I’m very partial to a traybake recipe. They are always quick and easy to make, simple to transport and feed a good few people so lots of boxes ticked right there.

This lovely traybake is on the lines of the nostalgic Pineapple Upside Down Cake where the fruit is at the bottom of the tin and ends up on top when you invert it after baking. Using a selection of mixed berries instead gives this cake such a burst of colour and it’s all natural! There’s white chocolate both in the cake batter and drizzled over the top which works nicely to offset the slight sharpness of the fruit.

I prefer to use frozen berries for this cake as they are always there at hand from the freezer and as they start off frozen, you don’t get as much soaking into the sponge as it bakes. The only fruit I might stay away from here is frozen strawberries as they can get quite mushy.

I used a mix of blackcurrants, raspberries, blackberries and red currants in this bake.

I didn’t have a square traybake tin that measured 18cm / 7″ so used a cake tin of that size instead. The high sides didn’t make any difference. If you use a bigger tin, your slices will be thinner.

Ingredients:

250g frozen fruit
50g white chocolate
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
125g self raising flour
1 tbsp milk

For decorating: 40 – 50g white chocolate depending on your design

Method:

Preheat oven to 160C Fan or 180C Conventional. Grease and line the square baking tin with parchment.

Spread the frozen berries over the base of the tin in an even layer. Pop the tin into the freezer until it’s needed. This will help when you have to spread the batter over the berries as it won’t move much if it’s still frozen.

Melt the white chocolate from the main recipe and set aside to cool. You can do this now or if you use a microwave, wait till you are ready to add the flour and melt the chocolate on medium-low setting.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. This should take a couple of minutes. Then add in the vanilla extract and beat again.

Gradually add the beaten eggs, a little at a time and beat well after each addition. Stir in 1 tbsp milk.

Place a sieve over the bowl and add in the self raising flour. Fold this gently with a large metal spoon or spatula.

Next you spoon the melted white chocolate into the batter and gently mix it together.

Remove your baking tin from the freezer and spoon the cake batter over the layer of frozen berries. If you place spoonfulls evenly all across the top, it makes it easier to get an even layer and you just have to push it out to the sides. This way you won’t disturb the berries on the bottom.

Make a slight indent in the centre of the cake with the back of the spoon so it bakes more evenly.

Place in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for between 45 – 50 minutes. I tested mine at 47 minutes and the skewer came out clean. It was a golden brown colour and just pulling away from the sides.

Leave the cake to cool for about 10 minutes and then carefully turn it out on a wire rack to cool completely. You now have the berry mixture on top.

You can of course serve this as a pudding with cream or custard or simply dust some icing sugar over the top but as it’s a white chocolate traybake, I had to drizzle that over the top!

So melt the second portion of white chocolate and drizzle over the berries once the cake is cooled. I placed a few fresh blackberries on top but equally some raspberries or red currants will look great.

Bake with love

Soraya x