Recipe video above. This is the blueberry cake I make when I want to go all out! It's always received with gasps of delight when the first slice is pulled out. :)Adapted from my Vanilla Cake, the crumb is soft and plush, infused with a subtle hint of lemon which goes so well with blueberries. The slight tang of cream cheese frosting is a perfect match for this cake and takes it over the top.Stays fresh for 5 whole days!
Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for 20 minutes before starting the batter. Place one shelf in the middle of the oven and a second beneath it.
Cake pans: Grease 3 x 20cm / 8” cake pans with butter and line with parchment / baking paper. (Note 9 more pan sizes)
Blueberries: Set aside ~1/3 of the blueberries (for scattering later). Toss the remaining blueberries in flour.
Be prepared: Have all batter ingredients measured out and ready to add in. New to baking? Read 'Tips for Success' above recipe card.
Batter:
Combine dry ingredients: Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
Whisk eggs: Beat eggs for 30 seconds on speed 6 of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or hand beater.
Add sugar, then beat: With the beater still going, pour the sugar in over 45 seconds. Then beat for 7 minutes on speed 8, or until tripled in volume and white.
Gently add flour: Scatter 1/3 flour across surface of whipped eggs, then beat on Speed 1 for 5 seconds. Add half remaining flour, mix on Speed 1 for 5 sec. Add remaining flour, then mix on Speed 1 for 5 - 10 sec until the flour is just mixed in. Once you can’t see flour, stop straight away.
Whisk wet ingredients: Put sour cream, hot butter, oil, vanilla and lemon zest into the now-empty flour bowl. Whisk well until smooth.
'Temper' sour cream mix: Add about 1 1/2 cups of the egg mixture into the sour cream bowl (2 big scoops, no need to be accurate). Whisk well until smooth.
Slowly combine sour cream mix and egg mix: Turn beater back on Speed 1 then scrape the sour cream mixture into the egg mixture over 15 seconds, then turn beater off.
Scrape and final mix: Scrape down sides and base of bowl. Beat on Speed 1 for 10 seconds. The batter should be thick but soft, not runny and thin.
Blueberries: Quickly but gentlyfold in flour coated blueberries.
Bake:
Divide batter between cake pans, smooth the surface. Scatter over reserved blueberries.
Bake 25 minutes or until golden and toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean. (If you cannot fit all pans on one shelf, put 2 pans in the middle shelf and 1 pan underneath. Take the top pans out at 25 minutes, move the lower pan to middle shelf and bake for a further 3 minutes)
Cool & frost:
Once out of oven, cool in cake pans for 15 minutes, then gently turn out onto cooling racks upside down. Peel off baking paper and cool upside down - any slight dome will flatten perfectly (for neat layers).
Frost upside down layers with Cream Cheese Frosting! Decorate with extra blueberries, lemon slices and edible flowers, if desired.
Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:
Beat butter with whisk attachment in stand mixer for 2 minutes until fluffy and creamy, and it becomes a paler colour. Add cream cheese, then beat for 30 seconds just until smooth.
Add icing sugar / powdered sugar, then gently mix on speed 1 (to avoid an icing powder storm). If you do get a powder storm, cover with tea towel, then once mostly incorporated, beat on high for a full 2 minutes on Speed 7.
Add vanilla and lemon juice, then beat for a further 30 seconds. Use immediately. (Note 11 re: frosting too sloppy)
Notes
Stand mixer speeds are for a Kitchen Aid which has 10 speed settings. Hand beater works for same times and speeds (though not as powerful, I have found that hand mixer's ability to move around bowl makes it just as effective).For more details about the "Why" of steps in this recipe, please see the Vanilla Cake post.1. Cake flour works just fine with this recipe as well.2. Eggs - Fresh eggs are best as they whip better. Here's how to check how fresh your eggs are. 1 week old are ok; 2+ weeks not recommended. It's important eggs are at room temp as they fluff better when whipped, which is key to the fluffy texture of this cake. Quick way to warm up fridge-cold eggs: Place in a large bowl, cover with warm tap water (just warm, not hot), leave for 5 minutes. Wipe dry (to avoid residual water dripping into bowl), then use per recipe.Large eggs - 50 - 55g / 2 oz per egg is the industry standard of sizes sold as "large eggs" in Australia and the US. If your eggs are significantly larger or smaller in size, just weigh different eggs and use 200 - 220g / 8 oz in total (including shell) or 180 - 200g / 7.3 oz in total excluding shell (this is useful if you need to use a partial egg to make up the total required weight. Crack eggs, beat, THEN pour into a bowl to measure out what you need).3. Caster / superfine sugar has finer grains so it dissolves easily when whipped with the eggs. However, granulated / regular white sugar works fine too.4. Baking powder - Dead baking powder is a common cause of cake failure. Here's how to check if it's still active.Baking soda (bicarb) won’t make the cake rise quite as well. If you have no choice, then use 3/4 teaspoons of baking soda.5. Sour cream - The base Vanilla Cake recipe uses milk which makes the batter thin, and blueberries sink to the base. By switching with sour cream, the batter becomes thick enough to suspend blueberries throughout. To bring sour cream to room temperature, measure out then leave out for 30 minutes or so - it just needs to not be fridge-cold.Do not substitute for low-fat, it's not as thick.6. Oil - Just 3 teaspoons makes a noticeable difference to the tenderness of the crumb AND keeps the crumb moist for days.7. Blueberries - If using frozen, do not thaw as it will leave unsightly streaks in the batter. Measure out, toss with flour, and return to freezer until required. Add 1 minute to bake time.8. Cream cheese - It must be brick form which is firmer than cream cheese in tubs intended for spreading.UK cream cheese has a lower fat %, comes in tubs and is the spreadable kind, so it's softer than brick form. Use Original Philadelphia cream cheese but start with 125g instead of the 250g called for in the recipe.Take cream cheese of fridge to take the chill out, but don't let it become so warm that it's sloppy. After beating, if your frosting consistency is soft / fluffy but still holds its shape, add more (for more cream cheese flavour). Also, ensure your butter is softened but NOT super soft, that will also help (16-17°C, to be exact). If frosting is too runny, just refrigerate for 30 min and it will firm up. Then beat to fluff, and spread.SOFTENING NOTE: These days, Philadelphia cream cheese is softer than it used to be straight out of the fridge. So don't leave it out for too long otherwise it will go too soft and you'll end up with a sloppy frosting. We just want to take the chill out of it. Hot summer day? Leave it in a cool room.9. Icing sugar - For Australia, be sure to get SOFT icing sugar not pure icing sugar. Pure icing sugar is used for hard-set icing like Royal Icing. The frosting will not be as creamy and will form an unpleasant hard crust on the surface10. Different cake pan size bake times:
2 x 20cm / 8" cake pans- bake 38 min
2 x 23 cm / 9" cake pans - 33 min*
3 x 23 cm / 9" cake pans - 26 min*
23cm x 33 cm / 13" x 9" rectangular cake - 35 minutes*
* Not yet tested. This is based on extra baking time of 2 and 3 x 20cm/8" pans compared to Vanilla Cake. Always use the toothpick test to check!11. Frosting - If you make ahead, refrigerate then beat to re-fluff. If it gets too sloppy because it's hot in your kitchen or you softened the butter or cream cheese too much - cover then refrigerate bowl and whisk for 30 minutes, then beat again for 1 minute on high. You can also refrigerate at any time during frosting process.12. Different measures in different countries - Tablespoon and cup sizes differ slightly from country to country. In most recipes, the difference is not enough to affect the outcome of the recipe, but for baking recipes, you do need to be careful.I've made this cake using both US and Australian cups (the two countries with the greatest size variance between them) and it came out the same. So you can have confidence that this recipe can be used no matter which country you are in. The exception is Japan - cup sizes are considerably smaller (200ml) so please use weights provided instead.For absolutely accuracy and reliability, opt to measure by weights provided (click Metric toggle button above ingredients). Professional kitchens only use weights.13. Storage - If not frosting immediately once cake cools, cover surface with baking paper (so it doesn't stick to cling wrap), wrap in cling wrap and place in an airtight container. Keeps in fridge 5 days, freezer for 3 months.Frosted cake keeps perfectly for 5 days, ideally in the fridge. But it MUST be served at room temperature otherwise the cake crumb will not be as soft as it should be and frosting will not be creamy. To serve, take out whole cake 1 hour prior. Else the fastest (and neatest option) is to cut cake cold then allow slices to de-chill (15 min).SUMMER WEATHER NOTE: If it's super-hot where you live (eg. Aussie summer!), put the cake in a cool room like a bathroom otherwise the frosting will get too soft before the middle of the cake comes to room temperature. 13. Nutrition per slice, assuming 12 servings (BIG slices!). This is a rich cake - it could easily serve 14, if not 16.