Lately, I have been having a lot of fun in the kitchen experimenting with flavors. I am ditching the red velvet and vanilla cake for now.  My latest creation is a delicious lemon blackberry cake with blackberry Italian Meringue buttercream and oh it’s good. If you love the tanginess of lemon this cake is for you. The addition of fresh blackberries takes this cake to the next level. If I dare say this, It is better than my delicious strawberry cake (what….).

As usual, I got this idea while I was purchasing blackberries in the supermarket (you’re welcome Shoprite). Since my strawberry buttercream was such a success, I wanted to try blackberry buttercream. Plus, I was also craving lemon. It was a no-brainer, why not make a lemon cake and pair it with blackberry buttercream. This blew my mind, the blackberry buttercream paired perfectly with the lemon blackberry cake. 

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When I came home from work, I felt like a mad scientist (just in food). I headed straight to the kitchen. I could not wait for this baby to come out of the oven. Have you ever made something and couldn’t wait to taste it, so you stood in the kitchen with the fork waiting? Oh, wait am I the only one that does that? Well… that was me.  It was well worth the wait.  Let me tell you it is sooooo delicious.  I ate my slice very slowly so that I could enjoy every bite.  Trust me you will do the same.  My taste testers were in love with this cake as well. Nailed it…

Let’s talk about how to make this Lemon Blackberry Cake

For this cake recipe, I used cake flour. I love to use cake flour in recipes because it gives it such a delicate flavor.   If you don’t have any cake flour on hand, replace two tablespoons of all-purpose flour with cornstarch (for other baking tricks see my post here) and sift the ingredients.  In addition, I used fresh lemon juice and lemon zest to bump up the lemon flavor.  As usual, I tried to find a balance with the butter and oil to get the flavor of the butter and keep the cake moist.  This cake is super moist.

Materials:

• Lemons (about 4 large lemons)
• Blackberry Jam (use the strawberry jam tutorial to make blackberry jam)
• 3 8-inch cake pans
• Mixing bowl
• Handheld mixer
• Lemon zest
• Cake flour
• Fresh blackberries
• 1 batch Italian Meringue Buttercream
• Buttermilk
• Spatula

Step-by-step Lemon Blackberry Cake

Beat butter until light and fluffy.

Then add the oil and the sugar

Mix until incorporated.

Add the lemon zest and vanilla mix.

Then add eggs one at a time. Mix until combined.

Add the lemon juice, then alternate with flour and 1 cup buttermilk.

Mix until all ingredients are combined.

Place a cup of fresh blackberries in a bowl.

Then, add a tablespoon of cake flour and coat blackberries.

Add the coated blackberries to the cake batter and fold it in with a spatula.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.  When the cake comes out of the oven use a wet towel or paper towel with an 8-inch cake board and press down the hump on the cake to get a flat cake (you can find the step-by-step guide here).

Lemon Blackberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

To make the lemon blackberry buttercream, first, you need to make blackberry jam. Follow the recipe for strawberry jam here with blackberries. Then, double the recipe for the Italian Meringue buttercream found here. Add 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and 2 teaspoon lemon extract. Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup of blackberry jam to the buttercream.  For this recipe, I only had 1/2 cup of blackberry jam and it was just right.  However, if you want more blackberry flavor use 1 cup.

Mix until combined.

Putting the cake together, I decorated with an offset spatula.

It was difficult to cut the cake, but I had to show you how great the cake looked inside.  Plus, I couldn’t wait to try it. It is so delicious.

Lemon Blackberry Cake with Lemon Blackberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

A delicious lemon blackberry cake made from scratch with fresh blackberries inside and freshly squeezed lemon juice. This cake is paired with lemon blackberry Italian Meringue Buttercream.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Servings 2 8-inch cake

Ingredients

  

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For the Cake:

• 3 cups cake flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup fresh blackberries
• 1 tbsp cake flour for blackberries

Lemon Blackberry Italian Meringue Buttercream

• Double the Italian Meringue buttercream recipe here
• Add 1/2 cup to 1 cup blackberry jam
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F
• Prepare three 8-inch cake pan (or 9-inch pans) with non-stick spray and parchment paper.
• Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.
• Beat the butter until light and fluffy
• Then add the oil and the sugar. Mix until combined.
• Add the lemon zest and the vanilla
• Then add the eggs one at a time. Mix until combined then add the fresh lemon juice.
• Add the flour and then the buttermilk until fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
• Coat the blackberries with the flour
• Fold the blackberries in the batter then add to the prepared cake pans.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes

Notes

To make cake flour for every cup of all purpose flour replace 2 tbsp of all purpose flour with cornstarch.
The cake will not rise as high. The cake as pictured is three layers (I baked an additional layer for height)

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!