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Healthy blackberry lemon thyme layer cake with cream cheese icing.
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Blackberry Thyme Lemon Cake

Healthy blackberry lemon thyme layer cake with cream cheese icing - this simple summer cake uses fresh blackberries and thyme, and is a lovely recipe for all your light dinner parties.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword blackberry cake, blackberry lemon cake, fresh blackberry cake, healthy blackberry cake, healthy summer cake, lemon, simple blackberry cake, summer cake recipe, thyme, with cream cheese icing
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Rest/Assembly Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 4 hours
Servings 20
Calories 361kcal
Author Teresa

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.