Blackberry Lemon Cake
Blackberry Lemon Cake! This beautiful layer cake is made with lemon chiffon cake, blackberry buttercream studded with fresh berries and zesty lemon curd.
My recipes are often inspired by seasonal ingredients, especially fruits.
You can get decent blackberries any time of year, but summer is the time for the freshest berries. I love baking with blackberries because they have a deep, full flavor and of course that gorgeous color.
Blackberries, like pretty much all berries and fruits, pair wonderfully with lemon. The tang of lemon enhances the berries natural sweet/tart flavor.
Scroll through the process photos to see how to make Blackberry Lemon Layer Cake:
- Bake the Lemon Chiffon Cake batter in two 9″x3″ cake pans.
- Puree the blackberries.
- Strain the puree. You’ll need 1 cup to flavor the buttercream.
- Make Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
- Add the blackberry puree.
- Mix until the puree is incorporated.
- Brush the first cake layer with syrup and top with buttercream.
- Sprinkle berry halves over the buttercream.
- For the second layer pipe a dam of buttercream and spread lemon curd over the layer.
- Add buttercream and berries to the third layer.
- Place the top layer on the cake.
- Crumb coat the cake with buttercream and chill until set.
- Ice the cake with the final coating.
- Pipe rosettes around the cake and spread lemon curd within the rosettes.
- Place a blackberry on each rosette.
How to work ahead to make Blackberry Lemon Layer Cake:
- The lemon curd can be made ahead and refrigerated for 2-3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
- The Limoncello syrup can be made up to a week ahead and refrigerated.
- The blackberry puree be made ahead and refrigerated for 1-2 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
- The cake layers can be made ahead and stored at room temperature for 1 day or frozen for up to 3 months.
- The Swiss Meringue Buttercream can be refrigerated for 2-3 days or frozen for up to a month. Bring the buttercream back to room temperature and re-whip before using.
- The assembled cake should be refrigerated until 1-2 hours before serving, or as long as 4-5 hours ahead if the room is not very warm. You want the buttercream to soften before serving for the best flavor.
- Leftover cake slices can be individually wrapped and frozen.
Got Blackberries? Here are some more recipes for you to try: Blackberry Slab Pie, Blackberry Tart, Blackberry Lavender Preserves, Blackberry Sorbet, Blackberry Pate de Fruit, Blackberry Buttermilk Pie.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Blackberry Lemon Cake Recipe
Blackberry Lemon Cake! This beautiful layer cake is made with lemon chiffon cake, blackberry buttercream studded with fresh berries and zesty lemon curd.
servings
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Lemon Chiffon Cake (baked in two 9"x3" pans)
- 18 oz blackberries (divided)
- 1 recipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream (or your favorite buttercream)
- 8 oz Lemon Syrup (flavored with limoncello)
- 13 1/2 oz Lemon Curd (1 1/2 cups, divided)
Instructions
- Trim the browned tops off each cake. Split each cake horizontally so that you have a total of 4 cake layers. Cover and set aside.1 recipe Lemon Chiffon Cake
- Remove 12 whole berries for decorating the cake. Slice half of the remaining berries into 2 pieces and place them in a bowl while you prepare the rest of the cake components. Puree the other half of the berries in a food processor. Strain the puree through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. You should have about 1 cup of puree.18 oz blackberries
- Whisk the blackberry puree into the prepared buttercream. Scoop 1 cup of the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip.1 recipe Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Place a cake layer on a cardboard cake circle or on a serving platter. Generously brush the cake with 1/4 of the lemon syrup. Spread 1/3 of the buttercream over the cake layer. Sprinkle 1/2 of the sliced blackberries over the layer and press them down into the buttercream.8 oz Lemon Syrup
- Place the second layer on the cake and brush with lemon syrup. Use the buttercream in the bag to pipe a "dam" of buttercream around the edge of the layer. Spread 1 cup of the lemon curd within the buttercream dam and place the next layer on the cake.13 1/2 oz Lemon Curd
- Brush the cake with lemon syrup. Spread 1/2 of the remaining buttercream over the cake layer. Put the remaining sliced blackberries on the layer and push them into the buttercream. Place the final layer on the cake and brush it with lemon syrup.
- Ice the cake with a thin crumb coat of blackberry buttercream. Chill to set the crumb coat then ice the cake with a final coating of buttercream.
- Pipe 12 buttercream rosettes around the top of the cake. Spread the last 1/2 cup of lemon curd within the border of rosettes. Place a whole blackberry onto each rosette. Serve immediately or refrigerate until 1-2 hours before serving. Best served at room temperature so the buttercream is soft.
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
Hi Eileen, thank you for this and all your many delicious recipes. I have 3-8×3” pans but no 9”. Would you recommend baking it in 3 pans or using 2 and torting? Could you suggest a baking time if so? Many thanks! Joy
I would still bake in two pans and torte so you have 4 layers to build the cake. Just don’t fill the pans more than 2/3 full. If you have any extra batter it could be baked in a cupcake pan or any small cake pan as a snack.