold. Source: Woman Sept 20/93 From the collection of Karen Deck