When you look at this recipe it really is absurd. A cake made with 150g flour and 165g sugar somehow has crammed into it 900g of berries! Even looking at the pictures below, I’m slightly surprised they fit in the tin, let alone form a coherent whole with such a small amount of batter.

But, it will not surprise you to hear, fit they do. And while the cake is ridiculously moist once done, one could even say drippingly so; still it bakes, and slices, and serves, and tastes superb. I called it a pudding cake as clearly cake doesn’t cover it, but actually that is exactly what it is – a summer pudding in cake form.

The recipe calls for strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, but if you’re lucky enough to have blackberries, loganberries, redcurrants, or anything of that nature, I would certainly use them. And while this is aimed at showcasing fresh spring or summer fruit, I would happily use frozen everything except strawberries. I’m using frozen raspberries above in fact, just defrost them first.

The pudding/cake will serve about 12, and the final touch is a glaze of marmalade, before serving with extra berries and cream.

Summer berry pudding cake

Adapted slightly from a very old Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe

• 4 eggs
• 165g caster sugar
• 1 Tbs orange zest
• 1 Tbs lemon zest
• 150g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 125g unsalted butter, melted
• 500g strawberries, hulled and halved
• 200g blueberries, defrosted if frozen
• 200g raspberries, defrosted if frozen
• 200g orange or cumquat marmalade
• thick cream and berries to serve

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 22-24cm springform tin with baking paper. Beat eggs and sugar until pale and very thick. Fold in lemon and orange zest, then sift over and carefully fold in one third of the flour and baking powder at a time. Add the melted butter with the last of the flour.

Pour one third of the batter in the tin, spreading to cover, and cover with one third of the berries. Repeat the cake/berry layers, finishing with a final layer of berries as above. Bake for 60-75 minutes, covering with foil if the top is getting dark, until done when tested with a skewer. Because of the moisture levels, the skewer may come out still wet, but shouldn’t have uncooked batter on it.

Brush the cake with the marmalade, and cool completely in the tin. Serve with cream and more berries.