Olive Oil Lemon Cake

Olive Oil Lemon Cake with Blackberry Buttercream

Feeds about 6

Ingredients - Batter

2 cups all purpose organic flour

1 1/2 cup organic white sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp fresh thyme

2 tbsp lemon zest

1 3/4 cup almond milk

3 tbsp lemon juice

3/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Ingredients - Blackberry Jam Filling

1 tbsp vegan butter

1 1/2 cup blackberries

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup brown sugar

cornstarch slurry - 1 tbsp corn starch mixed with 3 tbsp cold water

1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients - Blackberry Buttercream

1/2 cup vegan butter

1/2 cup shortening- I like the spectrum brand

3 1/2 cup powdered sugar - I like the wholesome brand

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp vanilla

2 blackberries

1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

Step 1

Measure out and organize your ingredients separating your dry and wet. In a large measuring glass or bowl, measure out your almond milk adding in the lemon juice to allow a sort of buttermilk to form, add in your olive oil and vanilla extract. In a large bowl measure out your flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.

Step 2

Pour your wet mixture into your dry, whisking carefully to avoid over mixing.

Step 3

Grease 3, 6 inch cake pans and portion your batter between the 3 pans. I like to use a portion scoop to do this to ensure I get an even amount in all 3 pans. You could use a scale to weigh each one of your pans or let your intuition take the lead and eye ball your batter in each pan.

Step 4

If you have a large sheet pan, I like to fit my 3 cake pans on a sheet tray for a couple of reasons. If any grease or batter falls during the baking process, it wont dirty your oven and it makes for easy clean up. Also, it is easy to take the cakes in and out and makes it easy to rotate all the cakes without having to leave the oven open for too long. Bake the cakes for 40 min at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 5

While your cake is baking and cooling this is a great time to work on your filling and butter cream.

Step 6

I recommend starting with your jam filling to give it time to cool while you work on your buttercream as that comes together quite quickly.

In a sauce pan melt down your butter and add in your blackberries. Allow to cook for 10 min or so on medium heat to allow the fruit to cook down. Once it starts to look jammy go ahead and add in your lemon juice, sugar, salt and slurry. Allow to cook on low for another 10 or 15 min till it looks thick and combined. Then allow to cool in the fridge in a storage container.

Step 7

For your buttercream, whip your butter and shortening together for about a min. You can make your buttercream in a stand mixer or hand mixer using a bowl. Next add in your powdered sugar in small sections. Id say about a cup at a time add in your powdered sugar allowing it to whip into the butter for about 3 min each time till you have added all the powdered sugar. Lastly add in all your fixings. While is whipping on low, add in your salt, lemon, vanilla and about a tablespoon or two of your blackberry mixture.

Step 8 - Cake Assembly

Now we have made it to the fun part. Using a cake board place a bit of buttercream on to it to give your cake something to stick onto so it isn’t sliding around while you’re decorating. I use a spinning cake stand to make it easy to rotate the cake as I am decorating it. Place a dab of buttercream onto your cake spinner then your cake board. Once your base has been secured now you can begin building your cake. I recommend cutting off the rounded tops of the cakes to make each layer nice and flat. For each layer of cake I do a layer of buttercream, then jam and also some fresh blackberries. Continue this till all layers have been built. Then cover the top layer of your cake with butter cream. Once this is done you can now work on covering the sides. Don’t be afraid to cover your cake with frosting, its better to work with some speed here to avoid the buttercream drying while you are working with it. You can use a cake scraper or bench scraper to take off excess frosting. I went for a naked cake design so I scraped off enough frosting to show bits of cake peaking through.

Step 9 - Garnish

I garnished my cake with fresh herbs, lemon, berries and even some of the blackberry jam and used it as a drizzle. Decorate your masterpiece to your liking and enjoy !