Today, in an effort to ramp up my piping skills, I bought a basic Wilton cake decorating book at the craft store. In it, I found a cute berry-and-vine cake and was inspired to make this lemon blackberry cake.
I found a great recipe for lemon cake at My Cake School, then divided the recipe in half to make one single 8-inch round. I don’t usually double-fill cakes, but my blackberry filling made less than I was hoping for, so I thought it needed a bit of a boost; next time, I’ll double the filling recipe.
Once filled, I frosted the top only for a more rustic look, then piped on some vines, leaves, and blackberries. The end result is delicious, light, and perfect for summer. If you’d like to frost the sides of your cake as well, I’d increase the frosting recipe by at least one quarter to ensure that you have enough for piping.
Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups cake flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, slightly softened, but still cool
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- zest of 1 medium lemon
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan, line the bottom with parchment, then grease the parchment and lightly flour the pan.
In a glass measuring cup, combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Whisk to combine; set aside.
In your stand mixer, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; beat for 30 seconds to combine. With the mixer running on low, add butter one pat at a time, until the mixture looks like coarse sand.
Add half the egg mixture and beat on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes, then scrape down the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating for about 30 seconds after each.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely before filling and frosting.
Blackberry Filling
Ingredients
- 6 ounces blackberries, mashed
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Preparation
In a medium saucepan, stir together blackberries, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture boils, then allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring well, until the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and press through a fine sieve to filter out the seeds. Allow to cool before using; makes about 1/3 cup.
Creamy Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- Leaf green food coloring
- Purple food coloring
- Black food coloring
Preparation
In a mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar all at once, then beat on low speed until all of the sugar is incorporated into the butter; this will take a few minutes. Scraped down the bowl, then beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
Add vanilla and heavy cream, then beat for another 1-2 minutes.
To assemble the cake:
Reserve about 1/2 cup frosting for tinting. Divide the reserved portion and tint half green and the other half purple/black; I started with purple and added black until I reached my desired blackberry shade.
Slice the cake in half length-wise; place one half on your cake plate.
Top with blackberry filling, spreading within about 1/2 inch of the edges. Top the filling with frosting, spreading gently to within about 1/4 inch of the edges. The filling is slippery, so as you spread the frosting it will mix with the filling a bit, and that’s fine.
Top with the second half of your cake and frost the top using the white frosting.
Fit a piping bag with a plain tip and fill with green frosting; pipe on vines, then switch to a leaf tip and pipe on leaves.
Fit a second piping bag with a plain tip and fill with purple/black frosting; pipe on blackberries.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.
Below is a detail of the blackberries and vines and a slice of the cake so you can see the filling.
amy bakes in the 'burgh 