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This Blackberry cake is soft and moist and has a fluffy lemon blackberry buttercream frosting. The lemon juice cuts the sweetness and brightens up the whole cake. You’ll enjoy every bite as it hits your taste buds; sweet, tart and tangy. And of course the fresh blackberries were plump, juicy and wonderful!
I made this blackberry cake for my niece’s birthday and it was…good and so pretty (with decor inspiration from Allie)! Then I kept working on the cake, adding more lemon and the results were fantastic. Thankfully another niece was having a birthday the following weekend so it became her birthday cake.
This was much safer than leaving the cake at home with me, alone – with just the cake and I – and a fork. No one even noticed that I had taken out a slice to photograph it and then carefully replaced it and patched the frosting #smooth. My family was completely smitten with this cake!
Blackberry Cake Ingredients:
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour *measured correctly
1/2 tsp baking powder
Simple Lemon Syrup:
3/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice (from 1 large lemon)
Blackberry Frosting Ingredients:
3 cups powdered sugar
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 oz Cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 tsp salt (I used fine sea salt)
2 packages (6 ounces each) blackberries, divided (1 cup for frosting, 1 cup sliced for layers, 6 berries for decor).
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice from 1 medium lemon
Crystal sprinkles, optional
How to Make the Blackberry Cake:
Watch the video before you get started:
Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line bottoms of two 9″ cake pans with parchment paper (do not grease the sides).
1. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment (this is the one I have), beat 6 large eggs for 1 minute on high speed. With the mixer on, gradually add 1 cup sugar and continue beating 8-10 minutes until thick and fluffy.
2. Whisk together 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder then sift this mixture into fluffy egg mixture one third at a time. Fold with a spatula with each addition just until incorporated. Scrape spatula from the bottom to catch any pockets of flour and stop mixing when no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you will deflate the batter.
3. Divide evenly between prepared cake pans (it helps if you have a kitchen scale to weight the pans). Bake at 350˚F for 23-28 minutes (my oven took 25 min), or until top is golden brown. Remove from pan by sliding a thin spatula (here’s the one I love for cakes) around the edges then transfer to a wire rack and remove parchment backing. Cool cakes to room temperature then slice layers equally in half with a serrated knife.
How to Make Lemon Blackberry Frosting:
1. Combine 2 Tbsp lemon juice with 1 cup blackberries in small saucepan. Simmer 6-7 minutes or until berries easily mash up with a fork then turn off heat. Strain through a fine mesh Strainer, pushing the blackberries through with a spatula until only seeds are left in strainer. Discard seeds and set the puree aside to cool completely to room temp (you should get 5 Tbsp puree).
2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream together 3 sticks butter, 3 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp salt on low speed until combined, scraping as necessary. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until white and fluffy (2 to 3 min).
3. Add cream cheese 1-piece at a time and mix until combined then continue to beat 2 min until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed. With the mixer on, drizzle in blackberry syrup 1 Tbsp at a time then beat another minute.
How to Assemble Blackberry Cake:
1. Slice 1 cup blackberries and set aside. Make your lemon syrup by combining 3/4 cup warm water, 1 Tbsp granulated sugar and 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice.
2. Place first cake layer on serving platter cut-side up. Brush with 1/4 of the lemon syrup. Spread frosting over the top and layer with 1/3 sliced berries. Repeat with remaining layers placing the final layer cut-side-down, then frost the top and sides. (Tip: For the smoothest results, reserve flattest cake-layer for the top)
3. Pipe remaining frosting onto cake. For the roses, I used a closed star Wilton 2D tip (here’s a tutorial I created awhile back for how to pipe frosting roses). Decorate with remaining blackberries. I sprinkled with sugar crystals since it was my niece’s princess party birthday cake :).
Blackberry Cake Recipe

Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Simple Lemon Syrup:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice, from 1 large lemon
Blackberry Frosting Ingredients:
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 3 sticks, 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 8 oz Cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp salt, I used fine sea salt
- 12 oz blackberries
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice from 1 medium lemon
- Crystal sprinkles, optional
Instructions
Prep: Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line bottoms of two 9" cake pans with parchment paper (do not grease the sides).
How to Make the Cake:
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat 6 large eggs 1 min on high speed. With the mixer on, gradually add 1 cup sugar and continue beating 8-10 min until thick and fluffy.
- Whisk together 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder then sift this mixture into fluffy egg mixture one third at a time. Fold with a spatula with each addition just until incorporated. Scrape spatula from the bottom to catch any pockets of flour and stop mixing when no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you will deflate the batter.
- Divide evenly between prepared cake pans and bake at 350˚F for 23-28 minutes (my oven took 25 min), or until top is golden brown. Remove from pan by sliding a thin spatula around the edges then transfer to a wire rack and remove parchment backing. Cool cakes to room temp then slice layers equally in half with a serrated knife.
How to Make Lemon Blackberry Frosting:
- Combine 2 Tbsp lemon juice with 1 cup blackberries in small saucepan. Simmer 6-7 minutes or until berries easily mash up with a fork then turn off heat. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pushing the blackberries through with a spatula until only seeds are left in strainer. Discard seeds and set the puree aside to cool completely to room temp (you should get 5 Tbsp puree).
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream together 3 sticks butter, 3 cups powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp salt on low speed until combined, scraping as necessary. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until white and fluffy (2 to 3 min).
- Add cream cheese 1-piece at a time and mix until combined then continue to beat 2 min until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed. With the mixer on, drizzle in blackberry syrup 1 Tbsp at a time then beat another minute.
How to Assemble Blackberry Cake:
- Slice 1 cup blackberries and set aside. Make your lemon syrup by combining 3/4 cup warm water, 1 Tbsp granulated sugar and 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice.
- Place first cake layer on serving platter cut-side up **. Brush with 1/4 of the lemon syrup. Spread frosting over the top and layer with 1/3 sliced berries. Repeat with remaining layers placing the final layer cut-side-down, then frost the top and sides.
- Pipe remaining frosting onto cake. For the roses, use a closed star Wilton 2D tip. Decorate with remaining blackberries and sprinkle sugar crystals if desired.
Notes
**Tip: For the smoothest results, reserve flattest cake-layer for the top)
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Do you think I could add a few blackberries to the batter of the cake?
Also…what about a layer of white chocolate Ganache? I had a similar cake at a wedding that I am trying to duplicate….
Hi Joan, I think adding white chocolate ganache would look nice.
Hi Joan, I’ve never put fruit inside this cake so I’m not sure how it would rise. I’ve actually never seen anyone add fruit to the European sponge cake and my guess is that it will not work well.
I want to make this cake for our family reunion. We are in the process of moving and my stand mixer is in storage. Can I use a hand held mixer and if so do I need to make any adjustments? Thanks in advance!
Jessica
Hi Jessica, you can use a hand-held electric mixer with whisk attachment on high speed but you will need to beat the eggs and sugar for a few minutes longer.
Thank you!
Jessica, did you end up making a cake using a hand held mixer? If so, I’m curious to know how it turned out. Thanks!
I made the cake with a hand held mixer and it turned out wonderfully, it just needed the extra time to fluff up 🙂
What a wonderful recipe! I made this for my husband’s birthday and everyone loved it. I followed the recipe precisely (although I could’ve folded in he flour a bit better) and it turned out perfectly. Thanks Natasha!
Stefani, you’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it 😀.
My cake layers fell in the oven. Made a yellow cake from a recipe I had tried before and used the icing and the syrup as given. Incorporating the flour by folding in is a technique I’ll avoid in the future. Why not incorporate using the whisk attachment? Brushing the cake layers with the syrup is a genius stroke. Helps cut the sweetness of the icing and adds another flavor. Will use the berry puree technique for other icings.
Hi Dan, did you have a change to watch the video for making the cake layers? I think it would really help. Since this cake relies on the volume of eggs to rise, it is crucial not to use a whisk to fold in the flour or you will deflate the batter. Please let me know if you still have questions after watching this video (also embedded in the recipe above).
I watched the video. I didn’t deviate from what you show. I’m thinking it may have to do with the times given for beating the eggs and my stand mixer. The settings go from stir to 10. The recipe instructions for high and medium match up with much lower settings I discovered after reading my mixer manual. I know that you cautioned about this earlier. Next time.
Hi Dan, My sister in law has a mixer that is similar – even on high speed it’s not quite the same.
Natasha, 3 cups of powdered sugar made the cream extremely sweet. In my opinion a third of it would be more than enough. Did anybody else find it too sweet or just me? Also, Americans like heave butter creams by some reason, I have not seen it in France or Russia. Russian “zavarnoj” is still my favorite. Incorporating berries made it more European. Thanks.
Yes, good comment!
Does this cake need to be refrigerated if made the day before?
Hi Leanne, yes, you do want to refrigerate since the frosting is dairy based.
Hey! Do you think adding some lemon zest to the batter would mess it up? Thanks!
Hi Carly, I’ve never tried that kind of add-in with this sponge cake so to be honest I’m not sure if the zest would affect hot it rises or not. Without testing it myself, I can’t say for sure.
I live about 4500 ft above sea level and made this cake without any adjustments. It didn’t rise very much and is a bit sunken in and eggy. Any suggestions for how to adjust it for high altitude? Thank you! (I haven’t tasted the cake yet but the frosting is delicious!)
Hi Catherine, there are several changes that you can make for better results, here is a great comprehensive resource that you might bookmark for the future.
Hello:) this is a beautiful cake! How early ahead of time can this cake be made?
Hi Ilona, you could easily make this the day before or even 2 days in advance if you think your blackberries will hold up.
Hi, I really want to make this cake for my daughter for her birthday. She can not have dairy products I figured I could alter the butter but what about the cream cheese? Any ideas? I really want to make this cake for her. She Loves Blackberries!
Hi Lindy, what are you using instead of butter? You may just need a completely different frosting.
Hi Natasha, my frosting came out little runny
Any suggestion why?
Hi Marina, did you use the same proportions of ingredients in the frosting? Did you change anything at all? Also, did you have the same amount of blackberry puree (5 Tbsp?)
Can i use frozen blackberries?
I think that would work fine for the cream and even between the layers but you probably wouldn’t want to decorate the top with frozen. I hope you love it! 🙂
such a delicious cake! Everyone told me that they approve! lol and trust me, it was a tough crowd to please. The absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for all your hard efforts to putting out such delicious recipes! And the frozen berries worked well.
That is quite a compliment!! Thank you so much Oksana 🙂 I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it!
Love the cake. Absolutely beautiful. Am going to try making it even though I don’t have fresh blackberries right now, as they are not in season, but I will use frozen ones for the filling and skip decorating the top with them.
Thank you! I hope you love it! 🙂
I made this cake for mothers day!! oh boy it was good, i sent you a snapchat of it 😛 ! I love how simple it is and the color of the frosting becomes a beautiful light purple all naturally! You are the best keep up the amazing recipes!! 🙂
Thank you so much for sending the snap chat! I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
Ohh my gosh yess I’m so happy you saw it!! I need to work on my piping skills 😝
I made this cake last weekend and it was so delicious! thank you for the recipe!
The only detail that did not work was the roses… I do not remember how much time I spent trying to make them right.. but all what I would get were the roses in the form of “какашки”. :)))
I am wondering if next time I can add a cocoa powder to the batter to make it chocolate-like.. what do you think? 🙂
oh boy, lol. Your comment made me laugh. Did you use the same frosting tip and watch the video tutorial that I shared? You really need to make sure you have the right frosting tip for the roses to work.
Hi Natasha! I don’t think that I used the same frosting tip as you did..I will need to check your tutorial again 😉
And another great cake recipe!! Everyone loved it for mothers day. And I particularly liked how the frosting wasn’t overly buttery taste with the added cream cheese. Will definitely be using this frosting for other things, and of course making this cake again 🙂
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
I made this cake for Mother’s Day and my sister-in-law’s birthday. I picked the wild blackberries with a friend. I was told by one of the guests that this was the best cake she had every eaten! I loved that the coloring came from the juice of the blackberries and there was only 1 cup flour in the cake. What a wonderful recipe! I thought there was a little too much salt in the icing, but all the guests disagreed. Thank you for sharing such a delightful recipe!
Hi Bru, thank you for that glowing review!! I’m so happy you and all of your guests enjoyed it!
Sorry, I forgot to include the stars for awesome!!
You’re so nice! Thank you Dona 🙂
Hi Natasha,
Another fantastic cake! I made it for Mother’s Day and it came out perfect and everyone loved it, I wasn’t sure how much frosting to use on each layer but used a scooper as you show in the pictures and it worked great, Thanks again for your fantastic recipes, keep them coming!
Thank you so much for that wonderful review! I’m so happy everyone loved it! 🙂
Loved it!! Made cake twice in 1 week- followed recipe exact, but added more powdered sugar to frosting (I like my frosting very sweet;)). Would definitely make this cake again and again!!
Karen, that’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂