Recipe: Blackberry and Marshmallow Cake!

 It's the time of year when Blackberries are coming into season and you see them growing in abundance in the hedgerows. I'd been thinking for a while that I'd like to come up with some new recipes using Blackberries this year and whilst watching Dragons Den one evening there was a pitch for Marshmallows (love love love marshmallows!) and this started the cogs turning! The Great British Bake Off is also back and making me hungry on Wednesday nights, so the natural choice was to make a cake. So this is what I conjured up, a Blackberry and Marshmallow cake! I've kept the sugar in the filling to a minimum as I didn't want it to be a sugary overload and I hope you'll agree it's just right! Enjoy!

Serves 12

Ingredients:

For the cake

• 200g Self-Raising flour
• 200g butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 medium free range eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Icing sugar, to dust

For the filling:

• 150ml extra thick double cream, or double cream whisked until thick and spreadable
• Handful of Blackberries 
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 8 pink Marshmallows

For the cake:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease two 8" sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment

1) Cream the butter and sugar together with a spoon or hand mixer until smooth and no lumps remain

2) Beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time

3) Sift in the flour and baking powder. Add the vanilla extract

4) Beat the ingredients together with a spoon or your mixer, taking care not to over beat the mixture. If it looks a little dry, mix in a tablespoon of milk

5) Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared tins

6) Bake for 20-25 mins, or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre of the sponges comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely

7) Shortly before assembling the cake, prepare the filling. First make your Blackberry "jam." Add the handful of Blackbereries to a small pan with a tablespoon of caster sugar and a tablespoon of water. Cook on a low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is syrupy and the Blackberries are soft. Roughly crush half of the Blackberries with the spoon

It's best to make this mixture straight away right before you need to use it, but if you do prepare it in advance it can be made syrupy again with the addition of a drop of hot water

8) Spread the cream onto one sponge

9) If you've managed to resist eating them all (I found this very hard... nom) put your marshmallows into microwavable dish and microwave for 10-15 seconds. You'll end up with a marshmallow fuff. Work quickly here while the marshmallow is soft and spread over the cream. If the marshmallow starts to set again, microwave for five seconds. Top with the blackberry mixture

10) Add the top half of your cake and dust lightly with icing sugar. Enjoy!

Have you come up with any inventive recipes using Blackberries? Post them in the comments below! Happy making!