Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake

This is my third offering in the 2025 Alphabet Challenge, our second year of working our way through the alphabet with recipes. We post every other week for the entire alphabet and this is year two. Thanks for starting this series, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. It's so much fun!

C is for...

• Cappuccino Mousse by A Messy Kitchen

• Captain Crunch French Toast by Blogghetti

• Cheesy Cheddar Taco-Seasoned Corn Chip Dip by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

• Cheesy Corn Dip by Magical Ingredients

• Chettinad Mushroom Masala by Sneha’s Recipe

• Chia Seed Protein Bites by Jolene’s Recipe Journal

• Chicken Chorizo Traybake by Food Lust People Love

• Chickpea Chaat Salad by Mayuri’s Jikoni

• Cider Glazed Chicken Wings by A Day in the Life on the Farm

• Hot Chocolate Cookies by Karen’s Kitchen Stories

• Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake by Culinary Cam (you're here)

Lemon Lavender Blackberry Cake

I wanted to share a delicious and lovely (if I might say so myself!) cake. 'C' is for cake! If you want to see a few more of my cake creations, check out Two French Sweets that Landed in Belize: Rum Cakes and Coconut Sugar Cakes; Apple Cake with Sage Caramel; Twinkie Layer Cake for a Friend's 50th; and (another birthday-to-me cake) Single Origin Chocolate Cake with Lagavulin Ganache.

I am one of those nutty people who find cooking completely relaxing. So, it doesn't bother me one bit to make my own birthday dinner and cake! This was one I made for myself a couple of years ago. It was inspired by a recipe in The European Cake Cookbook by Tatyana Nesteruk.

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

• 1 cup organic granulated sugar

• 4 large eggs, separated

• 1 teaspoon lemon extract

• zest from 1 organic lemon

• 1 cup whole milk

• 1-1/2 cup gluten-free flour (I use Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour)

• 1/3 cup almond flour

• 3 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup fresh organic blackberries

• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

• Also needed 9" round baking pans, parchment paper

Buttercream

• 5 large egg yolks

• 1/3 cup water

• 1 cup organic granulated sugar

• 1 Tablespoon organic corn syrup

• 2 cups butter, softened

• 4 drops lavender essential oil

• blue and red food coloring, as needed (I prefer vegetable and fruit-based dyes)

For Serving

• fresh organic blackberries

• organic lavender sprigs

• candles, if it's for a birthday!

Procedure

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare 9" round baking pans by buttering them and lining the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until lightened and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Add in the egg yolks, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Mix again, then pour in the milk.

In another mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients: gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the batter and fold in gently with a spatula until just moistened.

In another mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until medium peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter, taking care not to deflate the egg whites too much.

Divide the cake batter evenly between four cake pans (the original recipe said three, I wanted to do four layers). Toss the blackberries in a small bowl with the cornstarch, then press 8 or so berries into each pan. Try to space them evenly apart.

Place pans on baking sheets and place them in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until the layers are firm and golden. Remove the trays from the oven and cool the cakes completely on wire racks.

Buttercream

Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beat on high until they are thick, pale, and ribbon off the whisks.

Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan. You can attach a candy thermometer to the side; I just kept testing until it reached soft-ball stage. If you're using a thermometer, heat until it reaches 238 degrees F. For testing otherwise, dip a spoon into the syrup, then into ice cold water. The syrup should immediately set up into a soft ball. Mine took about 8 minutes to reach the correct consistency.

Once the syrup is ready, remove it from the heat. While one hand hold the mixer, use the other hand to pour the syrup into the yolks. When all of the syrup is added, turn the mixer up to high and beat until the yolks have doubled in size and have reached medium peak stage. The bowl should be cooled and just lukewarm to the touch. Mine took about 9 minutes.

Begin adding butter, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition. The more butter you add, the more firm the buttercream will be.

Once your buttercream resembles what you think of as buttercream, add in the lavender essential oil and the food coloring. I started with equal parts red and blue, but it just looked strange. So, I added more red and went with a muted pinkish shade!

For Serving

Once the cake layers have cooled completely, use a serrated knife to cut the layers flat. Spread a generous amount of buttercream between each layer and place them on your serving platter.

Smooth the buttercream over the top and along the sides. Garnish the top with blackberries and lavender.

And, as I mentioned, if it's a birthday celebration, get some candles. I could only scrounge two candles from the drawer.

This Time Last Year

I shared...with links to everyone else's posts...

• A Reclaimed Æbleskiver Pan + Æbleskiver Bread Pudding

• Börek with a California Twist

• Crab-Stuffed Ravioli

That's a wrap for the letter 'C v.2025. See you in two weeks for the letter 'D'. Stay tuned!