Summer fruit loaf

Delicious served warm or cold. — Kathy Paterson

Use only fresh berries that are available to you at time of baking. Add in a few tart berries to contrast with the buttery, sweet cake mixture.

MAKES 2 LOAVES FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING

50g plain flour

50g cold butter, cut into small pieces 50g soft brown sugar

A small handful of roughly chopped fresh local walnuts

FOR THE SUMMER FRUIT LOAF

175g butter, softened

150g caster sugar

2 eggs

115g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

150g ground almonds

250-300g summer berries, I used raspberries, blueberries and strawberries (cut large strawberries into thick slices lengthwise)

1 Heat the oven to 170C. Grease and line 2 x 20cm x 10cm x 5cm deep loaf tins with baking paper, leaving an overhang of paper at each end to help when removing baked loaves from their tin.

2 Make the crumble topping — sift the flour into a bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir through the sugar and the walnuts. Set aside.

3 In a bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding a little flour with each addition if the mixture begins to curdle. Sift the flour and baking powder over the butter mixture, add the ground almonds then gently fold to combine. Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and smooth the surface with a spatula. Scatter over the berries and finish with the crumble topping.

4 Place in the oven and bake for 1-1 ¼ hours until a skewer inserted into the centre of each loaf comes out clean. You will also smell when they are cooked. Remove from the oven and leave for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tin.