Baking for Nightshift- Blueberry Crumble Cake

One of my most favourite food writers and cook is Annabel Langbein. I have all of her cookbooks and added her latest one to my collection the other day. She has a new show on TV called 'The Free Range Cook' which I watch and record avidly and this book ties in with that. I held off getting it for about a week but could stand it no longer and made the purchase. I don't think it needs to be said how wonderful it is. Her writing and cooking has that fantastic non-pretentiousness about it yet is not just all homely either. It has that cross-over ability where it is both good for home and for entertaining. She also has a wonderful screen presence which makes you want to cook her food and I love her emphasis on seasonal cooking. Here is her book....

As I am about to start nightshift again tonight having only just finished yesterday morning, I thought I would relax today by doing some baking to take to work tonight. This recipe was one I knew I wanted to make as soon as I saw it. It is very versatile and can be made with all sorts of different fruit on top. I was very easy and made a nice big 25 cm cake- perfect for the girls tonight as it should feed us all. Of course I had to try it so I could comment on it here but this is the hard luck of the cook I suppose. The cake itself is a simple vanilla and yoghurt cake. I used frozen berries as we aren't quite there seasonally to get them fresh but you can use any fruit you like really. The topping is a crumble she uses for fruit crumble and other delicious desserts. I only made half the quantity of the crumble topping as the recipe only calls for 1 1/2 c of it. Now I have some extra in the fridge for something else or I could, as she suggests, put it in the freezer to have as a standby. Such a good idea I thought!

The cake once cooked taste delicious. The cake serves as a platform for the fruit and the crumble which I think is the star of the cake. So if you can, get the book. I plan on using it extensively but watch this space as good intentions can often be forgotten in the busy bustle of life.



Looking very rustic I think