This moist and fruity Saskatoon Cake celebrates that unique and tasty northern berry! It's studded with saskatoon berries and topped with a juicy and tangy saskatoon jelly drizzle. Whether you make it in a square pan to serve it as a snacking cake or dress it up in a round pan and serve it with whipped cream as a special dessert, you'll love having this saskatoon drizzle cake recipe in your repertoire. And a bonus is that it's a one-bowl cake, quick to stir together with either fresh or frozen berries, and comes gluten-free or regular.
I have been swimming in saskatoons! Bushes and bushes of them. Buckets and buckets of them.
We have finally finished picking our abundant saskatoon berry crop. The berries were drier this year, due to the two-week long hot dry spell we had just as they were maturing, but their flavour was concentrated and sweet. There seemed to be as many as ever!
We've had friends and family out to pick saskatoons, given pails of them away, and there were still bushes full of berries left over for us. Raymond picks them for me, and I clean them and process them. Pippa is his faithful assistant, making sure to snuffle up any stray berries that land in the grass - it's a full-time job!
Saskatoons are such a delicious northern berry - sweet and slightly floral, with almond, vanilla, and grape undertones. There's nothing comparable, and they are just as great to chomp by the handful, still warm from the sun, as they are to use in all kinds of baking, desserts, canning, and even savoury dishes.
I've been making and canning saskatoon jam, saskatoon jelly, and saskatoon juice. And I've been making this most amazing saskatoon cake. It's loaded with as many berries as the batter will hold and still keep its lightness. A bit of almond flour in the batter also helps keep it deliciously moist and tender and accents the natural almond flavour in the berries.
The cake is topped with sliced almonds and then drizzled with a saskatoon jelly and lemon juice syrup while the cake is still warm. The tangy jelly soaks into the cake, adding another layer of luscious moistness, while some of it stays on top to glaze the cake to a berry-hued shine. That's all the decoration it needs. . . well, maybe a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream . . . and it's an irresistible, unforgettable dessert.
Ingredients You'll Need
Fresh or frozen saskatoon berries will work. If using frozen, go by weight, or using slightly heaping cupfuls, as they don't pack as closely in the measuring cup as fresh berries do. If using gluten-free flour, my gluten-free flour blend works beautifully. (I haven't tested it with other gluten-free flours.)
If you don't have saskatoon jelly, you can push saskatoon jam through a sieve to remove the seeds, or use any other tangy red-fruited jelly or sieved jam, such as raspberry, strawberry, cranberry, red currant, even grape jelly.
Note: Do not substitute blueberries for the saskatoons, as blueberries are much juicier and will make the cake soggy. If you want to use blueberries instead, you'd have to experiment with a lesser amount of berries.
How to Make Saskatoon Cake - with that Luscious Saskatoon Jelly Drizzle
The batter is so easy - just put all the ingredients into the bowl of a mixer and beat them together until smooth (or stir them up by hand). Then fold in those saskatoon berries. You can use fresh ones or frozen ones.
Spread the batter into a greased and parchment-lined springform pan, sprinkle it with sliced/flaked almonds, and it's ready to bake.
After baking, while the cake is still warm, poke it all over with a skewer. Heat up some saskatoon jelly (or any other red fruit jelly) with fresh lemon juice, then drizzle that shiny red glaze all over the top of the cake. It will soak down into the holes to add it's sweet tangy fruitiness throughout the cake, making it moist and loaded with flavour.
You can also make the saskatoon cake in a square pan and have it handy as a snacking cake - great for everyday and just as quickly devoured!
For more scrumptious saskatoon berry recipes, check out these posts:
- Saskatoon Juice (And How to Easily Clean Your Saskatoon Berries)
- Saskatoon Roll or Saskatoon Cobbler (And How to Freeze Your Saskatoon Berries)
- Old-fashioned Saskatoon Pie
- Canned Saskatoons and Saskatoon-Peach Preserve
- Saskatoon Jelly
- Saskatoon Ice Cream
- Chilled Saskatoon Soup (a dessert soup)
- Prairie Mess (Eton Mess with Saskatoons and Rhubarb)
- Gluten Free Saskatoon Scones
- Saskatoon Muffins
- Saskatoon Slump
- Pork Chops with Saskatoon and Green Apple Chutney
- Saskatoon Pickle (a delicious saskatoon relish/chutney)
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Saskatoon Drizzle Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (115 g) salted butter, softened (at soft room temperature)
- 1¼ cups (175 g) gluten-free flour blend, or regular all-purpose flour for non-gluten-free
- ½ cup (50 g) almond flour
- ½ cup (100 g) sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder (gluten-free, if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) milk
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
- 3 cups saskatoon berries (about 450 grams/1 lb)
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
for the saskatoon drizzle:
- 6 tablespoons (90 ml) saskatoon jelly or sieved saskatoon jam, or another red jelly, like raspberry, strawberry, or red currant jelly
- juice of half a lemon (about 1½-2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease and flour a 9x9-inch (22.5 cm²) square baking pan, or grease a 10-inch (25 cm) round springform pan and line the bottom with a parchment circle cut to fit. If using a springform pan, use the bottom disk upside-down in the pan, so the baked cake slides off the bottom easily once the sides are released.
- Put the butter, flour, almond flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, milk, eggs, vanilla, and almond extract into a mixing bowl. Beat with the electric beater or with a wooden spoon until smooth.
- Stir in the saskatoon berries with a spatula.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top, Sprinkle evenly with the sliced almonds.
- Bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool the pan for 5 minutes in the pan, then poke the cake all over with a skewer, making the holes about 1 inch (2.5cm) apart.
- In a small saucepan, heat the saskatoon jelly and lemon juice until the jelly is melted and liquid. Spoon the hot jelly mixture evenly over the top of the warm cake, letting each spoonful absorb into the cake before you add another one. Make sure to cover the whole cake with the jelly and make sure all the almond slices are coated.
- Remove the sides of the pan if using a springform pan and allow the cake to cool, then slip a thin metal flipper under the cake and carefully slide it onto a cake plate, helping it along with the flipper. If you made the cake in a square pan, you can leave it in the pan to serve it.
- Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream or serve the cake warm with ice cream. The cake will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 5 days.
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