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Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours
Serves: 10-12

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Notes:

Eggs

Room temperature eggs are recommended because they mix easily and quickly into the cake batter, reducing the risk of over-mixing (and an overly dense cake!).
From fridge, place eggs into a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes before using or set the eggs out when you set out your cream cheese and butter.

Flour

Be careful not to overmeasure your flour. This will result in a heavy cake.
For a lighter crumb, you can use the same amount of sifted cake flour (Type 450) instead of plain flour.

Fresh lemons

Use fresh lemon juice and lemon zest in the cake batter. Use store-bought juice or extract if you really have to but fresh lemons will taste WAY better.
Choose lemons with smooth skin and heavy for their size. That way you know they are extra juicy.

Buttermilk

Provides exceptional moisture to baked goods, buttermilk leaves each bite tender and lush.
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use whole milk instead with a teaspoon of lemon juice mixed in.

Moisture: brown sugar and eggs

Lemon cakes can easily be dry and gritty, so use moisture-making ingredients like brown sugar, eggs, and buttermilk.
Buttermilk, a little brown sugar, and 4 eggs assure the final product is as moist as it could possibly be without being wet.

Blueberries and fruit additions

Fresh or frozen blueberries are OK. If using frozen though, do not thaw them.
The blueberries won't sink to the bottom of the cake because the batter is so thick. When you have a thin batter, heavy fruit or add-ins will sink.
Roll the blueberries in a little flour as extra insurance they don’t sink!

Cream cheese

If you can't get mascarpone then a brick-style cream cheese will do fine. However, do not substitute with cream cheese spreads!

Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions

You can prepare cake layers and frosting 1 day in advance.
Keep cake layers at room temperature, covered tightly.
Refrigerate prepared frosting in an airtight container until ready to use.
Frosted or unfrosted cakes may be frozen up to 2 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature if desired before serving.

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Ingredients

Cake layers

1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

1 and 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar

1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature (see note 1)

1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups (345g) sifted all-purpose flour, (spoon and leveled, see note 2)

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (240ml) buttermilk

2 Tablespoons lemon zest

1/2 cup lemon juice (3 medium lemons)

1 and 1/2 cups blueberries (250g), fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not thaw)

1 Tablespoon all-purpose plain flour

Cream Cheese Frosting

250g mascarpone cheese, softened to room temperature

125g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

470g icing sugar

2 tablespoons double cream (30% or more fat)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or bean paste

pinch salt

Method

Preparation

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper. This helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans.
If you only have ONE cake pan, you can proceed but it will take longer.

Make the cake layers

If you only have ONE cake pan, you will need to mix and bake three layers separately.

Do not mix everything in one go and then bake a bit each time as the cake mixture should not sit around before it gets baked.

So, first weigh your two mixing bowls, empty. e.g. wet bowl = 121 g and dry bowl = 136 g

In the WET bowl, use a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment to beat the butter on high until creamy – about 1 minute.
Add granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2-3 minutes.
Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until everything is completely combined, about 2 minutes on high power.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed to ensure everything get mixed in.

If you only have ONE cake pan: weigh the wet bowl again and work out the total weigh of the wet mixture, e.g. bowl+wetmix weighs 881 g minus 121 g for the bowl leaves 760 g of wet-mixture.

Divide the wet-mixture weight by three to get the amount you need for each layer, e.g. 760 / 3 = 250 g per layer (rounded down to nearest 10 g).

In the DRY bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

If you only have ONE cake pan: weigh the dry bowl again and work out the total weigh of the dry mixture, e.g. bowl+drymix weighs 504 g minus 136 g for the bowl leaves 368 g of dry-mixture.

Divide the dry-mixture weight by three to get the amount you need for each layer, e.g. 368 / 3 = 120 g per layer (rounded down to nearest 10 g).

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed for 5 seconds, then beat in the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice *just* until it has combined.

If you only have ONE cake pan: Add the calculated amounts of dry mix to the wet. This will likely require a third bowl, e.g. add 250 g wet mix to the new bowl then add 120 g dry mix. Mix it well.

Then add 1/3 of the total amounts for the other (acidic) ingredients at this step.

Mix these until just combined.

- 80g buttermilk

- 37 g lemon juice

- 14 g lemon zest

Do not over-mix at this stage. A fluffy sponge comes from the reaction of the baking powder with the acidic ingredients (buttermilk, lemon juice). Too much mixing here will allow the gas bubbles to escape from the mix!

Roll the blueberries around with 1 tablespoon of flour and gently fold into them into the batter.

If you only have ONE cake pan: add 1/3 as many blueberries e.g. Add 85 g blueberries (rolled in flour)

Batter is extremely thick at this stage, which helps support the berries.
Do not over-mix. Over-mixing will lead to a tough, dense textured crumb.
Spoon batter evenly into 3 prepared cake pans.

If you only have ONE cake pan: spoon all the mixture into that pan.

Bake for about 21-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

If you only have ONE cake pan: remove the cake from the pan. Wash and dry the cake pan then go back and mix the ingredients for the second layer. Bake this layer and repeat it all for the third layer. The previously baked cakes are fine to sit out on the bench while the others are being prepared.

Make the frosting

Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until no lumps remain, about 3 full minutes.
Add confectioners’ sugar, 1 Tablespoon cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low.
Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes.
Add 1 more Tablespoon of cream to thin out, if desired.

Assemble and frost:

First, using a large serrated knife, trim the tops off the cake layers to create a flat top on each.
Place 1 layer on your cake stand. Evenly cover the top with cream cheese frosting.
Top with 2nd layer, more frosting, then the third layer.
Top with frosting and spread around the sides. The recipe doesn’t make a ton of frosting, just enough for a light frost.
Top with blueberries or lemon garnish if desired.
Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before cutting or else the cake may fall apart as you cut.

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