One Bowl Fresh Berry Cake

5 from 1 vote

This perfect berry cake is sweet, light and looks beautiful too. It has layers of vanilla sponge, sandwiched between berries and freshly whipped cream cheese icing and then covered in more berries.

Prep Time50

Cook Time20

Total Time1 10

Course: Baking

Cuisine: British

Servings: servings

Ingredients

For the cake:

5 large eggs at room temperature
200 g caster sugar (1 cup)
120 ml flavourless oil use sunflower/vegetable/canola oil (1/2 cup)
120 ml whole milk room temp (½ cup)
1 tsp vanilla extract
280 g plain flour (2 cups)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

For the frosting & decoration:

450 g cold cream cheese (2 cups)
150 g icing (powdered) sugar sifted (1 ¼ cups)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
350 ml double cream cold (1 ½ cups)
Fresh raspberries
Fresh blueberries
Fresh strawberries
Fresh blackberries
Fresh mint
Edible flowers

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/355f. Grease and line your chosen cake tins. I did 3 x 6 inch cakes but 2 x 8 inch would be good too. Set aside.
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, crack in the eggs. Add the caster sugar and beat until at least doubled in size, pale and thick. Use an electric whisk if you don’t have a stand mixer.
Add the vanilla extract to the beaten eggs and sugar, then whilst whisking, stream in the oil until incorporated. Repeat with the milk and whisk until incorporated.
Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl and beat until just combined.
Separate the cake batter among the three prepared tins. Bake for 18 minutes (if using 3 x 6 inch tins) or 22-25 mins (if using 2 x 8 inch tins) or until risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the middle of each sponge comes out clean.

For the frosting:

In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, the icing sugar and the vanilla and whisk together until smooth. I like to use an electric whisk.
Then slowly add the cream - whisking after every addition until all incorporated and then whisk for about 1 minute until it's thickened. You want it holding its shape in stiff peaks. Any softer and it will collapse and slide down the cake, but don't overwhisk it because of the cream, it will turn grainy.

To decorate:

Lay a sponge round in front of you on a plate or ideally a cake turntable. Spread osome the icing on the bottom layer and then a layer of fresh berries. Stack with another sponge round and repeat until all your cake layers are used (will depend if you did 2 or 3).
Cover the top and sides with cream cheese icing and use a large palette knife to smooth the cake all over until it’s covered in icing.
Take the fresh berries, halve the strawberries and then arrange all over the cake, pressing into the icing so they stick. Add an assortment of berries, fresh mint and edible flowers.
Place in the fridge until ready to serve. Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before serving (unless it’s a really hot day, then serve immediately out of the fridge as you don’t want to risk the icing turning into a melty mess!)
The video below wil help with this recipe.

Video

Notes

Scroll up for a step by step guide on how to make lemon curd cake.

To store: Keep in an airtight cake tin or well-wrapped in clingfilm in the fridge for up to 3 days. Remove from the fridge 20 minutes before eating as it’s better room temperature rather than fridge cold!

To freeze: You can freeze the sponges not the icing. For the sponges, leave to cool and wrap tightly in clingfilm. Place in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to use, take out of the freezer the night before and allow to thaw overnight at room temp.

Make ahead: Yes, you can make and decorate the cake a day in advance, aside from the berries on the outside. Cover the outside of the cake in icing, cover and place in the fridge for up to a day. Then a few hours before serving, you can decorate with the berries. This is because you don't want to risk the berry juices bleeding into the icing.
Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before serving so it has time to come to room temperature (unless it's a really hot day). You can make the sponges 3 days in advance. Leave to cool and wrap tightly in clingfilm. Keep in the fridge. For the icing, you can also make this 2 days in advance. Place in an airtight container in the fridge. Again, bring to room temperature before using.

Berries: You can use frozen berries in between the layers of the cake. Just thaw them first and make sure the liquid is drained off. I wouldn't use frozen berries on the outside of the cake as the colours will likely bleed into the icing and it won't look as pretty but it will taste good! You could also use this cake and icing recipe but cover the cake in a different, in-season fruit such as peaches or plums.

Decoration: obviously decorating with berries is key but you don't have to smooth the icing all over the sides of the cake, if you don't want. It would look beautiful with just the icing on the top layer and lots of berries piled on top (like my lemon curd cake, if you need some visual inspiration).

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