Why it’s so good!
This lemon blackberry cake is truly wonderful. It’s moist yet light in texture with a tender crumb, it’s the perfect combination of sweet and tangy and it’s so easy to make. Whipped cream swirled with blackberry jam is the perfect “icing on the cake”.
If all that isn’t crave-worthy enough, it’s a single-layer cake making it incredibly quick and simple to make. It works beautifully with raspberries or blueberries too.
Adapted from this superbly soft lemon poke cake, it’s a real treat.
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Ingredients you’ll need
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
Flour: I use cake flour here but you can make it using plain flour (all-purpose flour) and cornflour (cornstarch). Details in the recipe card below.
Lemons: There is loads of lemon zest and fresh lemon juice in this cake. Do yourself a huge favour and grab a microplane to zest the lemons. This will give you very fine shreds of zest so that it disperses evenly through the whole cake.
Blackberries: I prefer fresh blackberries here but frozen blackberries will work. Make sure they’re frozen right up to adding them to the cake batter and dust them in a tablespoon of flour first.
Baking powder: Don’t get baking powder confused with baking soda as they work very differently.
Greek yoghurt: I love using Greek yogurt here, full fat is best. Sour cream will also work. You can also use buttermilk, however the berries may sink right to the bottom as the batter will be thinner.
Vanilla extract: Just a little vanilla extract adds balance and intensifies the flavours in the cake.
Butter and oil: A combination of butter and vegetable oil adds both flavour and moisture.
Sugar: I tend to use caster sugar in all my baking but just white granulated sugar is fine.
Eggs: I use large eggs.
Cream: The cream topping is absolutely optional but it’s lovely. While the cake alone, maybe dusted with some icing sugar (powdered sugar) would make a lovely morning or afternoon tea cake, topped with cream swirled with blackberry turns it into a showstopper.
How to make blackberry lemon cake
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Mix the dry ingredients
In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients so they’re well dispersed. Set aside.
2. Mix the wet ingredients
In a separate bowl or a jug, combine the wet ingredients – yoghurt, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Set aside.
3. Start the cake batter
In a large bowl or a stand mixer bowl, beat together the butter, oil and sugar until very pale and fluffy looking – this will only take a minute or two. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating until well combined. Make sure to scrape down the sides and base of the bowl from time to time.
4. Alternate the rest
Now, start by adding just 1/3 of the flour mixture and stirring that in gently. Add 1/2 the yogurt mixture and mix that in. Repeat that process 3 more times – flour, yogurt, flour – making sure to mix until just combined after each addition.
5. Into the baking pan
Spread the lemon blackberry cake batter into the bottom of a 9 inch round cake pan and level it out. Dot the top with blackberries and bake.
6. Make a quick blackberry jam
The quick blackberry jam that gets swirled through the cream is a very simple homemade blackberry compote. Just add some blackberries, water and sugar to a pan and let them cook down until thick and syrupy. It only takes 6-7 minutes and can be done while the cake is baking.
7. Make the cream topping
Whip some cream in a large bowl, then swirl through the cooled jam. Don’t swirl too much, just 4-5 folds are perfect.
Serving and variations
This lemon blackberry cake is lovely served on it’s own, just with a dusting of icing sugar (powdered sugar) or you could frost it with a cream cheese frosting. Mascarpone cheese goes beautifully with this cake too. But I think for the perfect topping, just an unsweetened whipped cream with a swirl of blackberry compote is absolute perfection.
It’s lovely with both raspberries and blueberries too. If you can’t get fresh berries, you can use frozen but make sure they stay solid right up to when you add them to the batter and dust them with some flour first. You could also swirl through a couple of tablespoons of blackberry jam, in place of the berries.
Tips and tricks
- Weigh ingredients: Make sure to weigh the flour, especially, as the different ways in which people measure it into cups can result in too much or too little flour which in turn will completely change the texture of a cake. A kitchen scale is cheap but lasts forever.
- Room temperature ingredients: It’s important to bring the Greek yogurt and lemons to room temperature and also softening the butter; this way they blend together better.
- Don’t overmix the batter after adding the flour. Overmixing can cause the glutens in the flour to develop and you’ll end up with a tough cake.
Storage
Leftover lemon and blackberry cake can be stored in an airtight container, in the fridge for 4-5 days. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
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Did you try this lemon blackberry cake recipe? Show it some love in the comments below.
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Ingredients
- 2 medium lemons
- 195 g cake flour (1 ½ cups / 7oz, notes)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt, room temp (60ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- 57 g unsalted butter, softened (¼ cup / ½ stick / 2oz)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (60ml)
- 200 g white granulated sugar (1 cup / 7oz)
- 2 large eggs, room temp
OPTIONAL TOPPING
- 1 ½ cups blackberries (fresh or frozen)
- 2 teaspoons white granulated sugar, extra
- 1 cup whipping cream (heavy whipping cream), cold (250ml)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan forced) / 350F. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan.
- Zest the lemons to get 1 ½ tablespoons of lemon zest. Juice the lemons until you have around ¼ of a cup of lemon juice. Set both aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt to lighten and evenly disperse. Set aside.
- In a jug or small bowl, mix together the yoghurt, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, the lemon zest and vanilla. Set aside.
- Using a large mixing bowl and handheld electric beater or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together the butter, oil and sugar on medium speed until pale and creamy – about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each until the mixture is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time.
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter and egg mix. Beat on low or stir until just combined. Follow with half the yoghurt mixture, mixing until just combined.
- Now, using a spatula, not the mixer, repeat the process using three more instalments – flour, yogurt, flour – mixing each time until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and gently spread out evenly all over. Dot the blackberries over the top – you don’t need to press them in.
- Bake for around 28-32 minutes. Start checking 2-3 minutes before by poking with a toothpick – it’s done when the toothpick comes out with just a crumb or two attached.
- Let it cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- FOR THE TOPPING:Place the remaining ½ cup of blackberries into a saucepan with the 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook over low-medium heat, stirring from time to time for 5-6 minutes until the blackberries have broken down and most of the liquid has evaporated. Let it cool completely.
- Once the cake and blackberry compote have cooled: In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the cream to stiff peaks. Be very careful not to overwhip or it will turn grainy.
- Drop the compote in dollops over the whipped cream in the bowl, then use a spatula to carefully swirl it together. Don’t mix it completely, just 4-5 folds so that it swirls through.
- Swirl the blackberry cream mixture on top of the cake and serve. If you want to get extra fancy, scrape every last morsel of the compote from the pan and use it to streak little highlights over the cream on the cake.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- If you don’t have / can’t get cake flour, substitute it for
- 165g plain flour (all-purpose flour) ( 1 ¼ cups)
- 30g cornflour (cornstarch)
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- All ovens vary – always test for doneness 2-3 minutes before the recipe suggests
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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5 Comments on “Lemon Blackberry Cake”
I made this cake for a family dinner and it was a huge hit. Even those who don’t usually like cake loved this. The only regret is they ate it all 🙂
The lemon and blackberries were perfectly balanced.
A lovely recipe as always Marie – thank you
I’m so, so happy to hear this, Keeley.
SORRY – should have read the post first! You’ve answered it in there! Look forward to trying this recipe
No worries, Gemma. Can’t wait to hear what you think of it 🙂
What is cake flour? I’m from NZ (love your recipes by the way!)