Easter and Lemon-Ginger Cake with Blackberry Curd

Okay, I promise pictures of the wedding are coming soon, but for now I'm catching up on some of the posts that will take less time.

I love this cake for Easter. I got the recipe from my friend Tisha a few years ago and I absolutely adore it! I ended up adding an extra cup of powdered sugar to the frosting. It was still very wet and soft- I could not decide whether to add more powdered sugar or not. I liked the way it tasted with such a soft frosting and I was afraid it would change too much with the addition of more powdered sugar. It was a little trickier to ice the cake and the presentation may have been better with a frosting that was a little more dry and stiff, but maybe the sacrifice in the texture and flavor wouldn't have been worth it. Hard to know.

Here's the recipe:

Lemon-Ginger Cake with Blackberry Curd
For cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
8 eggs
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 teaspoons pure lemon extract

For curd filling:

16-ounce bag frozen blackberries (can substitute fresh blackberries)

2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons black raspberry or blackberry liqueur (optional)

For frosting:

Two 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, at room temperature
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For decoration:

1 pint basket fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh, unsprayed rose petals

To make cake:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper and spray again on top of paper.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and ginger. Using a mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, followed by lemon zest, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Continue mixing until smooth. Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture. Mix just until combined. Pour into prepared pans. Bake cakes 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Loosen edges with a knife and remove from pans and gently remove parchment paper; continue cooling, until cakes are completely cool.

To make blackberry curd filling:

In a medium saucepan, stir together frozen berries, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, butter and salt. Cook over medium heat until thickened and beginning to bubble around the edges, about 5 minutes. Strain curd into medium bowl, pressing on solids in strainer. When strained, mix in liqueur, if desired. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

To make cream cheese frosting:

Place all ingredients in a mixer on medium speed and blend until smooth.

To assemble the cake:

Cut each cake horizontally into two layers. Place 1 layer, baked side down, on platter. Spread 1/3 of blackberry filling over. Repeat with 2 more cake layers and filling. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread icing over cake top and sides, swirling for an elegant presentation. Top with fresh blackberries and rose petals, if desired. Yield: 12 servings.

We had Easter dinner at my Uncle Wayne's and Aunt Cindy's (which was where Julia's reception was, too) and it was fun to be with the family. The food was FABULOUS and Cindy's house and yard are gorgeous. We even took a family picture- something we haven't done in a long time. Franny and Sophie had a fun time playing with their second cousins. We were able to get a few of these fun shots.

Here's my Dad in his Easter pants helping Sophie find eggs. Bobby got this cute shot of Sophie going for an egg.


Here's a few of the girls with their second cousins. They had so much fun playing with William, Jenna, Liv, Elle, and Evan!



We got to watch Julia and Grant open their presents! They got some great stuff! Here I am with Kristy, Chrissy, and Vanessa ooh-ing and ahh-ing from the side. Bobby, Richard and Matt were watching the kids near the pool. Thomas, Alex, Annie, and Skyler (Grant's little bro) hanging out on the world's most comfortable couch. And the last picture is of my youngest cousin and in my opinion the best hiding spot in the whole Easter egg hunt.




Then we celebrated my brother Richard's birthday. He and his beautiful wife Kristy have been married for a year now! Happy anniversary yesterday! I love you Richard.