Juliet Sear's blueberry lemon layer cake
Pillowy soft and bursting with lemony zing, Juliet Sear's cake is every blueberry lover's dream!
Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake
Serves: 10
Ingredients
150g very soft butter, or spread or margarine of your choice 50g sunflower oilZest of one unwaxed lemon 200g caster sugar4 medium eggs230g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting the berries½ tsp baking powder¼ tsp sea salt80g full-fat Greek yoghurt350g blueberries
For the frosting: 300g unsalted butter100g room temperature full-fat cream cheese800g icing sugar, sifted1 tsp vanilla bean paste3 tbsp blueberry jam
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.
2. Grease and baseline 2 x 20 cm round sandwich tins. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar then beat together the butter and sugar until pale fluffy. Mix in one egg at a time until combined.
3. In another bowl, whisk the baking powder and salt into the flour.
4. Gently mix half of the flour into the wet ingredients. Add the yoghurt, and then add in the remaining flour. Add in the blueberries and mix, reserving about 100g of the blueberries to place on the top of the batter.
5. Divide the batter into the tins. Level, add the reserved berries and press into the top and bake until risen, golden and cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack and allow to cool completely before filling.
6. To fill: Make the frosting; beat together the butter and vanilla until very pale and creamy. Add the cream cheese until fluffy and pale then gradually add the icing sugar until smooth, creamy and spreadable.
7. Place a cake layer onto a plate or stand then spread over a layer of frosting evenly over the cake, spreading to the edges. Remove a little of the frosting from the middle, leaving a border around the outer part of the cake of about 5 cm and spoon most of the jam into the centre.
8. Top with the second layer of the cake and spread some of the icing over the entire cake to crumb coat. Place the cake in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes to an hour before repeating with a second top coat of icing.
9. Use a toothed scraper if you wish to create the striped effect. Blob over some dabs of jam on the sides of the frosting and swoosh it around to create a whirled effect. On the top, dot a few more splodges of jam and swirl through with the end of a pallet knife or spoon to create the swoosh on top.