Lemon Thyme Poppy Seed Cake with Blackberry Filling & Icing
Over the last several years my husbands birthday cakes have gained a reputation for being epic. This year I set out to make a simple cake and actually follow a recipe from one of my favorite magazines/blogs, Bake from Scratch. My husband selected the Lemon Thyme Poppy Seed Cake and I decided to pair it with his current blackberry craving. Like always the whole thing turned out much better than expected. The cake was so so ridiculously moist, and bursting with bright refreshing lemon flavor. The basic buttercream frosting was whipped until super fluffy and spread thin to keep the over texture of the cake light and airy. Blackberry/lemon icing completes this masterpiece with a sweet tart finish.
Recipes below
Ingredients
2 cups butter, softened
1¾ cups sugar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
4 large eggs
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup whole buttermilk
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Garnish: chopped fresh thyme, lemon slices, blackberries
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 2 (8x5-inch) loaf pans or 2 4 inch cake pans with baking spray with flour.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with a mixer at medium speed until creamy, about 6 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl.
Add poppy seeds and thyme, beating until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt twice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, lemon zest and juice, and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Divide batter between prepared pans.
Bake for 30 minutes. Cover loosely with foil, and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 45 minutes more. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks.
Blackberry Filling
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup blackberries
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
Bring water, sugar, salt and blackberries to a boil 5 minutes. Mix corn starch and water together to create a slurry. Add corn starch slurry to blackberry mixture. Cook another 3-5 minutes to thicken. Allow to cool completely before use.
Basic Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 -2 cups powdered or confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-5 tablespoons water
pinch of salt
Whip all ingredients medium high speed for 3 minutes.
Blackberry Icing
4-6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon blackberry filling (forced through a strainer)
pinch of salt
Mix ingredients together, add more lemon juice or powdered sugar to desired consistency
Disclosure
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