Lemon Spelt Cake with Blackberry Icing

This lemon spelt cake has soft citrus-flavored sponge and is topped with a heavenly blackberry icing. Quick and effortless to make, with either regular or spelt flour.

Oh, there is nothing more synonymous with summer than berry cakes. Blackberries, especially the huge specimens you get in the shops, are one of the prettiest fruits out there. Not to mention how sweet and luscious they are to eat. Although I enjoy fresh blackberries on their own, I do have a real fondness for blackberries baked up in something sweet.

For this recipe, I had some blackberriesfrom last year in the freezer that I needed to use up before this year’s yield from the garden, and I decided I wanted a nice lemon cake to go with them.

Blackberries in cakes

There’s something wonderful about blackberries, isn’t there? I particularly love using them in baking. And as you can see from this recipe, they turn icing into an amazing deep pink (or is it purple?) hue. Stunning.

The sponge itself doesn’t have any blackberries. My original plan was to put them in the cake but decided to use them for the icing, instead. I am glad I did. The fresh citrus flavour of the lemon holds its own nicely and complements the super-sweet fresh berry icing beautifully. Although I used fresh blackberries, you really could use frozen. Frozen berries tend to lose their shape, especially when added to cake batter. Because the berries need to be mushed up for the icing, this won’t matter.

My love for blackberries extends further than just cakes. I dedicated a whole post to the ways in which blackberries are put to good use with my 26 beautiful blackberry recipes. It showcases everything from blackberry syrup to blackberry ricotta toast with a blackberry mojito thrown in for good measure.

One-layer cakes

Towering layer cakes do occasionally feature on my blog, such as this three layer, sublimely rich butterscotch cake. I love them as much as the next cake-obsessed person, and there will always be a place for them. I saw an astonishing ten layer cake the other day. Impressive. Certainly something I might try for myself one day. I guarantee that with ten cake tins needed, it won’t be me doing the washing up on that day.

On the whole, though, I much prefer a simple, single layer cake. Sometimes, they are naked cakes, with absolute no adornment at all, but most often, they have a healthy helping of frosting or icing. One-layer spelt cakes are my thing.

I’d been fantasising about cake for days. Days. Soft, luscious cake filled my every waking moment. Not really, but you get the gist. This time, I didn’t need anything more than a small 7″ cake to satisfy my craving.

Simple citrus and berry cakes for summer

What a wonderful choice, even if I do say so myself. Lemon and blackberry is a delicious combination and feels rather summery. If you are on the hunt for something to scoff on a sunny day, you might enjoy my other citrus and berry recipes:

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Lemon Spelt Cake with Blackberry Icing

Course Cake

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 35

Ingredients

Cake:

125g (½ cup) butter
125g (⅔ cup) sugar
2 eggs (medium)
zest of one lemon
120g (1 cup) spelt flour (see note 1)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon milk

Icing:

200g (7 oz) blackberries (frozen works great)
1 tablespoon sugar
icing/confectioners'/powdered sugar (see note 2)

Decoration:

extra blackberries (optional)

Instructions

Icing:

First, prepare the blackberries for the frosting. On a low heat, cook the blackberries with the sugar until they are very soft and mushy (about 20 minutes).
Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. For the best results, prepare a day or so in advance and keep them in the fridge (this is not a requirement, but it means you use less icing sugar when making the glaze because the berries are very thick).

Cake:

Pre-heat the oven to 175°C (350℉). Grease a small (18cm or 7") spring-form pan.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light.
Add the eggs, one at a time.
Sift the baking powder with the flour and add to the wet ingredients.
Add the milk and mix until just combined.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for around 30-35 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow the cake to sit in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Let it cool completely.

Assembly:

When ready to ice the cake, add as much sifted icing sugar to the cold blackberries as necessary - you should be aiming for a fairly thick, spreadable consistency.
Slather over the cake and top with a few extra blackberries if you like. Cut into slices and enjoy!

Notes

I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.

You can use spelt or regular flour for this recipe (just use the same amount).
Just use as much sugar as needed to create a thick icing. The more you use, the thicker it will be.