One of my favorite flavor combinations, blueberry and lemon. The sweetness of the blueberries pairs so well with the tartness of the lemon. I made this cake for Mother’s Day last year and it was a big hit, which made me very happy since I was very proud of this one and all the work I had put into it. I orignally made this as a cupcake (which was a huge hit) but then started experimenting with the idea as a layer cake, an thus this delicious creation was born. This is the first of my own original recipes, more to come. Now without further ado, onto the recipe.

The Cake

Serves 12

• 2 sticks butter, at room temperature*
• 3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, at room temperature*
• the zest of 2 lemons
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cup milk, room temperature*

*Having your butter, eggs, and milk at room temperature makes it easier when it comes to adding everything, all the ingredients will be the same temperature.*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F or 176 degrees C, then lightly spray with baking spray and line the bottom of three 8 inch round cake pans with parchment paper and dust with a small amount of flour. Set aside.

In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine, I like to sift my dry ingredients because it gives you a fluffier cake and you don’t get any clumps in your flour or baking powder.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (this can be done with an electric hand mixer, it just might take a little longer), add the butter and sugar. Mix on medium high speed until light and fluffy, around 3 minutes.

See how the butter has gone almost white? That is what you want, be sure to stop about halfway through creaming the butter and sugar to scrape down the bowl to get everything mixed evenly or you’ll get chunks of butter that aren’t mixed in enough. Now it’s time to add the eggs, one at a time. Crack the eggs into a small bowl to prevent getting bits of shell in the batter. Put the mixer on medium speed and begin adding the eggs one at a time, mixing well before adding the next one and scraping the bowl down as neccessary. After all the eggs have been added, mix in the lemon juice. It might look separted at this point but thats ok, just keep going it’ll all come together in the end.

Turn the mixer to low and begin adding the flour mixture in 3 batches alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. until there’s no streaks of flour in the batter.

Once everything has been mixed in, stop the mixer and fold in the lemon zest, be sure to also toss the lemon zest with a small amount of flour so that it doesn’t all sink to the bottom.

Divide the batter evenly among all three pans, I like to do this using my trusty batter scoop.

This thing is such an amazing tool for dividing up cake batter, I put 6 scoops per pan and then smoothed out the tops with a spatula so they all bake nice and even.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let the cakes cool completely in the pans which helps with getting them out later, speaking from experience here. While the cakes cool, make the filling.

Blueberry lemon filling

Makes 2 cups

• 1 pint of blueberries
• 4 tbsp water
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• The zest of 2 lemons
• 2 tsp vanilla extract**
• 2/8 tsp agar agar *

*If you don’t have agar agar, you can use cornstarch. Just be sure to make a slurry instead of adding the cornstarch directly to the blueberries.

**Not pictured but I added it to cut the tartness of the lemon juice a little bit

Start by adding all ingredients except the agar to a large saucepan and bring to a boil stirring occasionally to make sure everything is evenly combined. Once everything comes to a boil, add the agar agar and whisk to combine.

Let the blueberry mixture boil for one more minute after the agar has dissolved so that everything has a chnace to begin thickening up. Once it starts to thicken take it off the heat and let it come to room temperature, the filling will continue to thicken as it cools. Set 2 tbsp aside and put the rest in a conataier to cool completely.

I left the blueberries whole to give some contrast in the finished product. Now onto the buttercream.

Blueberry Lemon Buttercream

Makes 4 cups

• 4 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp blueberry filling

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you can also use an electric hand mixer) start by creaming the butter until it gets light and fluffy.

Once the butter has gone nice and fluffy, add the powdered sugar and mix starting on low speed until its almost all mixed in. Add the vanilla, salt, and lemon zest then turn the speed up to high and beat the buttercream until its really fluffy and has doubled in volume. Now it’s time to fold in the blueberry filling, be careful with your folding so you don’t knock out all the air that’s been added to the buttercream.

I did add the blueberry filling to this buttercream, I just forgot to take a picture of it. Now onto assembling this gorgeous cake.

Assembly

• Buttercream
• Blueberry lemon filling
• Lemon cake
• Cake board or serving plate
• Spatulas
• Turntable (optional but very helpful)
• 3 piping bags or Ziplock bags , one fitted with an open star tip
• Blueberries for garnish

Start by filling 2 of the piping bags, one with buttercream and the other with the blueberry filling. Take the one that has been fitted with the open star tip and add a small amount of buttercream to it for later decoration. Next, Take one of the cake layers and place it on a cake board then place the cake on the turntable (if using).

Grab the piping bag without the piping tip and pipe a little fence around the edge of the cake so that the filling doesn’t run out the sides when you go to frost it later. Add a few tablespoons of filling and repeat the process with the next layer, take the final layer and turn it upside down so that the bottom becomes the top. This will make crumb coating and frosting a lot easier. Now onto the assembly of this cake.

Assembly

• Cakes
• Filling
• Buttercream
• Icing Spatula
• Cake board or Serving plate
• 3 piping bags or Ziplock bags, one fitted with an open star tip
• Turntable (optional but very helpful)
• Blueberries, for garnish

Start by adding a small amount of the buttercream to the piping bag fitted with the piping tip, then take the other 2, fill one with the rest of the buttercream and the other with the blueberry filling. I tied the tops of my piping bags with rubber bands so nothing comes out the top of the bags. Now take one of the cake layers, place it on the cake board and put the cake board on the turntable (if using.) Begin by piping a “fence” around the edge of the cake to keep the filling from spilling out the sides of the cake.

Add a few spoonfuls of the filling to the middle and repeat the process with the second layer.

Add the top layer and crumb coat the entire cake, this layer will lock in all the crumbs so they don’t show up in the final layer of frosting. Let the crumb coat set before adding the final layer of frosting. Once the cake has been frosted, pipe little swirls around the top edge of the cake and top each one with a bluberry. Sprinkle the remaing blueberries in the middle of the top of the cake. Top each bluberry with a little gold leaf (optional but it does add a nice bit of sparkle to the cake.)

Voila, the finished cake, I hope you like it as much as I do. if you give this recipe a try, be sure to post a picture down in the comments so we can all see your amazing creation.

Until next time,

Peace, Love, and Sugar,

–Brooke