
I lost count of the number of mulberry trees in full bloom on this weekend’s run, but I did spot two runners taking a break to refuel with a bunch of ripe berries. Not my favourite of berries – they aren’t sweet or flavourful enough, but I decided to see how they’d fare in baked goods.
The result: a sweet crumb cake that makes for the perfect tea or dessert when paired with some freshly whipped cream.

Cuisine | Vegetarian |
Servings |
20cm cake
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- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup muscavado sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 cups fresh mulberries divided
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup muscavado sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- pinch Salt
Ingredients
For the Crumble
You will also need
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- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 22cm cake pan with parchment and grease the bottom and sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, applesauce, melted butter, eggs and vanilla. Combine well and set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add one cup of mulberries to the dry mix and toss to coat.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined (don’t over mix the batter).
- In a small bowl, make your crumble by mixing the softened butter, oats, flour, white and muscavado sugars, cinnamon, ginger and salt together until you get a sandy like texture.
- Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the remaining cup of mulberries on top. Distribute the crumble on top of the berries
- Bake on the middle rack for 55-60 minutes until golden on top and you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.
- Allow to cool and remove from baking tray. It will keep for about 3 days in a sealed cake tin outside the fridge and for about a week inside the fridge.
If you don’t have mulberries replace with any type of berry you have.
- If you are using large berries like strawberries, chop them into pieces. I did not cut the mulberries as they’re very soft and tend to mush together.
- Make your own applesauce by peeling and chopping up apples (4 small apples gave me ½ cup). Boil in a pot of water until very soft and water has reduced to almost nothing. Allow to cool and blend until completely smooth. You can keep the left over apple sauce in the fridge.

Zissy is the co-founder of Nutreats. She likes to make things, do things and wear things.