Easy Black Currant Cake for the best sweet tart treat
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You’re going to love this easy black currant cake; filled with sweet tart black currants fresh from the garden in a rich easy to mix almondy cake then topped with my favorite cardamom streusel, there’s so much to love here.
My friend Carol at church sent me home with a bag of black currants she kindly picked for me. I hoped to save a slice of this cake to freeze for her, but in the time that it took for me to go get the plastic wrap, the cake was finished!
This is probably one of my most traditional recipes, keeping company with my German crumb cake, Strawberry Crumb Cake, Kolache, and Poppy Seed Rolls. In German, this black currant cake would be (and help me out if the Google translate steered me wrong): Johannisbeerkuchen mit Streuseln. It’s the perfect kind of cake for afternoon coffee.
My Mom, the legend of coffee cakes has made these simple no-frosting needed cakes my whole life. The moist cake, studded with all the sharp tartness of the black currants plus the crunchy sweet crumb topping is pretty much all I’m looking for in a cake.
Top it with a little whipped cream sweetened with raspberry jam, and you’re double gilding this magnificent lily.
Find a gardener friend and go berry picking!
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bakingwithtradition.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising revenues by advertising and linking to recommended products. Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Black Currant Cake
The sad reason Americans don’t know about black currants and why you need to make friends with a gardener
Ah, black currants. These little shrub berries so beloved in Europe for candies, jams, teas, and cakes sadly are not common here. That’s because black currants were sadly hosts to the white pine blister rust in the early 1900s. Apparently black currants and similar plants like gooseberry act as a host that then spreads the disease from one affected pine tree to another.
Efforts were made starting with the Plant Quarantine Act of 1912 to keep potential carriers of the blister rust out of the US since pine has always been an important crop.
By the 1960s, growing practices had advanced enough that the restrictions were largely lifted. Still, in all that time since, Americans have never really developed a love for these little hearty berries. Sad. Sad. Sad.
I know I can buy a seedling of the bush at my local tree farm, but I certainly have never seen fresh currants in a store. After making this cake, I might just go down the road and buy one. The pungent tartness is unique, and once you taste it it will stay with you.
If you don’t have a gardener friend, you can of course substitute other berries like blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries. The taste will not be the same, but you’ll still have a fine cake.
Why you’ll want to make this cake
- Contrast: the tartness of the black currants is potent, but with the right balance of sweetness, it’s alluring. In this cake you get multiple contrasts: sweet vs. tart, crunchy vs. moist, buttery vs. acidic, rich color vs. neutral colors. This is one of the most compelling things that I’ve made of late.
- Easy: this is pretty much a mix and go cake. Mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry, mix them together, add in the berries, top it with the streusel. If you’ve never made a cake, you can handle this one!
- Portable: these kind of coffee cakes are so awesome taking places. I’m pretty sure every picnic basket has a special nook dedicated to sturdy, moist, happy little cakes like this one.
Ingredients you’ll need for black currant cake
- Black currants: fresh; use another berry if you don’t have a gardener friend or buy them frozen
- Butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Heavy cream
- Amaretto: boosts the almond flavor (use vanilla paste or extract if you don’t want the alcohol)
- Flour: all-purpose
- Almond flour: because almonds go so well with all berries
- Baking powder
- Salt
Topping
- Heavy cream
- Raspberry jam (homemade raspberry jam is awesome, but use what you have)
Process for making black currant cake
- Mix: mix together the streusel ingredients. Pop them into the fridge or freezer while you make the cake. If you want to work ahead, I always have a batch of streusel in the freezer. You can use it to top this cake right out of the freezer.
- Cream: the butter and sugar. Add in the eggs, then cream and amaretto.
- Mix: mix together the flour, baking power, salt, and almond flour. Pour in the dry ingredients to the wet, but save back a couple tablespoons of the flour. Fold everything together into a stiff batter.
- Toss: toss the berries with the rest of the flour, then fold the berries into the batter.
- Top: Smooth the batter into a buttered springform pan. Top it with the streusel.
- Bake: bake until the streusel is golden brown and the cake springs back in the center.
- Cool: cool the cake completely.
- Top: Beat together cold heavy cream and a little raspberry jam. Top each slice with a healthy dollop of raspberry whipped cream.
Easy Black Currant Cake for the best sweet tart treat
- Total Time: 50
- Yield: 12 slices
Description
Tart blackcurrants folded into an easy to make batter topped with sweet crunchy cardamom streusel. Add a little raspberry whipped cream, and this is the perfect afternoon coffee cake.
Ingredients
- 10 Tablespoon butter, at room temperature (140 g)
- 3/4 cup sugar (150 g)
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 Tablespoon amaretto (or 1 tsp vanilla paste)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (130 g)
- 7 Tablespoons almond flour (50 g)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups fresh blackcurrants, washed and dried
Cardamom Streusel
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (85 g)
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar (50 g)
- 3 tablespoons melted butter (36 g)
- 2 green cardamom pods
Raspberry Whipped Cream
- 1 cup chilled heavy cream
- 2 Tablespoons raspberry jam, preferably seedless
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Butter a 9″ springform pan, then line the bottom of the pan with parchment.
Make the cardamom streusel:
- If using whole cardamom, press on the cardamom pods so that they split. Remove the green outer covering, then crush the seeds in a mortar or pestle or spice grinder to a fine texture.
- To make the streusel, In a small bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar and cardamom together until the sugar is evenly distributed in the flour.
- Pour in the melted butter, then use a fork to toss the ingredients together. Stir everything together until the crumbs start to form.
- Cover the bowl, and refrigerate the mixture until you’re done prepping the cake.
Make the cake:
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the bowl, then add in the eggs, then the cream and amaretto and mix until combined. It’s okay if the mixture looks a little curdled.
- Mix the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Pour all but a couple tablespoons of the flour mixture into the butter mixture.
- Fold the flour into the butter until the flour just disappears and you have a smooth batter.
- Toss the black currants with the rest of the flour to coat them.
- Fold the berries into the batter with a few turns to distribute them well throughout the batter.
- Smooth the batter in the prepared pan.
- Scatter the streusel over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the streusel is golden brown and the center of the cake bounces back when you touch it. If you do a toothpick test, poke a toothpick into the middle of the cake ; it will come out clean when it’s done.
- Cool the cake 5 minutes, then release the ring on the springform. Take the cake off it’s base, and transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- When you’re ready to serve, whip the remaining cream with the raspberry jam until it holds its shape. Serve a slice with a generous dollop of cream on top.
Notes
- Other berries?: Blackcurrants are a special treat, and you may not be able to find them unless you have a gardener friend. Feel free to substitute blueberries, blackberries or raspberries. All are good with this batter!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: German
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 375
- Sugar: 20
- Sodium: 263
- Fat: 24
- Saturated Fat: 14
- Unsaturated Fat: 9
- Trans Fat: 1
- Carbohydrates: 36
- Fiber: 1
- Protein: 5
- Cholesterol: 105
