Desserts & Sweets

Double Blueberry-Lemon Curd cake

I created this cake last-minute for a coworker’s birthday. She loved my double blueberry muffins…so I thought why not make them into cake form? I love the combination of tangy lemon and the sweetness of the blueberries, so I decided to go with a nice thick layer of zesty lemon curd for the filling, as well as a snicker-doodle crumble to keep the curd company and extra delicious. The frosting I make is a lemon cream cheese. I purposely tone down the lemon on this frosting for the cake recipe, so that there is a nice balance between the lemon and blueberry flavors. This cake is perfect to have in the morning with some coffee, a dessert for brunch or after dinner.

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen blueberries
2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Dickinson’s Lemon Curd (2 Jars)

Lemon Curd: You can make your own or use your own preferred brand. I personally use Dickinson’s Lemon Curd. Why? Cause it’s faster and I don’t fully trust my lemon curd recipe just yet. When I feel confident behind my recipe, I’ll share it then. Until then…this already made lemon curd is a time saver and most major grocery retailers carry it. Look for it in the jelly, jam & peanut butter aisles.

Lemon Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 1⁄2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1⁄2 grated lemon rind
1 cup sifted powdered sugar

Directions: (Make this while the cakes are cooling) In a large bowl, cream together all ingredients until thick, smooth, and spreadable; use immediately.

Cake Directions: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease your cake pans. (I have made 9″ round cakes and 18″ sheet cakes, but you have to double the recipe if you are making the sheet cakes!) In a mixer with paddle attachment (or hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar and mix. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking powder, and salt and mix. In a shallow bowl, mash 3/4 cup of the blueberries with the back of a fork. (This is where you’ll realize if you forgot to thaw your blueberries or not! lol) Add to the batter and mix. (Do not over mix ever, unless you want a denser cake!)

Blueberries mixed in — Mix in THAWED berries

Blueberry Batter — Isn’t the COLOR just awesome!?

With the mixer running at low-speed, add 1/2 of the flour, then 1/2 of the milk, and mix. Repeat with remaining flour and milk. Fold in the remaining 1 3/4 cups whole blueberries by hand until well mixed. In a separate small bowl, mix the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon. Fill the cake pans 3/4 full. (Pour the batter as close as possible to the pan. This will also help keep the cake from being too dense.) Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar all over the batter and bake until golden brown and risen, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan at least 30 minutes before turning out.

On top of one cake spread a nice thick layer of the lemon curd. Yes, right on top of the snicker-doodle crumbles. Trust Me.

Next, flip the next layer with that snicker-doodle topping going on top of the lemon curd you just layered. So that it creates a sandwich. Go ahead and frost the top and the sides with your lemon cream cheese. Sprinkle with cinnamon for some color. Let it rest for another 30 minutes before serving to allow the curd to soak into the cake some.

If making muffins: Use an ice-cream scoop or large spoon to fill the muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar over the muffins and bake until golden brown and risen, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan at least 30 minutes before turning out. Once cooled using a pastry pipe, fill the muffins from underneath with the lemon curd and frost pipe the cream cheese frosting on top in a circular motion. Then lightly sprinkle with cinnamon.