Lemon blueberry cake
Preppy Kitchen · ♥ 69.3K likes · 2.4M views · 17 min video
Read about layer cakes in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 240 g all-purpose flour
Set the oven to 350 and add 240 g all-purpose flour to a large bowl.
- 333 g granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 1½ tsp baking powder
Add 333 g granulated sugar, a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt and one and a half teaspoons of baking powder and whisk to distribute.
Reserve one tablespoon of the dry mixture and set it aside.
- 170 g butter
Cream 170 g of softened butter on medium for a few seconds in a stand mixer with the paddle.
Add the dry ingredients, sugar included, straight into the butter and mix on medium low until crumbly - the reverse creaming method, which coats the flour in fat so the gluten cannot activate.
Scrape the paddle and the bowl so no solid butter is left, then raise to medium a few seconds until it looks like wet sand with no big chunks.
- 120 ml sour cream
- ½ cup whole milk
In a medium bowl combine 120 ml sour cream and half a cup of whole milk.
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
Zest about a tablespoon from two lemons with a microplane, taking only the yellow, and add it.
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 whole egg whites
- 1 tbsp vanilla
Add three tablespoons of lemon juice, three egg whites and a tablespoon of vanilla and whisk until smooth.
- blueberries
Toss the blueberries with the reserved tablespoon of dry mixture so they do not sink in the batter.
With the mixer on low, drizzle in the wet mixture until combined, watching for zest clinging to the bowl.
- butter
- flour
Butter and flour three six-inch pans and add a parchment round to each.
Preparing the pans and dividing the batter
Distribute the batter evenly between the pans, weighing them so they bake at the same rate, and distribute the blueberries evenly too.
Bake at 350 about 30 minutes, until the centre is springy to the touch.
- ½ cup blueberries
Spread half a cup of blueberries on a small plate and freeze them for the decoration.
Freezing blueberries for decoration
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp sugar
In a small saucepan combine one cup of fresh blueberries, a tablespoon of water, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of sugar over medium-low heat.
Stir and mash the berries with a fork so they burst and cook down faster; after about a minute it comes to a boil.
Reduce to a simmer and cook until reduced by half and slightly jammy, about five minutes depending on the cooktop.
Run the reduction through a strainer to leave the skins behind, scraping the bottom of the sieve, and set it aside to cool.
- 340 g unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
Cream 340 g of softened unsalted butter for a few seconds.
- 6 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Add six cups of powdered sugar two cups at a time on low, drizzling in about three tablespoons of lemon juice as you go, with a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt.
Transfer about three quarters of a cup of the buttercream to a medium bowl and flavour it with the blueberry reduction a tablespoon at a time until the colour, flavour and consistency are right.
Flavouring buttercream with the reduction
Assemble with blueberry buttercream in the middle of each layer and lemon buttercream on the outside, then the last layer on top.
Stacking the layers
Whip the remaining buttercream briefly on high to restore it, then coat the top and sides - here a crumb coat so the blueberries show through.
Finish with a ring of dollops along the top, chill the cake so the frosting sets, and just before serving top with the frozen blueberries.