I wanted to make the summer kind of cake that light and airy. What can represent the sunshine and seasonal fruits more than lemon and blueberries. Lemon Blueberry Cake, tangy and sweet, a perfect summer dessert.
I got the cake recipe from sugargeekshow.com and lemon curd butter cream frosting from sugarspunrun.com Both authors of the recipes are very engaging on their YouTube videos, they made them look easy and I find that watching someone making something is much easier than just read from the recipe itself.
Ingredients for Lemon Blueberry Cake
8 oz (226 g) buttermilk Or regular milk with 1 Tbsp white vinegar added, room temperature
3 oz (85 g) vegetable oil
3 (3 ) large eggs, room temperature
2 Tbsp (2 Tbsp) lemon zest
2 Tbsp (2 Tbsp) fresh lemon juice
2 tsp (2 tsp) lemon extract
12 oz (369 g) cake flour
10.5 oz (300 g) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp (1/2 tsp) salt
2 tsp (2 tsp) baking powder
1/2 tsp (1/2 tsp) baking soda
8 oz (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp (2 Tbsp) all purpose flour for dusting blueberries
2 cups (296 g) blueberries You can use frozen but don't thaw them
Cake Instructions
Heat oven to 350º F/177º C. Prepare two 8" round cake pans with cake goop or another pan release that you prefer.
Measure out buttermilk. Place 4 oz in separate measuring cup. Add the oil to the 4oz of buttermilk and set aside.
To the remaining milk, add your eggs, lemon extract, lemon juice and lemon zest and gently whisk to combine. Set aside.
Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
Turn the mixer onto the slowest speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers). Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added then let everything mix until it looks like coarse sand.
Add your milk/oil mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and mix on medium (speed 4 on kitchenaid) for 2 full minutes to develop the structure. Don't worry, this will not over-mix the cake.
Scrape the bowl. This is an important step. If you skip it, you will have hard lumps of flour and unmixed ingredients in your batter. If you do it later, they will not mix in fully.
Slowly add in the rest of your liquid ingredients in 3 parts, stopping to scrape the bowl one more time halfway through. Your batter should be thick and not too runny.
Fill your pans 1/2 full with cake batter. Give the pan a little tap on each side to level out the batter and get rid of any air bubbles.
Wash your berries (if they are fresh) and toss in flour. If berries are frozen skip washing and just toss in flour. Sprinkle half the blueberries on top of your batter. Do not stir them in.
Bake for 15-20 minutes then sprinkle in the second half of your blueberries on top of the cake. Bake for another 10-15 minutes then check for doneness. If the cakes are still really jiggly, I add another 5 minutes. I check every 3 minutes after that until I'm close and then it's every 1 min. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.
Remove cakes from the oven and give them a tap on the countertop to release air and prevent too much shrinking. Let them cool on a cooling rack until they are barely warm.
After cooling, place the cooling rack on top of the cake, placing one hand on top of the cooling rack and one hand under the pan and flip the pan and the cooling rack over so the pan is now upside down on the cooling rack. Remove the pan carefully. Repeat with the other pan.
After the cakes are fully cooled, carefully wrap them in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer or fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up the cakes and make them easier to handle for stacking.
Ingredients For Lemon Curd Butter Cream Frosting
Lemon Curd
2 large egg yolks
⅓ cup lemon juice fresh-squeezed preferred (80ml)
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon table salt
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces (56g)
For Frosting 1 cup unsalted butter softened (226g)
2 cups powdered sugar (250g)
Instructions
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, lemon juice, sugar, and salt.
2. Add butter and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until mixture is thickened (the whisk should leave trails through the curd and it should be able to coat the back of a spoon.
3. Remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl. Allow to cool completely before proceeding (you can transfer to the refrigerator to cool faster).
4. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat 1 cup softened butter until light and fluffy (high speed about 30-60 seconds). Gradually add powdered sugar until completely combined.
5. Drizzle in cooled lemon curd and stir until completely combined. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure ingredients are well-combined. Note: if frosting is too thin you can add additional powdered sugar, up to 1 cup/125g.
6. Spread or pipe over cake or cupcakes.
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