Fruit Crumble Cakes

When preparing for the tripolatas birthday picnic I bought a brownie baking tray. I had initially planned to make Rice Krispie cakes but ditched them because I had so much to do.

I have since been thinking of what to do with it, other than make brownies. The trips have been on a real fruit kick lately, on Tuesday we went to the park and they wolfed down handful after handful of grapes. Tripolata #3 then stood with me at the bench and finished a punnet of blueberries and then finished off the pear he had abandoned in order to eat the grapes.

Before they polished off the rest of the fruit in the house I decided to make fruit cakes. The brownie tin would be perfect for making mini cakes and I could make a variety of fillings.

The idea to top them with crumble came after I found a pack of crumble mix in the back of a cupboard. I won't tell you what the expiration date was but it was well overdue, so I wasn't about to use it. There was just enough butter left to make my own crumble, it was so simple I don't know why I bought the prepacked crumble in the first place.

The cake itself is also very simple and uses the rubbing technique as opposed to the creaming or all-in-one method used for most cakes, the batter is thick, so those fruit are going nowhere.

I didn't tell the trips that I was making a cake, but they saw me with the flour and put two and two together. They all crowded around the table as I topped the batter with the fruit and crumble. All I kept hearing was "I want some" and "Can I have some now" then "Is it ready yet".

Once the cakes were done they followed me back and forth from the living room and kitchen as I tried to find some decent light for taking pictures. I felt sorry for them, and had to make do with the pictures I had taken, hoping that I'd be able to fix them with a little editing.

They really enjoyed them, so I guess they didn't mind waiting so long.

Here's what you'll need:
Makes 8 (two of each flavour)

For the cake:
250g self raising flour
125g butter, cubed
125g golden castor sugar
2 large eggs
1tsp vanilla extract
A handful of raspberries
1 small apricot, sliced
1/4 pear, sliced
2-3 strawberries, sliced

For the crumble:
100g butter
50g oats
100g self raising flour
1 tbsp light brown sugar

Here's what you'll need to do:

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4

1. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and mix together.

2. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the eggs and vanilla. Mix together until combined.

3. For the crumble, melt the butter in a tin, then add all the other crumble ingredients to it and mix.

4. Spoon the batter into the greased brownie tins and top with the fruit, slightly push the fruit into the batter. Top with the crumble mix, making sure each tin is completely covered.

    

5. Bake for approx 25 minutes or until a skewer/inserted into a cake comes out clean. To obtain an even bake, rotate the tin towards the end of the bake.

6. Leave the cakes in the tin to cool.

7. Eat and enjoy