Blackberry, apple & thyme roll with silver-lining jam

A silver lining, in cake (and jam) form, to a disappointing summer.

There’s always a silver lining isn’t there?

This summer, for example, in the UK, has been dreadful. Not cold as such, but just nothing-to-write-home-about mild with never-know-when-so-take-a-brolly showers. A real damp squib. (Until, I must add this last week, when we were treated to a few sunny days - a sort of meteorological compensation.)

However, ‘summer’ days like this, coming as they do after a good autumn watering and a near frost-free spring, are, it turns out, perfect conditions for blackberries. And goodness the harvest is sensational. Plump fruits with that characteristic metallic tartness, gently sweet and juicy, bejewel every hedgerow around our village. And they make very addictive picking. It’s almost impossible to resist the alluring arm of a bramble bowing under the weight of shining, fat berries. Dog walks have become even more ponderous than usual (see this earlier post) as I stop to gather them.

Now, blackberries mean jam. And jam means cake.

There are apples too, and the thyme needs keeping in check, so all three go into an early autumn pudding which might seem technical at first, but is, in fact, a doddle.

Paid subscribers can scroll down for the jam recipe too. Also a doddle.

Blackberry, apple and thyme roll

Friends will know my obsession with using herbs in desserts. If I’m honest, it’s really nothing more a cheap trick: an easy way to use something just the right side of odd to add interest. But the thyme here, together with the brown sugar, adds a fragrant, fudgy quality to the sponge that sets off the blackberry jam beautifully. Of course, you can use any sort of jam, but I think the blackberry, damson and apple jam below, when paired with the thyme, make a cake that feels a bit closer to the land, a product of the current seasonal shift.

Serve 8

• Sunflower oil, for greasing

• 4 eggs

• 100g soft brown sugar, plus 1 tbsp for dusting.

• 1 tbsp thyme leaves chopped

• 125g self-raising flour

• 8 tbsp blackberry, apple and damson jam (see below for recipe)

Line a 35x25cm baking tray with baking paper, neatly folding it up the edges as well as over the base. Grease the paper with a little sunflower oil then scatter over half a tablespoon of soft brown sugar.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C.

Beat eggs and sugar in a free-standing mixer with the whisk attachment installed for 8-10 mins. Yes, that is ages, but this is where a light sponge is made so keep whisking until the mixture is roomy and ribboning (ie: you can see a trail of the mixture resting on the surface when you remove the whisk).

Add the thyme and half the flour and fold in (by hand) very, very gently. Once the flour is combined, add the rest of the flour and fold again, mixing it in thoroughly but with the grace of an angel.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tray, smoothing out the top and making sure it gets right into the edges. Bake for 10 mins. Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle the top of cake with the remaining half tablespoon of soft brown sugar then invert it onto large sheet of baking paper (ie: one bigger than the sponge rectangle).

Leave to cool for another 5 minutes then carefully peel off the baking paper from what was the base (and is now the top, if you get my drift). Spread the jam gently and evenly over the surface, right to the edge then score a line 3cm in from one of the short edges and use the baking paper sheet underneath to help roll up the cake, starting with the scored edge to make a crease around which to roll. Slice and serve with cream, ice-cream or just a good, strong cuppa.

Get the jam plan! To read the jam recipe and get PDFs of both recipes, you might like to consider becoming a paid subscriber. It costs the same as a fancy jar of jam per month and gives you access to extra content. Plus you’re supporting my work in a really meaningful way. No pressure though. I’m just glad you’re here, either way.