I actually gave away some Herman this time around, and made two carrot cakes (from the previous Herman post) as they were amazingly tasty, I upped the ground ginger in the second one and it came out lovely and fiery.

I did then realise that my next bake day was this weekend, when I had no time for baking (shocking I know!) So I experimented, and after feeding on day 4, I split it into two and used half for continuation, and half for some baking.

….and as it is St George’s day, I thought I should use something English… Apples were a obvious choice, along with some Blackberries from the freezer that I acquired last blackberry season.

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Almond, Apple, and Blackberry Herman Recipe

Ingredients

1 portion Herman

160ml oil

2 eggs

100g ground almonds

250g self raising flour (note: I had to substitute 50g plain flour as I ran out of SR, so added 1/2tsp baking powder, partially for this, and partially to compensate for using ground almonds)

1tsp almond extract

250g sugar

1tsp salt

75g blackberries (note: mine were frozen, kept from the late pickings of the season last year)

175g bramley apples, chopped into small pieces

extra blackberries and a handful of demerara for the top

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 22cm/10 inch tin.

Combine all the above ingredients, then pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the surface with the extra blackberries and demerara sugar.

Bake, in this case for 1hr 15mins (check after 1 hour), as the very liquid consistency of the mixture means that it takes longer than usual!

Leave to cool, then turn out, cut up, and enjoy!

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I think this one is a serious contender for my new favourite Herman, it is really tasty, with soft, juicy fruit. Yum. The demerara sugar on the top gives a nice crispiness, and it looks nice!

p.s. dinner tonight was easy cheesey peas-y pasta. I love peas. Mr M loves grated cheese on top of everything, so I grated some Sainsbury’s Basics Italian Hard Cheese over it (it is just like Parmesan etc. but not made with animal rennet, so vegetarian!)