This Lemon Blackberry Cake with lavender French buttercream is the perfect cake for summer! Every bite of this lavender cake is filled with incredible flavor, reminiscent of a summery, sunny French countryside.
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You’ll love the not-too-sweet cake and cream combined with the zesty lemon and fruity blackberry. The lemon blackberry cake layers are delicate, very moist and bursting with lemon flavor. I love how the lemon zest complements the blackberry flavor.
Lavender Lemon Blackberry Cake Recipe
I am so excited to have Tatyana, one of my blogging friends, share her recipe for this gorgeous lavender cake from her new cookbook! She is such a talented baker and cook. I know you will love this recipe.
Can I Substitute Frozen Blackberries?
I recommend using fresh blackberries for this recipe for best results. If you don’t have fresh berries, frozen ones will work in a pinch.
How to Make the Lemon Blackberry Cake Layers:
- Make sure all the wet ingredients are at room temperature, that includes the eggs, butter and milk. I recommend warming the milk in the microwave for a minute so it’s warm.
- Cream together the softened butter and sugar for a few minutes, until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the milk to the batter but don’t mix it in just yet. Add the dry ingredients, then use your stand mixer to mix everything together. And don’t overmix the batter, which will cause the cake layers to dome. Mix just until the dry ingredients are combined, about 1 minute.
- To make the cake layers very light and delicate, I use a combination of all-purpose flour with almond flour. Sift that flour! This is so important; no one wants flour clumps in a cake slice.
- Whisk the egg whites separately, then fold them into the batter last, adding even more volume to the batter.
What is French Buttercream?
I fell in love with French buttercream when I was writing my cookbook. There’s something so special about this buttercream that sets it apart from every other frosting recipe I’ve tried! It’s super silky, very smooth and not too sweet.
French Buttercream is made with egg yolks, butter and sugar syrup, which cooks the egg yolks so no need to worry about raw eggs. It’s easy to add flavor, too! You can make it with chocolate, caramel, fruit and extracts, like this recipe with lavender oil. If you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a treat!
How to Make French Buttercream Frosting:
- The sugar syrup: combine the water and sugar in an extra-small saucepan, attach a candy thermometer and resist the urge to stir! Stirring will cause sugar crystals to form on the sides of the pan; not good!
- The egg yolks: these need to be whisked for a few minutes before pouring in the sugar syrup. Then just let the magic happen! The extremely hot syrup will cook the yolks, turning them thick, pale and glossy.
- The butter: soften the butter slightly before adding it to the egg yolks. The butter needs to be added slowly, a few tablespoons at a time. As you’re adding the butter, the frosting will look a little funny. Don’t worry, everything will correct itself; you did not mess up! Just keep adding the butter and the frosting will come together!
Make sure to use lavender oil that is safe for consumption. Most oils are not, so make sure to check the label.
Want to learn more about French buttercream and how to make it? Check out my step-by-step video tutorial for Chocolate French Buttercream!
More Frosting Recipes to Try:
- Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe – this recipe is very similar to French buttercream, but with egg whites!
- Cupcake Frosting Recipe – easy, delicious frosting for cakes and cupcakes!
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe – easy, delicious chocolate frosting!
Lavender Lemon Blackberry Cake
Ingredients
For Lemon Blackberry Cake Layers
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1 zest from lemon
- 1 cup milk, lukewarm
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup almond flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup fresh blackberries
- 1 tbsp corn starch
For French Buttercream
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 2 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 tsp lavender oil
- purple food coloring, optional
Instructions
How to Make Lavender Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C). Line three, 8-inch (20 cm) cake rounds with parchment paper and grease the sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with a hand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, until light fluffy. Add the egg yolks, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Mix again until cream and smooth, then pour in the milk but do not mix.
- In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: flour, almond flour, baking powder and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the cake batter. Use a whisk or hand mixer to combine the dry ingredients, milk and batter, mixing just until the flour is incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until medium peaks form. Add the egg whites to the cake batter and fold in using a spatula, folding gently but thoroughly until well combined.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the three cake pans, using a kitchen scale for accuracy. Toss the fresh blackberries in the cornstarch, coating the berries well. Drop 6 to 8 berries into each pan, spacing them equally apart. Bake the cakes in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.
How to Make French Buttercream Frosting:
- While the cake layers are cooling, prepare the French buttercream. Place the egg yolks into a stand mixer bowl and whisk on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until thick and pale.
- Meanwhile, combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan. Stir once to combine the ingredients and attach a candy thermometer to the side. Cook the syrup over medium heat until it reaches 238F (114C), about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Once syrup is ready, remove from heat and with mixer on medium speed, pour the hot syrup into the egg yolks. Take care to pour the syrup away from the whisk attachment to prevent crystalized sugar bits. Once all the syrup is added, turn mixer up to high speed and whisk until the egg yolks are doubled in size and reaches medium peak stage; it should be cooled and just lukewarm to touch.
- Begin adding the butter, about 1 tablespoon (15 g) at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the butter slowly to prevent the cream from separating; this process takes about 8 to 10 minutes. As more butter is added, the cream will thicken and hold its shape. Add the lavender oil and purple food color last.
Assembling the Lavender Cake:
- Once cake layers have cooled, spread a generous amount of buttercream between each layer. Smooth the frosting over the top and sides. Garnish the top as desired, with blackberries, lavender and greens.
Nutrition Per Serving
This stunning cake recipe is from my newly released cake cookbook, The European Cake Cookbook. It’s the first recipe in the ‘Western Cake Recipes’ chapter, featuring decadent French cake recipes. This French-inspired cake is one of my favorites from the book.
What’s your favorite summer cake recipe or filling? Blackberries are definitely one of my favorites!
Hi! I’m Natasha Kravchuk, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author, recipe developer, food photographer, and writer. Here you’ll find delicious, reliable recipes made with simple ingredients, plus easy step-by-step photos and videos to help you cook confidently at home. 
Hi, I noticed the recipe says 8 inch pans but I only have 9inch round pans. Will this make a difference at all when baking?
Hi Yanna, that should work. Your cake will be shorter and may need less bake time
Directions don’t say when to add the cornstarch, is that with the dry ingredients?
Hi Tanya. We have them listed in step 4: “Toss the fresh blackberries in the cornstarch, coating the berries well.” I hope this helps 🙂
4 tsp of baking powder seems a lot for 11/2 cups flour measure. Pls clarify.
Hi Abha that is correct. I hope you love the cake!
I’ve done a few different buttercream precipices so far and I always start with the egg whites. This recipe calls for egg yolks. Is it how supposed to be or just a mistake in a recipe? Thank you.
Are the layers dry at all? I am planning to make this and would like to know if I should add lemon syrup to make sure the cake is moist.?
Thank you
Hi Natalie, I don’t think it is necessary in this recipe but if you prefer a very moist cake, you probably could brush on a little more syrup.
Hi Can I use an alternative flour to almond as my daughter has a severe nut allergy? Thank you -Niki
Hi Niki. I think it could work. I haven’t tried it myself and I haven’t received any comments with people making that change just yet. I would love to hear how it works out if you experiment 🙂
Can I put this in a bundle pan? How long would I bake it? Thank you
Bundt pan, sorry
Hi Patty! I haven’t tried that. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
The recipe looks so great. Love the colour of the cake and the decoration of the cake is lovely too.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Hi, have you had a chance to make this beautiful cake yet?
Wow what a beauty Tatyana is, Natasha’s kitchen is a great place to see beautiful food made by beautiful ladies!
This recipe is so great and the decoration is lovely too. Hope to see more of your delicious works.
Thank you Dr. Martin! We are so happy you discovered this blog!
Hello,
This cake looks great!! I need to find the edible lavender oil. Any suggestions?
Rita Scanlon
Hi Rita! The oil I buy is from Lorann Oils; you can find it on Amazon 🙂
This berry and lavender cake is melting my mouth.
Looks delicious.
Olga.
Doesn’t it look amazing! Thanks for following our blog, Olga!
Thank you, Olga! Hope you get a chance to try the recipe!
Hello Natasha! Absolutely love your recipes. A quick question, how many drops of purple color did you use to get that gorgeous lavender color? TIA!
Hi Nazish, We didn’t count the drops so I can’t say for sure except to add it a drop at a time to reach your desired color. Sorry I can’t give you a more exact answer.
Hi Natasha, can I make this cake without the lavendar oil because I don’t have any and I’m not sure where to buy it. Also, is this cake sweet because my family doesn’t like very sweet cakes.
Hi Mari! Have you tried looking on Amazon? I get mine from there, by Lorann Oils. I think your family will love it – it’s not too sweet at all 🙂
Hi Natasha!
I love you and I love Tatyana!
So glad you are collaborating!
All the best!
Thank you Markiana!
Thank you, Markiana! I’m honored to be a guest writer on Natasha’s blog! 🙂
I made this so many times but my butter mixture always separates and clumps from the milk😭
Oh, no! 🙁 I’ve had that happen before. I included some mixing tips above to prevent that from happening. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature. Mix the milk and the dry ingredients into the batter at the same time
Hi! I do not have candy thermometer. Please advise.
You can also try a cold water test if you don’t have a thermometer 🙂 At 238° F, the syrup is at the “soft-ball” stage. That means that when you drop a bit of it into cold water to cool it down, it will form a soft ball. It usually takes about 7 to 8 minutes
This cake is soooo gorgeous! 😍👍
Oooh I think so too! 🙂 Thanks Alena!!
its so elegant
Thank you so much Miranda! Tatyana sure makes gorgeous cakes!
Thank you, Miranda! 🙂
i just made it and i lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve it and guess what my husband loves it too
thanks Natasha
We are so happy to hear that! Thank you for the amazing review! 🙂
Hi Kathy! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Oh, this is exactly my type of cake, this looks so good! Will definitely have to make it. Wonder if I could make the lavender oil myself…
As you write in the recipe to use a scale for evenly dividing the batter, would you mind sharing how many ounces/grams of batter each should be?
And thank you for also using the metric system!
Hi Jenny, I haven’t weight it that way but to get exact measurements, what I would do is fill the pans and weigh each one to make sure they weight the same and adjust accordingly.
Hi Jenny – it tastes as good as it looks! 🙂
For weighing the batter, I recommend doing what Natasha said: fill the pans and make sure they weigh the same.