'Autumn' feels like a dirty word at this time of year doesn't it? Especially if you've got children or grandchildren, and they're just halfway into the summer holidays. But there's no holding back the passage of time in the garden and out in the wilderness...you only have to go for a walk this weekend to stumble upon evidence of the turning of the seasons.

Thickets of brambles dripping with berries. Apples and plums hanging, jewel-like in the treelines. Rosehips. Tiny sloes.

Blackberries are one of the best free foods of all, and I pick them daily at this time of year, passing them through my juicer with apples from my parents' garden to make ice lollies, and tumbling them into crumbles and cakes.

They're most at home alongside the humble apple - the fruits riffing off one another beautifully. Add a touch of cinnamon to the mix, and you're in for a treat.

I've combined the 'holy trinity' of autumn into an easy-peasy loaf cake, smothered in a startling magenta icing, coloured only with fresh berries.

Slice it up for an afternoon treat with a cuppa - or, even better, warm a few slices through and serve with custard for Sunday pud.

Apple, blackberry and cinnamon loaf cake

Ingredients

175g butter

175g light brown sugar

2tsps ground cinnamon

250g wholemeal self-raising flour

3 large eggs

2 handfuls fresh blackberries

2 small eating apples, cored, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks

For the icing

150g icing sugar

A handful of blackberries, crushed and passed through a sieve

Method

Set the oven to 170C and line a 1lb loaf tin.

Place the butter, sugar, cinnamon, flour and eggs in a large bowl and beat until thick and creamy.

Stir in the chopped apples. Finally, carefully fold in the blackberries, taking care not to break them up too much.

Spoon into your loaf tin, level off with a knife and bake for 45 to 55 minutes – until a skewer comes out without batter on it.

Allow to cool.

Combine the icing sugar and blackberries for the topping and push through a sieve. Spread over the top, letting it fall down the sides a little.