Lemon Blackberry Cake
Moist lemon blackberry layer cake made with yoghurt. Filled with a homemade blackberry compote and frosted with blackberry buttercream. This is a tangy and fruit filled blackberry lemon cake.
Equipment
- 2 7.5 inch round cake pan silicone pans work well for this recipe
- large mixing bowl
- hand held electric beater
Ingredients
Ingredients for Blackberry Cake Filling
- 6 oz fresh blackberries or frozen, plus extra for decoration
- 2 tablespoon light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Ingredients for Lemon Blackberry Layer Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 1½ cup superfine granulated sugar or caster sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup plain yoghurt can be substituted with Greek style yoghurt, sour cream or buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 lemon juice and zest
- 2 cups all purpose flour or plain flour, plus a spoon extra to coat blackberries
- ½ cup almond flour or ground almonds
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz fresh blackberries cut in half if large
Ingredients for Buttercream and Filling
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 3½ cups powdered sugar or icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon blackberry compote reserved from the cake filling or use blackberry jam
Instructions
Instructions for Blackberry Filling
- To make the blackberry compote, place the blackberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to boil. Keep boiling for 10 minutes while the blackberries break down and the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat and cool.
Instructions for Lemon Blackberry Sponge Cake Layers
- Begin by preparing your baking tins and preheating the oven to 350°F (175C/155C Fan).
- In a large mixing bowl, use a handheld electric beater to cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Then add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition.
- Add the yogurt, vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice to the mixture and beat to combine.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and almond flour into the bowl and stir with a spatula until just combined.
- In a small bowl, toss 8 oz blackberries with a spoon of flour to coat. Then add half of these to the batter and fold to incorporate.
- Pour the batter into two 7.5" round cake tins (see note) and smooth evenly. Scatter the remaining blackberries over top of the layers - this will help them to distribute in the batter.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 50 minutes, checking for a toothpick inserted in the centre to come out clean.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes in the pans before turning out onto wire racks to finish cooling.
Instructions for Buttercream
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter until smooth, then sift in half of the powdered sugar, beating until combined. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat to incorporate. Then add the vanilla and blackberry compote (or jam), beating for a couple of minutes until smooth. (see note)
Instructions for Assembling
- To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand or plate and frost with about a quarter of your buttercream.
- Pipe a border around the inside of the edge and then fill with your blackberry compote (or about ½ cup of jam).
- Place the second layer on top and frost the top and sides with the remaining buttercream. (see note)
- Decorate with the fresh blackberries.
Notes
This cake can be made in other sized pans, but the cooking times will vary. If making in a larger round pan as one cake rather than a layer cake, keep an eye out while baking. You may need to cover the cake with aluminium foil to prevent the top from catching.
In making the buttercream, you can sift all powdered sugar in at once rather than incorporating in halves. Adding this in in 2 additions helps to prevent the sugar exploding out of your mixing bowl while beating and is usually easier to handle. The amount of blackberry jam you add will impact the colour and texture of the frosting. This recipe is based on 2 tablespoons. If you add more, you may need to add additional powdered sugar to control the consistency of the frosting. If you add less, you may need to supplement with a bit of milk.
When frosting, if your kitchen is very warm or at any point you feel the frosting is not stiff enough, place the cake in the refrigerator for about half an hour. This will help to firm up the frosting for you to continue.
Alternative Macerated Blackberry Filling
You can also make a fresh blackberry filling in this cake by simply sugaring blackberries - no need to deal with the compote. If you opt for this, it is best to do this well in advance to ensure the berries have sufficient time to sit and macerate. Toss the 6 oz of blackberries in 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (see note), cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or better overnight.
The sugaring of the blackberries for the filling is a personal choice - this will help soften the fruits and make them a more pleasant sweetened filling. You could leave the fruits without sugar, but these may be tougher to cut through and potentially very tart. The amount of sugar can be adjusted by your own taste and the natural sweetness of the blackberries you have available.
Nutrition
Calories: 470kcalCarbohydrates: 63gProtein: 5gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 13gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 86mgSodium: 183mgPotassium: 112mgFiber: 2gSugar: 48gVitamin A: 735IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 79mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @waitingforblancmange or tag #waitingforblancmange!