Blackberries are ripe for the picking. The little white flowers scattered across the ground in April are now blackberries that are ready and waiting to be picked. Cobblers are a quick and easy choice for a seasonal dessert, but the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s The Auburn Cookbook has a blackberry cake recipe that will also put those berries to good use.

While this recipe calls for canned blackberries, which makes the cake edible year-round, ‘tis the season for using fresh blackberries—whether from a produce stand or picked in the woods.

Two, 16-ounce cans of blackberries, drained

Coat two, 9-inch square baking pans with cooking spray. Combine flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Stir until well blended. In a large bowl, cream margarine by beating until soft and smooth. Gradually add sugar, beating thoroughly after each addition. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, to creamed the mixture, beating after each addition until light and fluffy. Put berries through a sieve, and add to creamed mixture. Stir carefully until evenly blended. Add soda to buttermilk and stir well. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the creamed mixture by adding 1/3 of the flour and 1/2 of the milk at a time, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at a low speed after each addition until well blended. Divide batter evenly into pans.

Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pans and finish cooling on rack. Fill and ice layers with White Caramel Icing (recipe below).

Pro tip: You may bake this cake in a 10-inch tube pan for 45 minutes, or until done, and serve plain. (The cake pictured followed the recipe above and was baked in a bundt pan for 45 minutes.)

Combine milk, sugar and margarine in a heavy saucepan. Stir well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar partially dissolves and margarine melts. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring until mixture reaches 240°F on a candy thermometer or a small amount forms a soft ball when it is dropped in cold water. Remove from heat; cool to lukewarm. Beat until almost creamy and thick enough to spread. Add raisins and nuts and beat. This recipe will ice two 8-inch round or square layers or a 9×13-inch sheet cake.

For more information and additional recipes, visit www.aces.edu. Live Well Alabama has a lot of easy recipes to make. Find them on www.aces.edu, as well as on social media.