My best friend had asked me to make a birthday cake for someone special in her life, and asked for something rich and decadent, yet bright and fresh. This cake is a feast for the eyes and palate, but at the same time, light in color and flavor. It features an intensely lemony sponge and buttercream, and tangy berry compote of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

I adapted the sponge from the yellow sponge in Claire Saffitz's Birthday Cake recipe, and the buttercream from Cupcake Jemma's video. The rest is improvised, but wanted to documented it since I was really pleased with how it turned out!

INGREDIENTS (for three-layered 6" cake)

Yellow Sponge (makes three 6" layers)

  • 1 1/2 c./180 g. cake flour 
  • 1 tsp. baking powder  
  • 3/4 tsp. salt 
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda 
  • 1/2 c. butter, soft
  • 175 g. granulated sugar 
  • 2 T. vegetable oil  
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 whole egg 
  • 1/2 T. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 c. buttermilk 

Mixed berry compote

  • 1 c./200 g. frozen mixed berries
  • 1/4 c./50 g. granulated sugar, or to taste
  • Splash of lemon juice

Lemon Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

  • 2 egg whites 
  • 150 g. granulated sugar 
  • 200 g. butter, soft
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla 
  • 1/4 c. lemon curd, to taste

Lemon simple syrup

  • 1/3 c. lemon juice
  • 1/3 c./67 g. granulated sugar

Finishing (optional)

  • Fresh raspberries and lemon slices
  • Lemon curd
  • Fresh flowers

PROCEDURE

Make the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F, grease and flour three 6" pans.
  2. Whisk together dry ingredients in a bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl (of your stand mixer, if using one), cream together butter, sugar, and oil for 4-5 min on medium-high speed, until very pale and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time and vanilla, then continue beating for a couple more minutes until fluffy, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl before and after.
  5. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients on low speed, then 1/2 of the buttermilk. Continue alternating, ending with the last 1/3 of dries until just combined (don't overmix!).
  6. Divide batter into pans, ~240 g. batter per pan.
  7. Bake, staggered in the oven (two on the sides of the upper rack, one on bottom center), for 20 min, then rotate pans front/back and top/bottom for even browning. Bake for another 5-10 min until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  8. Leave cakes to cool until cool enough to handle, then turn onto a wire rack to continue cooling. When almost completely cool but still slightly warm to the touch, wrap each layer in plastic wrap to lock in the moisture.

Make the compote:

  1. In a pot, bring berries and sugar to a boil and cook until the berries break down and liquefy.
  2. Reduce heat and simmer for ~5 min until the compote thickens, but will still be runny.
  3. Strain into a bowl to remove the seeds, then leave to cool completely and further thicken.

Make the lemon syrup:

  1. In a small saucepan, heat lemon juice and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and syrup has slightly thickened.
  2. Remove from heat and leave to cool completely.

Make the buttercream:

  1. Whisk sugar and egg whites over a double boiler over medium heat (but don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the water).
  2. Continue whisking constantly over heat for ~4 min until the sugar is dissolved (you'll feel that it is smooth when you rub some between your fingers), and the slurry is thin. Temp should be 160°F/71°C.
  3. Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on medium-high for at least 10-15 min until stiff peaks and the bowl is completely cool to the touch. If it's taking too long, refrigerate to expedite the cooling, and continue whisking.
  4. Once the meringue is stiff and glossy, add the butter 1 T at a time, allowing each addition of butter to fully incorporate before adding more.
  5. Finally, add vanilla and lemon curd. Taste to see if you want to add any more lemon curd.

Assembly:

  1. Unwrap and level the cooled cakes.
  2. Transfer some of the buttercream to a piping bag.
  3. Brush the first cake layer generously with lemon syrup.
  4. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake to act as a dam for the berry compote.
  5. Spread 1/4 of the compote over the cake inside the ring. Cut fresh raspberries in half and press them flat over the compote. Spread another 1/4 of compote over the raspberries to lock in any moisture that might transfer from the raspberries to the next layer of cake.
  6. Repeat this process until the layers have been stacked.
  7. Crumb coat with buttercream and refrigerate briefly to set, 15-20 min.
  8. Frost the cake with the remaining buttercream.
  9. Decorate with fresh lemon slices, raspberries, and flowers!
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