Blackberry Thyme Lemon Cake
- July 23, 2020
- by
- Teresa
The first thing to come to mind while I was dreaming up recipes for summer was a blackberry cake – I could almost smell the sweet juiciness of fat berries atop the highest bramble. What better destination for these beauties than being gathered home and baked into a beautiful purple cake?
This cake is lovely for summer because it only requires one baking pan for two simple layers of deliciousness. Bake it up in the morning, frost in the early afternoon, and voilà! You’ve freed the rest of your day for tubing on the river with a good book. (Or maybe working in the garden. More zucchini, anyone?)
- flours
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- eggs
- oil
- yogurt
- lemon juice
- sugar
- blackberries
- thyme
- water
- cream cheese
- butter
- vanilla
- powdered sugar
- lemon wedges/slices
Since this cake uses spelt flour as well as a little whole wheat flour, it boasts a little more of an earthy flavor than most; Greek yogurt gives it a gorgeously moist crumb, and lemon juice lends a light, citrusy note. I like sandwiching fresh blackberries between the layers for a sweet, juicy blanket of flavor.
You can almost never go wrong with a cream cheese icing. It’s just a thing. 
However, adding a blackberry thyme syrup to sections of the icing will absolutely take it to the next level. (Isn’t that purple gorgeous!?) And it doesn’t have even a smidgen of food coloring. 
how to make the lemon cake…
Alright, so the first step is, of course, preheating your oven. (Anybody else’s oven have the problem of taking FOREVER to preheat??? 
) Grease your pan, and set it aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients – all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, spelt flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together – eggs, oil, yogurt, lemon juice, and sugar.
Pour the wet ingredients slowly into the dry, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Keep whisking until the batter is smooth.
And bake! Pour the batter into your prepared pan and drop it several times onto the counter – this forces any large bubbles to the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about ten minutes, and then carefully turn it upside down to remove the pan. Let cool completely on the wire rack.
how to make the blackberry thyme cream cheese icing…
Fruit syrups are so fun and so easy to make that I don’t know why more people don’t use them! I love adding them to all kinds of things, but here is one way to make and use them.
Place the blackberries, thyme sprigs, sugar, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let them cook for a little while, until the berries have burst and everything has turned dark purple – you want allll that blackberry juice. Let the syrup cool slightly, and then strain the blackberries and thyme out. You’ll need to press the berries with the back of a spoon to preserve as much syrup as possible.
In a medium bowl, whip the room temperature cream cheese and butter, plus the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating the icing smooth between each addition.
Divide the icing equally between three bowls. Leave one bowl white, add one-fourth of the syrup to the second, and add the remaining three-fourths of the syrup to the third. You should now have one bowl of white icing, one bowl of light purple, and one bowl of dark purple! Yay!
how to assemble the blackberry thyme lemon cake…
Carefully cut the cooled cake in half horizontally. (I do this by scoring the cake all the way around with a paring knife, then cutting the cake in half with a bread knife, using the score as a guide.)
Place one half of the cake on your cake plate and cover the top with icing – whichever color(s!) you prefer. Top with a layer of fresh blackberries. Now add the second layer of cake, and cover it with icing! Make a crumb coat for the cake by smearing a very thin layer of icing all around the top and sides, then letting the cake chill for at least half an hour before you finish icing it.
Annnd decorate! Swirl all the purple goodness on in whatever way, shape, or style you like. Garnish with fresh blackberries, thyme sprigs, and lemon slices.
Pure bliss.
you may also love these summer recipes…
- this Iced Hot Chocolate
- these Orange Creamsicles
- this Peach Salsa
If you make this recipe, I want to know what you think! Leave a comment and give the recipe a rating, or let me know on Pinterest – hearing about your cooking adventures always makes my day!
Blackberry Thyme Lemon Cake
Ingredients //
For the Cake
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- ½ cup Whole Wheat Flour
- ½ cup Spelt Flour
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- ½ tablespoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Fine Salt
- 2 Eggs
- ¾ cup Mild Oil such as Grapeseed
- 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice about 1 lemon
- 1 cup Sugar
For the Cream Cheese Icing
- 1 cup Blackberries fresh or frozen
- 2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- ¼ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Water
- 1½ 8 ounce packages Cream Cheese 12 ounces, softened
- ½ cup Salted Butter softened
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 3 cups Powdered Sugar
For the Garnishes / Filling
- 2 cups Fresh Blackberries
- Lemon Wedges/Slices
- Thyme Sprigs
Instructions //
For the Lemon Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Grease a inch cake pan and set it aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, yogurt, lemon juice, and sugar together.
- Gradually add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until the batter is smooth.
- Pour into the prepared pan.
- Lift the pan a couple inches from the counter and drop it. Repeat several times, rotating between each drop. (This makes any large bubbles come to the top.)
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for ten minutes, then turn it upside down to remove, and let finish cooling on the wire rack.
For the Blackberry Thyme Cream Cheese Icing
- In a medium saucepan, place the blackberries, thyme, sugar, and water.
- Bring to a boil, then cook until the blackberries have burst and the liquid turns dark purple, stirring several times. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whip the room temperature cream cheese, butter, and vanilla.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating until smooth between each addition.
- Divide the icing equally between three bowls.
- Leave one bowl white, add ¼ of the blackberry syrup to the second, and add the remaining ¾ of the syrup to the third. Stir.
To Assemble the Blackberry Thyme Lemon Cake
- Carefully cut the cooled cake in half horizontally. (I do this by scoring the cake all the way around with a paring knife, then cutting the cake in half with a bread knife, using the score as a guide.)
- Place one layer of the cake on your cake plate, and cover the top with icing - whichever colors you like. Cover the top with a layer of fresh blackberries.
- Carefully place the second layer of cake on top of the first and cover it with a thin layer of icing. Scrape a very thin (but smooth!) layer of icing around the outside of the cake. (This is called a crumb coat.)
- Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Annnd decorate! If you want swirls of different shades of purple, place dollops of the assorted icing colors around the cake and smooth them together with an offset spatula. Or you could make an ombre effect... the options are endless. 😉
- Last but certainly not least - place the garnishes. Use thyme sprigs, fresh blackberries, and lemon slices, and space them prettily atop your cake.
- Cut, and devour.
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