Honey Cake with Blackberry Jam Icing

I know just how clichéd, and food blogger-y this sounds, but I recently went wild blackberry picking in the parks of Charleston and I couldn’t wait to create a cake around these tart and seedy berry gems.

A couple of strolling hours and a few cuts from thorns later, I had an impressive amount of wild blackberries ready to be made into a jam and I couldn’t resist putting together this amazing cake.

Blackberry Fields Forever

I love blackberries, they are tart, sweet and full of flavor. Personally, the seediness is part of the charm of these berries, but if the seeds aren’t your jam (get it, not your jam?!? I’ll see myself out) you can blend the berries briefly in a food processor, then strain out the seeds before making your jam.

The wild blackberries I used were on the more tart side, so I used towards the higher amount of recommended sugar, but taste your berries first. You still want some of the berry flavor to come through, not just the sugar. The honey cake will also lend some extra sweetness to the overall final flavor.

We’ll use all of the jam in our buttercream, but you can easily scale up the batch to make extras. Use it on these Chai Scones or in this Blackberry & Coconut Pound Cake as just a few options.

Jam Buttercream

This buttercream is a Swiss Meringue Buttercream, and my favorite cake icing. There is a few extra steps over a classic American buttercream, but the final silky, buttery texture is worth the effort.

The first step is to heat the egg whites enough to make them safe to eat, but not so much that we get scrambled eggs. Warming them slowly with the sugar over a simmering water bath, and stirring constantly to 160°F is our goal for the meringue base.

Once your eggs are heated enough, it’s time to whip the meringue. The bowl will be hot when you start, and you want to whip until those eggs come down closer to room temperature and they are light and fluffy. Slowly add the butter in pieces at a time then let your buttercream whip some more.

And maybe some more, it will take time for the butter to fully incorporate. It may even look a little weird and curdled and soupy for a few minutes. Don’t freak out, just let it do its thing, and keep whipping. In a blink, you will get a silky, shiny, lovely buttercream.

Let’s Decorate!

I had fully intended to create a standard “semi-naked” cake when I began this journey, smoothing out the icing on the sides of the cake to cover some of the sides. But as I went, something about the natural icing look appealed to the wild blackberry vibe of this honey cake.

I added a few extra commercially sourced blackberries (these are about 15x larger than the wild ones used in the jam) and a matching lavender mum because I love a color theme. Always let yourself play and make the decorating your own. Sometimes you just “see it” and sometimes it works out as you go.

Honey Cake Useful Tools

• Digital Scales are my absolute must for baking!
• Offset Spatula this is the perfect tool for smoothing buttercream between cake layers
• Potato Masher comes in handy to smoosh those berries into lovely jam
• 6″ Cake Tins make for a cake with height and personality

Honey Cake with Blackberry Jam Icing

Paired with a sweet, and subtle honey cake, the buttercream jam is really to star of the show for this summery honey-based cake.

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Author: Theresa | Quiet Baking Day

Yield: 8 slices

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time50 minutes mins

Chilling Time1 hour hr

Total Time2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

MUS

Equipment

• 4 6" cake tins

Ingredients

M – US

Blackberry Jam

• 165 g fresh blackberries
• 4 to 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Honey Cake

• 360 g cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 170 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 198 g granulated sugar
• 99 g canola or vegetable oil
• 170 g honey
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 56 g whole milk room temperature
• 113 g sour cream

Blackberry Jam Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 150 g egg whites room temperature
• 297 g granulated sugar
• 452 g unsalted butter room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoons salt

Instructions

• Blackberry Jam:

  Mash blackberries with a fork in a small saucepan.
  165 g fresh blackberries
• Taste berries and add sugar according to tartness, and lemon juice.
  4 to 5 tablespoons granulated sugar, Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Simmer on low until jam thickens, about 15 minutes. Scrape bottom on pan with a wooden spatula frequently to avoid burning. 
• To test if jam is ready, place a metal spoon in the freezer for a few minutes, then set a drop of jam on the back of the cold spoon. If it stays in place, your jam is set.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool completely in fridge. At least 2 hours.
• Honey Cake:

  Preheat oven to 350°. Spray and line 4 – 6" cake pans with cooking spray and parchment paper. 
• Sift together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
  360 g cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoons salt
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar using the paddle attachment until light and airy, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently, about 5-7 minutes. Add oil and honey.
  170 g unsalted butter, 198 g granulated sugar, 99 g canola or vegetable oil, 170 g honey
• Add eggs one at a time, fully mixing before adding the next. Add vanilla. 
  4 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk on low speed. Dry-wet-dry-wet-dry.
  56 g whole milk
• Stir in sour cream.
  113 g sour cream
• Divide evenly among 4 cake tins. Bake for 23-26 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean.
• Allow to cool to the touch before removing cake from pans.
• Blackberry Jam Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine egg whites and sugar.
  150 g egg whites, 297 g granulated sugar
• Place mixing bowl over a small pot of simmering water to slowly heat the egg whites. Whisk constantly until the sugar is melted and egg whites reach 160°F. Be sure bottom of bowl does not touch simmering water.
• Transfer mixing bowl to mixer. Whip on high until meringue forms and cools to room temperature.
• Once cooled, reduce speed to low and add cubes of butter slowly. After all of the butter is added, return speed to high and continue whipping until butter is fully incorporated and buttercream is a light and silky texture. Do not be worried if the mixture appears to be curdled, this is part of the emulsifying process! This may take 10 minutes or so. 
  452 g unsalted butter
• Add blackberry jam, vanilla, and salt, mix until combined.
  2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoons salt
• Assembly:

  Using a serrated knife, level the tops of cake as necessary.
• Divide icing between layers. 
• If desired, use palette knife or bowl scraper to smooth sides.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Notes

• Cakes may also be baked in 3 – 8″ cake tins. Bake at 350° for 23-26 minutes. 
• Store leftovers in the fridge

Disclaimer: We test all recipes using the metric weights shown, we cannot guarantee outcomes when switching to US measurements.