Crunchy raspberry and apricot cake

I love all the summer fruit we're able to get at the moment - raspberries, strawberries, gooseberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, blackcurrants, redcurrants, cherries, greengages, plums, how on earth am I supposed to decide what I want to buy and eat when I want to buy and eat them all!!! My indecision means that I tend to buy far too much for eating as is, and so the excess is either preserved by putting it in the freezer (difficult when it's already full....) or by baking delicious cakes filled with fresh summer fruits. I know which option I prefer....

These cakes tend to be influenced by what caught my eye this week and because I love raspberries so much they often feature, as with this cake. I also had apricots, which I never mind baking with because I really do think that apricots are one fruit that actually benefits from the application of heat. It seems to bring out the juiciness of the fruit, and intensifies the sweet honeyed scents, especially if you poach apricots with just a little dash of honey.

I was also influenced by a recent post on the Caked Crusader's blog, where she uses a sprinkle of demerara sugar to great effect on this delicious looking cherry and almond cake. That was the look I was attempting to emulate, but I obviously went a little light on the sugar, as my cake isn't quite as heavily encrusted. However, the sugar was still obvious after baking and did indeed give the top a lovely crunch.

Crunchy raspberry and apricot cake
Ingredients
125g softened butter
125g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
160g self raising flour
1tsp vanilla extract
2 medium/large apricots
100g raspberries
demerara sugar, to sprinkle

Method
- Preheat the oven to gas 4/180C. Grease and line an 8"/20cm round tin. I used one with vertical sides.
- Chop the apricots into fairly small pieces.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, flour and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Spoon half of the mixture into the prepared tin and spread out.
- Mix the chopped apricots into the remaining mixture and add to the tin, spreading out to the edges.
- Arrange the raspberries on the surface and press in a little. I could pretend I just tumbled them on, but I didn't. I've tried that in the past and find I get loads in one spot and none in another, so I prefer to put them on more carefully now. Fussy??? Perhaps! Sprinkle generously with demerara sugar - more than you think you'll need.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Leave to cool on a wire rack.

You can serve this just as it is, as I did. It would be lovely to accompany a cup of tea or coffee, or turn it into a more dessert type cake by serving with your preferred accompaniment - ice-cream, creme fraiche, whipped or pouring cream and a generous serving of raspberry sauce. Simply delicious and a great celebration of our summer fruit!

It was soft and moist, with delicious bursts of raspberry and the apricot providing more of a background note to the cake. I really enjoyed the crunchy top and next time would use more demerara sugar for more crunch!