Lemon-Blueberry Cake. Lemons make me smile.

I love lemons.

The beautiful, bright shade of yellow reminds me of the sun, bright skies and summer. It leaves me feeling fresh. I love the taste of lemons in water, in baked goods, with chicken, in fact – I’ve yet to try something with lemon I haven’t liked. I have a pretty large picture of lemons hanging on my kitchen wall. That’s how much I love lemons; and when I look at the picture I can’t help but smile. It’s like the feeling of sunshine on my skin.

Lemons to me are a lot like my Aunt Judy’s personality: sweet, a little sassy and bright. Aunt Judy, like lemons, made me smile. Being one of my mom’s three sisters, she was the one who seemed to be a free spirit. Most of the Long girls are conservative and have unbelievable cooking skills. We knew dinner at Aunt Judy’s would consist of chicken from Pollards.

Aunt Judy and her grand-daughter, Caitie

She just seemed to approach life differently. Her laugh would welcome anyone. She had an ease of conversation. I got to tease her for being “Creepy Aunt Judy” as she liked to ogle my boyfriend. She appreciated a well-built man and enjoyed checking him out in his swimsuit. While I would tease her about how odd and unnatural that was, it really didn’t bother me – heck, she had good taste.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Aunt Judy. Cancer took her last Friday. In her honor I’ve made a Lemon-Blueberry Cake. Sweet and bright, just like Aunt Judy. Hopefully everyone will smile at the taste of lemon and the memory of an exceptionally loving aunt.


Lemon-Blueberry Layer Cake, from Sweetapolia via Pinterest.

Ingredients:

2 cups plus 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon pure lemon extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened about 20 minutes out of refrigerator

1 1/2 cups white sugar

4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8" round cake pans with parchment paper, butter and flour. Sift dry ingredients into medium bowl. Transfer 1 tablespoon flour mixture to larger bowl. Add fresh blueberries and toss to coat them with flour. Set remaining flour mixture and blueberries aside.

Stir whole milk, sour cream, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon zest in small bowl. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar, until pale yellow and very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, until well combined. Mix in flour mixture alternately with milk mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter equally among 8" round pans

Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean, about 25 minutes (I had to bake it for about 10-15 minutes longer). Cool cakes in pans on racks for about 10 minutes, then invert onto racks until completely cool. 

Frost with Zesty Lemon Frosting.

Zesty Lemon Frosting, from Sweetapolita

Ingredients:

1 cup soft unsalted butter

2 teaspoons lemon zest

5 cups icing sugar (or 6 cups for sweeter version)

60 ml fresh lemon juice

6 tablespoons whipping cream (35% cream)

1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract

2 tablespoons water

pinch salt

drop of yellow food color (optional)

Cream butter and lemon zest in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, about 3 minutes. Slowly add icing sugar, mixing on low speed for about 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and beat on med-high for 3-4 minutes until very fluffy. If using color gel, add a drop or two, then beat until blended. Yields enough to frost outside of three layer 8" round cake.

(I wish my cake turned out as beautiful as my recipe inspiration. I'm not going to scare you with a photo of mine. Check out the original recipe post from the links above for your own inspiration.)