(serves 4)125g spread or softened butter
400-500g canned or frozen apricots or peaches
50g soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
100g dark chocolate
75g self-raising flour
75g breadcrumbs
4 tbsp milk (dairy or otherwise)
Method:
Heat the oven to 180C.
Grease a 1-litre ovenproof dish well with butter or coconut oil.
Using a wooden spoon, beat the spread with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in half the egg, then the rest. Melt the chocolate gently, either over a pan of hot water or in the microwave (being very careful not to let it overcook), then add to the mixture with the flour, breadcrumbs and milk. Fold it all together with a metal spoon until well-mixed.
Roughly chop the drained fruit, and put in the dish. Then spoon the cake mixture of the top and smooth it down. Put in the oven, and bake for about 40-45 minutes until it feels firm to the touch (up to an hour, if you use a deep dish).
After about ten minutes cooling, you can turn the cake out onto a serving dish, or simply serve it straight from the cooking pan.
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Chocolate crumb cake is a fairly frugal recipe that goes extremely well with home-made ice cream. Use any breadcrumbs - we use the blender to turn leftover crusts or bread that's getting stale into crumbs, and then keep in the freezer for stuffings or other recipes such as this one. Of course, you may get a slightly odd taste if your crumbs are from bread made with chili or cheese!
Since we can get crates of soft fruit inexpensively in the summer, I lightly stew pans of these, then freeze in 450-500g portions and thaw them as needed for recipes like this. If they taste too tart you can add a little honey or golden syrup to the fruit, but we like the contrast with the rich, chocolatey topping.
If you can't easily find good quality self-raising flour, substitute 70g flour and 5g baking powder. The flour can be plain or wholewheat; I usually use about half of each.
To make this vegan, use dairy-free spread and milk, and a chia egg in place of the egg.
