Blueberry Elderflower Cake
This beautiful, single layer blueberry elderflower cake is fluffy, tender, and full of sweet spring blueberry flavor with a hint of sweet floral from the elderflower! This recipe is bursting with fresh blueberries throughout and is topped with a creamy, delicately sweet mascarpone whipped cream topping!
FRESH VS FROZEN BLUEBERRIES
Being that it is spring and blueberries are now in season, it is the perfect time to take advantage of using fresh blueberries in your baking! However, that being said, at other times during the year it can be hard to find fresh blueberries, and sometimes you have to resort to using frozen. But if you’ve ever used frozen blueberries in a batter before, you may have noticed that your entire muffin or cupcake turned blue or even green! Well, there is a simple solution to this – rinsing your frozen berries!
Rinsing the blueberries will remove any of the excess juice that surrounds the berries, ensuring that that liquid isn’t around to seep into the rest of the batter and dye it. The rinse required is not a quick one though. When rinsing you need to keep rinsing until the water draining off of them is almost clear. But after this thorough rinse, the frozen blueberries should be good to use, and no different than fresh!
How to make the blueberry elderflower cake
1.Beat eggs and sugar: Add the eggs, lemon-zest sugar, elderflower liqueur and vanilla to your stand mixer, then beat the three together for about 3-4 minutes. By the end, it should be fluffy, and be tripled in volume.
2. Add butter: Turn the stand mixer down to medium speed, then slowly drizzle the melted butter into the stand mixer while it continues to beat. After all the butter has been added, beat the mixture for another 30 seconds.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt, then whisk them together to combine.
4. Alternate add the dry & wet to stand mixer: First add the 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then beat until just combined. Add ½ of the sour cream, and beat until just combined. Continue adding the wet & dry in this order, until all of the ingredients have been added (you’ll finish with the dry). Lastly, fold in the blueberries!
5. Add to pan & bake: Pour the blueberry elderflower cake batter into a prepared 9” cake pan, then place into the oven to bake! When done, allow the cake to cool completely before topping!
A helpful tip to prevent a soggy blueberry filled cake bottom
If you’ve ever made any cake or baked good with blueberries you may have found that they are seem to sink to the bottom of the pan, causing a soggy, blueberry-laden cake bottom! There is a way to prevent this though! The secret to preventing this is to actually add a little bit of blueberry-free cake batter to the bottom of the prepared cake pan, before you fold the blueberries into the cake batter! So simple, but effective!
What is mascarpone?
Mascarpone is an Italian cream cheese. It is smooth in texture, like cream cheese, but is rather neutral in flavor, unlike tangy cream cheese. Mascarpone is high in butterfat which gives in a creamy, buttery texture and flavor.
In this Blueberry Elderflower Cake recipe, the mascarpone is used in conjunction with whipped cream to make the filling. Whipped cream, by itself, is very fragile and will begin to weep after only a few hours. It will completely lose it’s shape and structure very quickly. Whipped cream, therefore needs a friend of some sort, to keep it rigid and in shape, so to say. That is where mascarpone comes in. Mascarpone acts as a stabilizer for the whipped cream, providing it structure and therefore longevity.
Making the mascarpone whipped cream
First and foremost, the mascarpone cheese needs to be well-softened, at room temperature before using it! Cold mascarpone will not blend well into the whipped cream, so please ensure that it is soft before adding it!
To make the mascarpone whipped cream for the blueberry elderflower cake, start by adding the cold heavy cream to a bowl or stand mixer, then throw in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Beat this mixture until the whipped cream has formed stiff peaks. Then, add in the softened mascarpone, and continue to beat until the mascarpone is well incorporated and the texture is smooth.
It should be noted that the cake needs refrigerated once the mascarpone whipped cream is added. Whipped cream does not like heat of any sort, and will VERY quickly melt (even after being stabilized by the mascarpone) if any heat is present!
Get the Recipe: Blueberry Elderflower Cake
Ingredients
Blueberry Elderflower Cake
- 2 ¼ cups (270g) All Purpose Flour,, measured correctly
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 ½ cups (300g) White Sugar
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 3 Large Eggs,, at room temperature
- 2 tbsp Elderflower Liqueur
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 1 cup (227g) Unsalted Butter,, melted
- 1 cup (240g) Full Fat Sour Cream
- 2 cups (380g) Blueberries,, divided
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- 1 ¼ cups (300g) Heavy Cream,, well chilled
- 1/2 cup (60g) Confectioners Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 6 oz (170g) High Quality Mascarpone Cheese,, at room temperature
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Instructions
Blueberry Elderflower Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and prepare a 9” springform cake pan with cooking spray and parchment rounds. In a medium to large sized mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt, then whisk together to combine.
- In a bowl, combine the lemon zest and sugar. Then, using your hands, rub the zest into the sugar until very fragrant.
- In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, add eggs, zest-sugar, elderflower liqueur and vanilla. Beat on high for around 5 minutes, the mixture should look thick, fluffy, and be tripled in volume. Then, slowly drizzle in the melted butter. After all the oil has been added, beat for an additional minute.
- On low, add the dry mixture to the stand mixer in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream in between. Beat only until the batter becomes smooth. Fold in 1 cup (190g) of blueberries.
- Add the batter to the pan, then bake in the oven for around 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely before topping.
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- In a stand mixer fitted with whip attachment, add heavy cream, confectioners sugar and vanilla. Beat on high until just before stiff peaks form. Add in the mascarpone cheese, then beat until well-combined and stiff peaks have formed.
- Dollop the mascarpone whipped cream on top of the cooled cake, then top with remaining 1 cup (190g) of blueberries. Dust with additional confectioners sugar and serve.
- Keep topped cake in the fridge if not consuming immediately.
Hi! I do not have Elderflower Liqueur, is this something I can leave out? Do you have any idea for a substitute for this?
Thanks!
Hi there! You can leave it out if you wish! It provides a sweet floral flavor, so if you leave it out, it just won’t have that sweet floral flavor! There’s no real substitute I can think of!
You could use elderflower cordial instead