The subtle poetry of baking with blackberries

When we studied Sylvia Plath's Blackberrying at school, I probably should have been thinking about the poem's treatment of isolation, or nature, or the sublime. But instead I found myself wondering what all those blackberries, stuffed into the milk bottle, were for. A blackberry and apple crumble with crimson juices? A sharp-sweet blackberry sundae?

I suspect I rather missed the point, but I did find a thrill in imagining an alternative ending where instead of strolling out to face the nothingness, Plath – a prolific baker herself – turned in her tracks, ambled back home and made blackberry-filled choux buns. It's delicious sacrilege.

Streusel-topped choux buns with blackberries and lemon cream

I've never been much of a stickler for presentation. I refuse to spend hours on piping, primping and preening a dish that would taste just as good if it were served jumbled like a gooseberry fool or drowned in homemade custard. So, for occasions when I need something a little smart to round off a meal, these choux buns – as coolly good-looking as James Dean in his blue jeans – are a godsend. They're as effortlessly chic as they are simple to make, just: crisp choux pastry, crumbly streusel top, thick cream and blackberries.

Makes 8
For the streusel topping
40g butter
65g flour
40g soft light brown sugar

For the choux pastry
50g butter
80ml milk
80ml water
A pinch of salt
60g flour
2 large eggs

For the filling
300ml double cream
75g icing sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
225g blackberries
30g flaked almonds

1 Heat the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6 Line two trays with baking paper.

2 First, prepare the streusel topping. Rub the butter into the flour until no visible pieces of fat remain, then rub in the sugar. Pat the mixture into a flattish round and place it on a floured sheet of baking parchment. Dust the top surface of the round with flour and lay another sheet of paper on top. Use a rolling pin to gently flatten the dough until it's very thin – no more than 2mm thick –, then slide the whole thing, still between the baking sheets, on to a tray or board and place in the fridge or freezer to chill and harden.

3 To make the choux pastry, put the butter, milk, water and salt in a medium pan over a low heat. As soon as the butter has melted (don't let the mixture come to the boil), pour in the flour, set back over the heat and stir vigorously straight away. Continue to beat the mixture as it sizzles in its pan for 2 minutes, as it thickens to a paste.

4 Once the paste has cooked, turn off the heat and leave it to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. Once the paste has cooled slightly, add a quarter of the egg mixture and stir rapidly until the two are well combined. Add the next quarter of the egg mixture and repeat. Keep going, perhaps switching to a whisk as the mixture slackens, until all of the egg has been used. You will be left with a thick, glossy paste.

5 Spoon or pipe the choux paste into 8 rounds on the lined baking trays, each roughly 6cm in diameter. Remove the sheet of streusel topping from the fridge or freezer, peel off the baking parchment and use a 5-6cm round pastry cutter to stamp out 8 circles. Carefully perch these circles on top of the choux rounds.

6 Place the loaded baking trays into the hot oven (and it is crucial that the oven is properly preheated when the choux goes in) and bake for 20 minutes before reducing the temperature to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and cooking for an extra 15‑20 minutes. Very importantly, don't open the oven door, even for a second, during the first 20 minutes of cooking time. The choux relies on steam pressure inside to puff up, and even a slight decrease in temperature could cause the buns to collapse. The buns are ready when they're a rich brown colour and firm to the touch.

7 As soon as they emerge from the oven, upturn the choux buns and make a hole or incision in each of their bases to allow steam to escape and minimise the risk of the buns going soggy. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Meanwhile, whisk the cream with the icing sugar and lemon zest until it forms soft peaks.

8 To assemble, use a serrated knife to carefully halve each of the choux buns. Spoon or pipe the cream on to the lower halves, arrange the blackberries on top and sprinkle with the flaked almonds before sandwiching with the streusel-crusted tops. Eat soon after making as they'll soften over time.

Blackberry anise upside-down cake

A few pinches of ground star anise gives the cake a light, aniseed flavour that might remind you of liquorice or Sambuca. It's a flavour that sits beautifully with the blackberries, but you can replace it with a dash more cinnamon or 1 tsp of ground ginger if aniseed flavours aren't for you (they're notoriously divisive).

Some upside-down cakes need a thick layer of caramel to weld the fruit to the sponge, but this one does away with all that fussing around with boiling sugar: the blackberries collapse into a sticky mess as they cook, sinking slightly into the sponge and staining it bright purple with juice.

Serves 6-8
250g blackberries
175g light brown soft sugar
150g unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
30ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 star anise
50g wholemeal flour
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
¼ tsp cinnamon
A pinch of salt

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease a 20cm round loose-bottomed cake tin and line the base with baking parchment.

2 Halve the blackberries. Sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar over the lined base of the tin, then arrange the blackberry halves on top, cut side up, filling every gap.

3 Cream the butter with the remaining sugar then stir in the eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Use a pestle and mortar or coffee grinder to crush the star anise until you're left with plenty of powderamong the fragments of stubborn husk. Sift out the star anise debris and add the powder to the butter mixture.

4 In a separate bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and saltrest of the ingredients. Add this to the wet ingredients and fold lightly together, stirring no more than is necessary. Spoon the batter on top of the blackberries and level it out.

5 Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until well‑risen and springy to the touch. As soon as it's cooked, turn it out on to a wire rack and peel back the baking parchment to reveal the blackberries embedded in the top. Serve with softly whipped cream.