Recipe
Lemon and Blackberry Number Cake
This beautiful number cake features lemon layers and tangy blackberry mousse. It’s decorated with buttercream, meringue kisses, fresh berries, and flowers – sure to make any birthday celebration extra special!
Difficulty: Advanced
Yield: 10 servings*Udstyr
- Adjustable pan
- Wilton 224 piping tip
- Piping bags
- Hand mixer
Ingredients
Lemon Cake Layers:
- 350 g butter (room temperature)
- 300 g flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 350 g sugar
- Zest from 3 lemons
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 tsp lemon juice
- 6 eggs
Blackberry Mousse:
- 3 sheets of gelatin
- 1 tbsp water
- 250 g frozen blackberries
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 250 ml heavy cream
Italian Meringue Kisses:
- 30 g egg whites
- 75 g sugar
- 30 g water
- ¼ tsp vanilla
Whipped Vannilla Buttercream:
- 1 batch of my whipped vanilla buttercream
Decoration:
- Fondant flowers
- Edible flowers (such as honey flowers)
- 100 g fresh blackberries
- 100 g fresh blueberries
Instructions
Lemon Cake Layers:
- Preheat your oven to 180 °C (356 °F). Prepare an adjustable square pan (23x33 cm / 9x13 inches) by lining it with parchment paper – place the paper under the pan and fold it up around the sides, securing with paper clips. If you don’t have an adjustable pan, you can use a square pan of a similar size, but be sure to grease it thoroughly.
- Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. Meanwhile, mix the flour and baking powder in a bowl.350 g butter, 300 g flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and lemon zest together with a hand mixer on high speed until the zest is well incorporated. Add vanilla, lemon juice, eggs, and melted butter, and continue mixing at medium speed until well combined.350 g sugar, Zest from 3 lemons, 2 tsp vanilla, 4 tsp lemon juice, 6 eggs
- Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring gently with a spatula until you have a smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown. Test the cake’s doneness by inserting a toothpick – it should come out clean when the cake is done.
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan until it reaches room temperature.
- Once cooled, carefully remove the cake from the pan. For best results, use an adjustable pan that can be easily loosened. If using a regular pan, gently run a spatula around the edges and lift the cake out.
- Use a serrated bread knife to slice the cake into two even layers. To do this, score a line along the middle of the cake and carefully cut all the way through. The layers should be about 1 cm (1/3 inch) thick.
- Wrap the layers in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to assemble with the mousse.
Blackberry Mousse:
- Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for 10 minutes.3 sheets of gelatin
- In a small saucepan, combine the water, blackberries, and sugar. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.1 tbsp water, 250 g frozen blackberries, 3 tbsp sugar
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and blend the mixture with an immersion blender until smooth.
- Place the saucepan back on the stovetop. Take the softened gelatin out of the water, wring out the excess water, and stir it into the berry mixture until dissolved.
- Pour the berry mixture into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer to remove any seeds. Let it cool to room temperature in the fridge.
- Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Gradually fold in the cooled blackberry sauce, being careful not to let it separate. Once fully incorporated, the mousse is ready to use.250 ml heavy cream
Italian Meringue Kisses:
- Whisk the egg whites with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.30 g egg whites
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water, heating over low heat until the sugar dissolves.75 g sugar, 30 g water
- Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the sugar syrup to a boil. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 116 °C (241 °F) on a candy thermometer.
- Slowly pour the hot syrup into the egg whites while whisking continuously. Be careful not to splash the syrup!
- Continue whisking until the meringue cools to room temperature and stiffens. Stir in the vanilla.¼ tsp vanilla
- Preheat your oven to 100 °C (212 °F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Transfer the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a small star tip and pipe small meringue kisses (about 2 cm in diameter).
- Bake for 30 minutes on the second-lowest oven rack. Let them cool and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Whipped Buttercream:
- Prepare your whipped buttercream as per the recipe above and fill a piping bag fitted with a round tip (about 1 cm).1 batch of my whipped vanilla buttercream
Assemble the Cake:
- Place the bottom layer of the cake with the cut side facing up on your serving platter or board. Tighten the adjustable baking pan around it.
- Spread a layer of blackberry mousse evenly over the cake.
- Place the second cake layer on top, with the cut side facing up, and gently press down.
- Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight, to allow the mousse to set.
Cut the Cake:
- Print or draw a template of the number you want and cut it out. My “5” in the pictures measures 22x32 cm (9x13 inches).
- Place the template on top of the cake and carefully cut along the template with a sharp knife, removing any excess cake.
- Clean up any mousse or crumbs from the dish and refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes before decorating.
Decorating the Cake:
- Decorate your cake however you like. For inspiration, here’s what I used:
- Whipped vanilla buttercream
- Fresh blackberries
- Fresh blueberries
- Fondant flowers
- Mini meringue kisses
- Edible flowers (I used small purple honey flowers)
Notes
*Yield: Makes 1 number cake approx. 23x33 cm (9x13 inches) depending on the number.