Each summer as a child I would spend many weeks with my Granny and my Aunt Lona. Perhaps aside from her Carmel candy her lemon cake stands out and every time I make it I am taken back to those times together in the North Carolina mountains. With blueberries being so plump and juicy this time of year I added them to her recipe and the results were a showstopper with family and friends.
For the Cake You’ll need:
3 cups cake flour
2 tsp. Baking powder
8 oz. unsalted butter softened
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract ( I use my sister’s homemade )
1 tbsp lemon freshly zested
1/4 lemon juice freshly squeezed
3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups of the freshest most beautiful blueberries you can find
For the Frosting You’ll need:
16 oz cream cheese room temp
8 oz unsalted butter softened
6 cups of powdered sugar
3 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon freshly zested
1 tsp of almond extract
To make:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Butter up and dust the pans, I usually use two but I have been known to use a bundt pan too and some cupcake tins too!
Toss the blueberries in cake flour…set aside
Sift all the dry ingredients… set aside
Combine the wet ingredients…set aside
In your mixer beat butter and sugar until fluffy, then add in eggs one at a time followed by vanilla, and zest. Now take the wet and dry and alternate them into the fluffy sugar and butter mixture start with dry and end with dry. Very carefully add the coated berries into the batter, pour into the pan and bake for aprox. 30 mins. Checking often for doneness as cupcakes will finish faster than a cake!
Pull out and let completely cool. Sometimes Aunt Lona would let it sit for a few hours.
Frosting assemble as follows:
Combine the cream cheese, butter then add in the almond extract, zest and lemon juice. Fold in the powdered sugar and mix thoroughly. Ice the cake. Place it in the refrigerator for three hours to set up and then pull out and slice and serve at room temp.
