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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
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
This cake has awesome texture, but I think it was a little lacking in moutfeel and flavor. Perhaps a 1/4 tsp. of salt in the batter?
Otherwise perfect.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I usually don’t add salt since the syrup and cream flavors it well.
This cake was very good! And the cream was absolutely delicious. 😋😋😋😋 thank you!
My pleasure! Thanks for leaving your great review Inna!
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for all of your work! I am a big fan of yours & your blog is my #1 source for the great recipes!
I have a question and i would really appreciate if you could help me out!
My daughter wants me to make a Barbie cake ( cake shaped like a dress & a doll on the top) for her birthday party. I am looking for a good recipe and it looks like your blackberry cake will work out just great. Question: do you think cream cheese icing which is in this recipe will hold a shape of rosettes all over the cake which will not be flat?
Thank you in advance!!!
Kristina.
Hi Kristina, I’m so glad you like our recipes!! 🙂 The frosting on this cake is not the thickest frosting but it should hold rosettes around the cake. You might add a little less of the fruit syrup to have a sturdier frosting if you want to pipe all around. If you post a picture of the cake somewhere, let me know!! It sounds like a beautiful idea!!
Thank you very much, Natasha! Can’t wait to make it! I will definitely post a picture! Thank you, again!
My pleasure Kristina!
Loved the icing in this recipe. I did end up adding about another cup of powdered sugar to mine to stiffen it up a little more. Just a personal preference though! The cake on the other hand was a total flop for me, twice! 🙁 Not sure what I did wrong, but it just didn’t work out. I just used a simple vanilla cake in place, still tasted amazing! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hi Ashley, I’m glad you enjoyed the flavors. Did you have a chance to watch the video on how to make a sponge cake? Did you change anything in ingredients? Mixing time? Tools to do the mixing? Did you bake right away after beating for the length of time stated in the recipe. I hope we can figure out what could have gone wrong!
I made this cake today – I think it’s the best cake I ever made. Also very pretty! I love your step by step instructions! Came out exactly like yours.
That’s wonderful! Thanks for sharing your awesome review Susie!
Hi Natasha,
Can l use self raising flour instead of all purpose flour
Hi Cynthia, I have never tried self raising flour for this sponge cake – I usually stick with all-purpose flour except for cake flour with some cake rolls using the same base. Without experimenting, it’s hard to say for sure…
Thank you Natasha- l have plain flour, is that same as all purpose flour
I believe so, it should work fine in this recipe.
Can i substitute raspberries for the blackberries?
Hi Maureen, yes absolutely!
Looks very delicious, I started to follow you just few weeks ago and already tried few of yours recipes, they are all become my family’s favourites. Long time ago I wanted to try to do cake with this cream and finally I did it, my son said it’s his favourite cake now, so thank you very much for all your ideas. I wanted to attach picture of my cake but I don’t know how
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful reviews :). I wish there was a way to upload pictures here but the next best thing would be to post it on our Facebook page wall. I would love to see your beautiful cake! 🙂
Hi Natasha,
I just made my frosting and it looks curdled. I’m not sure what to do or how to fix this. Help!
Hi Audrey, I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Did it look like that the whole time you were beating it – did it get better or worse with more beating? Was the butter fully softened and when you added the liquid, was it at room temperature? Did you add the correct amount of syrup – not too much?
I have made this cake for a dinner party, OMG the best cake ever!!! People begged for more..next time I will make 2 of them.
I love to hear reviews like this! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Would this cake be stored at room temperature? Thank you!
Heather
Hi Heather, since it has fruit in it and a dairy based frosting, it is best to refrigerate the cake.
Hello! I’m planning to make this for my daighter’s 2nd birthday. After I frost the cake would I be able to cover it with fondant? I’ll probably make it a day prior to the party, is it ok to refrigerate it? Thanks and Happy New Year!
I have not tried putting fondant over my sponge cakes because they are pretty soft and fluffy and I’m not sure that they are firm enough for fondant. I have seen other people do it successfully, but I have not tried it myself. Also, it is best to refrigerate this cake overnight since it has fruit in it and a dairy-based frosting.
I made the cake and it was amazing! Thank you. I did a trial run and covered it with fondant (very thin) and it held up perfect! I need to make this cake in a larger size. Probably 11 inch cake pan. How would you recommend I increase the recipe? Thank you!
Hi Sveta, I haven’t tried it in an 11″ round pan, but if I did, I would modify it to be a 10 egg recipe, but since it is going to be alot of eggs, you would probably need to beat the eggs and sugar in 2 separate batches so you don’t overwhelm your mixer.
I’m thinking about also making this cake and covering it with fondant. Did you refrigerate the cake after applying the fondant? Did the fondant dry out?
I did and it was totally fine for several days. I rolled out the fondant pretty thin and I had no cracks or dryness with it after refrigeration. I’m actually making the cake again this Friday and covering it with fondant again 🙂
Hi, i’m planning to make this tomorrow and have a few questions.
Could I possibly add maybe some vanilla and milk to the cake batter?
My oven just broke today, so i’m planning on making this in a toaster oven and pouring the batter in the pans only 1/3 way full (so that the top doesn’t burn before the middle is done). Would that be okay, and are there any tips you could give me on that?
For the frosting, could i possibly leave the seeds and other stuff of the blackberry in it? I can’t find my strainer but wouldn’t mind having some seeds in the frosting.
Thank you and i am so excited to make this.
Hi Ann, this might not be a good cake for a toaster oven because you should not keep the layers at room temperature while other layers are cooking or it will deflate. This cake should be baked soon after the flour is blended into the egg/sugar mixture. This cake also will deflate if you add milk to the batter. A splash of vanilla will be ok (1/2 tsp, or so), but milk will deflate the batter. That’s such a bummer about your oven!! 🙁 It’s ok to leave the seeds in the frosting if you don’t mind the texture, but keep in mind it will be very difficult to pipe any kind of pretty frosting design if there are seeds in the batter as they will get stuck in the frosting tip. I hope that’s helpful! 🙂
I only have a convection oven, what do I do different?
Hi Debbie, I haven’t tested this cake on the convection setting and I’m not sure if this sponge cake would rise properly when cooked faster in a convection oven, so I can’t really give you advice on that. Sorry, I know that’s not very helpful…
Hey Natasha!
I recently found this and thought it would be perfect for my sisters bday! For the buttercream how long would you suggest I leave the ingredients out so that they are at room temperature? and how will i know when the butter and sugar are fully combined before adding the cream cheese?
Hi Madison, it depends on how cold your butter is to begin with and the temperature of your room. You want to keep them at room temperature at least 2 hours or until soft to the poke and spreadable – If I can plan ahead, I let it sit at room temp overnight. It takes about 2-3 minutes and it will be lightened in color and fluffy.
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday. It was my first time doing butter cream and I overbeat the butter. It was not smooth. It looked ugly just because I couldnt decorate and I dont have proper tools for cake decor, BUT the cake is DELICIOUS. My family loves it and my daughter always asking for MORE!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cake! With the lumpy frosting, could it have been that the butter or cream cheese weren’t fully softened at room temperature which would make it difficult to get a completely smooth frosting? I hope that helps for next time!
Natasha,
I am so excited to try making this cake!!!! I’m sure it will be wonderful, just like all your wonderful recipes. I was wondering if I could buy the same piping bag and wilton 2D tip on amazon? I could never find a good one. Could you give me the name or link of where to buy your piping bag? I would greatly appreciate it!
Oksana, we have the Ateco piping bag (I have 18″ size) and Wilton 2D tip. Hope this helps 😁.
I just made this today for a bridal shower. OH MY GOSH! It is the best, most delicious cake I have ever made in my entire life! I followed your directions exactly and it turned out perfect! Everyone was raving about it! The lemon syrup made the sponge cake so moist and had the perfect lemon flavor and the buttercream was simply amazing! I seriously can’t say enough good things about it! Because of this recipe I now have a great baking reputation among my friends LOL!
P.S. I used frozen (thawed) blackberries and it worked perfectly.
Awww that’s the best! Anna, thank you so much for sharing that with me 😁. I’m all smiles!
Hi Natasha,
I tried making this cake for my mom’s birthday and I ran into some real issues. I used an electric hand mixer and things seemed to turn out fine, everything looked just like how it did in the video. When I folded in the flour, I was so nervous to deflate the batter I am thinking I did not fully incorporate it. I cooked the rounds for 23 mins (I think I should have cooked it longer), they had the golden brown tops just like you showed in the video. When the cake was ready to take out of the pans, the real trouble began.
The cakes were sticky and had an “eggy” smell. They were so sticky and soft I could not even attempt to cut the round in half with a serrated knife! I considered trying to get them back into the pans and back into the oven to cook longer, but was unsure if that was smart move.
I didn’t have time to remake the layers, so I just made the cake into a two layer cake instead. I frosted and decorated with no problems, the frosting was delicious!
When it came time to serving, I was so embarrassed. I cut into the cake to find lumps of flour throughout the whole cake. The texture of the cake was still sticky yet mealy, not at all like a sponge cake should be.
Help! I really want to try making this again because I can see the potential of how delicious it could be. Especially because this recipe could be adapted to other fruit flavors like raspberry or strawberry, following the same process.
Looking forward to your response!
Hi Kelly, Thank you for sharing that and I do have answers to all your questions! I’ve made the sponge cake probably a hundred times and I’m always happy to help troubleshoot. To address your question about the cakes being sticky: using an electric hand mixer does take longer to mix than a high powered stand mixture because the large whisk on a stand mixer incorporates air into the whipped eggs quicker. If using a hand mixer, add 2-4 minutes to the mixing time. I’ll be sure to add that tip to the recipe. Did you use a conventional oven and bake in the center without opening the oven door too often? Did you possibly use a smaller sized pan which would take longer to bake. To check the cake for doneness, you can gently press on the top of the cake and if it springs back, it is done – it definitely should not be sticky and I’ve never had it come out sticky after 23 minutes so I wonder if maybe the pan size or oven settings may be different than what’s recommended? The lumps of flour are definitely related to under-folding the batter. Also, it really helps if you sift the flour into the cake in thirds and fold between each addition of flour so there is less chance of the clumps of flour folding. Scraping from the bottom of the bowl is important because flour can settle on the bottom and pockets of flour can be missed if you aren’t scraping from the bottom of the bowl upwards. Once I no longer see any pockets or streaks of flour, I’ll fold an extra 5 times just to make sure there is no unmixed flour left. I hope that helps for next time!
Hi Natasha, thank you for the speedy response! I really appreciate it. I am going to try making this cake again this week with your new feedback and will let you know how it goes. : )
I did sift in the flour as you noted, but I definitely did not mix as well as I should have as I was afraid to deflate the batter. I will mix the batter for the additional time, the hand mixer worked quite well but your point about the smaller beaters makes sense.
I was using a conventional oven and did bake the cakes in the center. I did not open the door at all until 23 mins was up. I did not check for doneness, to be honest I had never made sponge cake before so I was unsure of how to know when it was finished. I will be sure to press the cake top next time!
Thank you again for getting back to me, I am looking forward to a second, much better attempt!
No problem at all! 🙂 I also added some tips for success on the sponge cake recipe page (near the top), for quick reference.
Natasha!
I made the cake again for my birthday and it was a total dream! The additional time beating the egg mixture, mixing the flour better, and cooking longer did the trick! The cakes were light, fluffy and delicious. Everyone has seconds (and some thirds and fourths!!). It was a massive hit.
Thank you again, I am going to try this recipe with raspberries next, I love lemon and raspberries together <3
Oh I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for sharing that with us 🙂
Hi Natasha,
I had a go at making this cake. I must confess that I struggled with the cake mixture, which I think is what we call in the UK , a Victoria sponge mixture. I didn’t incorporate the flour thoroughly with the egg mixture and therefore the cakes didn’t rise fully. Thankfully they were still large enough to slice. I really liked the icing and didn’t find it too sweet at all. Thank you for the recipe.
You are welcome Angela, I’m glad it still worked out 😀.
Hi Natasha! I saw this recipe and I haven’t tried it but it looks great and I really am looking forward to trying it, as I have picked fresh blackberries in the last few days. Thank you for your wonderful recipe!
I hope you love it! 🙂
I like blackberries and now its just the season for those blackberries. They grow near the streets and everywhere here in Turkey on summer. I found your recipe on the net by luck. Here are my comments;
1- Cake mixture was not enough to make 4 layers. It was not suitable for cutting to form 4 pieces from those two cakes
2- Frosting did end up so runny with 3 sctick of room temp. butter. Also frosting has been so sweet with 3 cups of powdered sugar.
3- I need the taste of vanilia extract and also a bir of lemon zest and milky taste in this cake but they dont exit. So, it needs to be more milky frosting mixture.
Hi, did you use 9″ cake pans? Also, did you have a chance to watch the video on how to prepare the sponge cake? It normally rises enough to slice into 4 layers. I highly recommend you watch it if you aren’t used to making this classic European Sponge Cake base. Was your butter possibly too soft and did you add the salt to the frosting which really helps to balance the sweetness? I’m not sure how a milky taste would work with the blackberries and lemon but you can definitely experiment.