This moist and zingy lemon blueberry cake is a must make if you have fresh blueberries handy! It's a super-quick and simple recipe that will become a favorite!
1 ¾cupall purpose flour210g, plus 1 tbsp to coat berries
1 ½tspbaking powder
¼tspkosher salt
1 2/3 cupgranulated sugar333g
3/4cupunsalted butter170g, room temperature
3egg whitesroom temperature
1/2cupwhole milk120ml, room temperature
1/2cupsour cream120ml, room temperature
⅓cuplemon juice60g, fresh
1tbsplemon zest
1tbspvanilla extract15mL
1 1/3cupblueberries180g, fresh
For the Reduction:
1tbspwater15mL
1 1/2cupblueberries203g, fresh
1tbspgranulated sugar
1tbsplemon juicefresh
For the Lemon Buttercream:
1 1/2cupsunsalted butter339g, room temperature
6cupsconfectioners' sugar720g
3tbsplemon juice45g
1/4tspkosher salt
Instructions
For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 340 degrees F. Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. I use damp cake strips on my pans for more even baking as well.
Sift the dry ingredients including the sugar together in a large bowl.
Beat the wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
In a small bowl, add blueberries and lemon zest. Coat with about 1-2 tbsp flour.
Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in blueberry/lemon zest at the very end and mix until just combined.
Divide the mixture evenly into the cake pans.
Bake at for about 30 minutes or until the centers are springy to the touch.
For the Reduction:
Put ½ cup of blueberries in the freezer.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine 1 cup blueberries, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp granulated sugar. Mash and stir for a minute then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until reduced by half then strain into a small bowl to chill.
For the Lemon Buttercream:
Cream the butter in a stand mixer then sift In the confectioners' sugar in a few batches, Scrape the bowl down and mix once more until lighter in color and homogenous.
Add lemon juice a tbsp at a time until a desired consistency and taste is reached.
Transfer about 1/2-3/4 cup to a small bowl and mix in blueberry reduction a tablespoon at a time and mix or until you reach a desired flavor.
Transfer blueberry buttercream and around the same amount of lemon vanilla buttercream to piping bags. Snip off the tips of both. Add both bags to one piping bag and snip off the tip.
Transfer the rest of the lemon buttercream to a piping bag.
For the Assembly:
Pipe blueberry/vanilla buttercream between each layer. Add a thick ting of lemon buttercream to the edge
Pipe the plain lemon around the sides and smooth for a naked crumb coat. Scrape the sides and smooth cake for a naked look.
Using an large closed star (846 tip), pipe a circle of dollops about 1 inch from the edge of the cake.
Add frozen blueberries to the inside of the circle.
Video
Notes
If you're decorating this as a naked cake you'll have some extra buttercream which could be used for cupcakes or frozen for later.I have a hint for avoiding berries at the bottom of your pans. Toss the blueberries in a just a dash of lemon juice to moisten the skin a bit then sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of flour. This will prevent them from sinking during the bake. The harder part is making sure the blueberries are separated and not in a big clump when you pour the batter into the pans. Just use a spoon so move them around if you notice a big pile here or there.If you're wondering how I got such a nice light edge to the layers it's from using cake strips! They're wet fabric strips you wrap around the edge of the pan.Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don't have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.