Lemon Blueberry Swirl Cake

This cake. Whew! This cake. It has a light lemon taste in the cake but is accentuated with the lemon curd in the middle. The blueberry pie filling pairs perfectly in the middle and is a nice surprise. Tart and sweet, finished off with a tangy cream cheese frosting. A great summer treat!

Ingredients

For the Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
• zest of two lemons
• juice of two lemons

For the Blueberry Filling:

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar

For the Lemon Curd:

• zest of two lemons
• juice of two lemons
• 1 stick of butter, cubed
• 3 egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2, 8 oz. blocks cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar (if you want sweeter, do 2 cups)

Toppings, optional

• Sugared blueberries, two curled lemon slices

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350*
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
• In separate bowl, whisk together lemon zest and sugar
• In bowl of stand mixer, cream butter, eggs, vanilla, and the sugar mixture
• In small bowl, whisk lemon juice and cream
• Alternating mixtures, beat flour and cream into bowl of stand mixer ending with flour, beat until just combined
• Butter and flour two 6-inch cake pans
• Divide batter evenly between two pans
• Bake for 38-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean

While cake is baking, make the blueberry filling and lemon curd…

• In a medium saucepan, whisk together water and cornstarch
• Add blueberries and sugar, whisk until everything is dissolved
• Over medium heat, stir until blueberries burst and sauce starts to thicken
• Once thickened, removed from heat and put in the refrigerator

Lemon Curd:

• In a medium saucepan, whisk together all ingredients over medium low heat
• Continue whisking until mixture begins to thicken, 6-8 minutes
• Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes
• Put in the refrigerator until cakes are ready to assemble

Making the frosting:

• With an electric mixture, beat butter, cream cheese, and vanilla
• Add powdered sugar in half cup increments until you reach desired sweetness

To Assemble

• Using a serrated knife, cut each cake in half to create four layers
• Layer as follows: cake, frosting, blueberry filling, cake, frosting, lemon curd, cake, frosting, blueberry filling, cake

• Once done creating layers, cover the entire cake with frosting
• This cake is not meant to be perfect, imperfection is key
• Blueberry filling may spill out and that’s ok, that is what creates our ‘swirl’
• If you want more blueberry in the outer frosting, using a spoon, dab a few small blobs on to the frosting and using a knife, work into the frosting
• Optional Topping: sugared blueberries are created by dipping fresh blueberries in one whisked egg white, then rolling in sugar