Okay, so apparently I’m still in summer mode. And I’m still eating blackberries on sale. But for the first time in a long time, the weather is actually decent here and I’m celebrating the sun by baking fun, fruity desserts. Anyone care to join? It doesn’t matter if it’s snowing where you are.
What I’m talking about is having a summer state of mind….
By making these cake sandwiches! Because I honestly can’t think of a better creation than two thick slices of lemon cake sandwiched between fluffy whipped cream and blackberries.
It makes you forget that chocolate is your first love.
It makes you forget the snow and ice.
And it makes you forget that you’ll probably have to do lunges to fit into your jeans later.
Even if you don’t think you like lemon baked goods, I can almost guarantee you will like this cake. It’s soft and light with the most irresistible crust and just a hint of lemon—nothing overwhelming.
It kinda has an old fashioned charm to it, which I love!
(see that gaping hole in the top of the cake? I ate that. heh heh heh.)
You also don’t have to make a sandwich with it. This cake is perfectly acceptable all by itself, smeared with a little raspberry jam or drizzled with a tart lemon glaze.
The sandwiches are just so pretty, though….but let’s be honest, I’m a sucker for anything that involves whipped cream. Berries and cream used be one of my favorite desserts when I was a little kid!
Another idea for dinner parties—-mini cake sandwiches! How cute would little two inch sandwiches be?! If you decide to do that, please invite me over.
And if you decide to do that for a superbowl party, you’re a rockstar (what guy doesn’t love a sandwich made of cake?).
Lemon Blackberry Cake Sandwiches
adapted from Apples for Jam (one of my favorite cookbooks!)
makes 1 loaf-cake
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
juice and zest of one lemon
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks butter, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk
lemon glaze:
juice of one lemon
1 T confectioner’s sugar
whipped cream:
2 cups heavy whipping cream (very cold!)
1/4 cup vanilla sugar or regular sugar
fresh blackberries
Preheat the oven to 325.
Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy (about five minutes). Add the eggs, one by one, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients and then add the milk, lemon juice and lemon zest while continuing to beat until smooth.
Scoop batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan and smooth top with spatula. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the sides pull away from the pan. Let cool in pan 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack or large plate.
While the cake is cooling, beat together the cream and sugar until soft peaks appear. To assemble the sandwiches, make sure the cake is completely cool (or else you’ll melt the cream), and then scoop about a quarter cup of cream on a slice of cake and top with fresh blackberries. Finish with another cake slice.
To make glaze, mix together the lemon juice and powdered sugar. Drizzle over cake. Serve immediately.








{ 74 comments… read them below or add one }
oh my goodness, i’m in the summer state of mind right there with ya! those sandwiches are OUT of this world…in fact, i have a baby shower i’m throwing soon that i’ll be making these for. fabulous!
What an awesome idea! I thought the recipe was just for the cream and berries in the middle and it was actually on white bread
…but lemon cake!
And, hunks taken out of the tops of breads, etc – my forte…it’s horrible and nothing stands a chance against me…hence my terrible pictures probably.
ya think i could pack one of these up for lunch to deviate from the usual pb&j?
Can you please pack me a brown bag lunch with this sandwich? Please and thank you:) Love it Jenna!
The lemon glazed cake sounds delicious all its own
Oh my goodness, you’ve gone too far this time. Holy drooling before breakfast!!
Love this! Lemon desserts are my favorite
I’m going to join you on this ‘Summer Mode’ its way too cold for me in DC.
Ahh, looks amazing. Please – stay in summer mode! It’s definitely helping me get through the -2 (feels like -21) degree weather in Boston…
I really, really wish I felt summery right now
Really…a recipe that doesn’t require one to do lunges in her jeans really isn’t worth it!
YUM.
I hear ya! I hope you got your cookbook, btw!
Not sure why I didn’t do this when I made lemon poundcake a couple of weeks ago…… if it is a sandwich you can eat it for lunch!
Turning cake into sandwiches?! Sign me UP!
Hmmm I just so happen to have lemons…and everything else I need for this cake. (: Such a beautiful creation!
make it!! And then let me know what you think
I LOVE Apples for Jam!
And I’ll have to remember this once berries are in season. This would be the perfect late summer dessert.
I love lemon like most people love chocolate. I’m totally digging this recipe!
This might be the most brilliant idea ever.
I adore Apples For Jam, not only for the pictures, but for the simple and homey recipes. Have you tried the mixed brown bread or the winter squash pizza? Amazing!
I haven’t tried that yet! I LOVE her photography and sometimes just sit and flip through the pages just to drool at everything!
Wow, what a great idea! I’m a little jealous that you have access to blackberries at this time of year! I’ll have to wait until later on this year to try this. they look gorgeous!!
I can not wait until its berry season again! Lemon makes the perfect accompaniment to baked goods.
this looks amazing! I love lemony desserts
I too have been on a blackberry kick lately – my most favorite blackberry snack combo has been blackberries + tortilla + cream cheese + slivered almonds. Such a sweet-tooth satisfier.
interesting!! I will have to give that a try..
a sandwich made of cake is definitely a good idea! I’m with you on the berries and cream thing too – one of my favorites!
Is this for real?! Yes please!
What a beautiful, light looking recipe. You are making me crave Spring
Cake sandwiches? Cake SANDWICHES?!!?! Lovely lovely girl – you are our hero. Forever.
I LOVE the sound of these! A summer state of mind is a little hard for me to get into today since it’s -24C here, but I love the idea of a sandwich made of lemony cake and blueberries in the middle. YUM!
what a lovely summer sandwich. the ideal picture i needed to enjoy this -2 degree day in Boston.
Looks amazing! Just what is needed on -8 degree day!
Now that is a summer dessert! These sandwiches remind me of the base of trifle – cake and jam all mushed together. Maybe if you have leftovers (doubtful!), a lemon blackberry trifle? Layers of lemon pastry cream, cake, berries, and whipped cream all drenched in liquor or lemon syrup…
A lemon blackberry trifle sounds fabulous!! I gave leftovers to my new landlord because lemon is her favorite!
oh my goodness that trifle sounds even yummier than these delicious looking sandwiches!
CAKE sandwiches?? What a brilliant idea!!! These look scrumptious
Lemon is definitely my favorite dessert flavor after chocolate. It’s so refreshing and summery! Nice pallete cleanser after a good meal
.
Whoaaaaa……I cannot NOT stop to thoroughly read a post when the title includes “cake sandwiches.” What a beautiful concept.
I’ve been on the hunt for a good lemon cake recipe! I find so many of them are pound cake and something heavy! I’m going to have to give this one a try!!
Thanks for sharing!
yum!! i am usually not a big fan of lemon desserts, but i think i’d like this as you said it’s only subtle. Lemon + Cream + Berries = perfect combination!
I think you’d like it! It really is very subtle and nice. The lemon isn’t really up front…it’s more like just an old fashioned loaf cake!
I was juuuust thinking I need to make a lemon bread pudding and then poof…this popped up!
THIS put the box cake I made last night to shame!! I was craving sugaaaa
))
I just made lemon drenched lemon cake last weekend and the cake was a lot like this – my man friend went bananas for it. I opted for the glaze route though and that went down a treat – it’s great if you want things to get super lemony.
Yum, I miss berries! The combination of lemon with berries (any berry) is one of my favorites!
This dessert….um snack…looks delicious! I made a similar cake this past week, a lime yogurt blackberry cake. The pictures of your cake remind me of summertime in Charleston. Ah, how I am missing the good ole’ south while I’m up here in Denver. Snow, snow, go away!
Ahh summertime in Charleston…how I miss thee.
Anything “old fashioned” wins me over. Add to that a taste of summer and I practically swoon
This seriously sounds amazing. I’ve got to try making this on Saturday or Sunday.
please do! Let me know how you like it
This definitely beats the sandwich I have planned for later. Yum!
Wonderful idea. I bet this would be amazing with strawberries in it. I wish I could get away with eating this as a “healthy” lunch. It’s a sandwich after all.
linked to you in my blog
check it out
I want it to be summer time so that I can have blackberries! It’s currently 8 degrees F outside my house….with a wind chill of 20 below…I would kill for some warm weather berries right now!
this would be a great larabar flavor!
This looks absolutely delicious
I did lunges in my jeans a couple of weeks ago and my zipper broke – I bought a new pair shortly after that.
This looks amazing! I love poundcake. What a cool idea to make it into a sandwich.
that looks and sounds amazing!
I love that you are in a summer state of mind. It’s been sunny and in the mid to high 70s in the daytime in San Diego for the past 10 days or so….and I definitely have summer on the brain!
And I love that you ate a hole in the cake and posted the pic. Thanks for keeping it real
Yum!!! Looks great Jenna. BTW, sorry about your phone in the later post. I would quite literally die without my phone. And P.S. Totally unrelated to this post but I finally read The Help and LOVED IT!!!! I’m making my mom read it now.
Your photos are gorgeous & making me ridiculously hungry. I never thought of making lemon cake into sandwiches, but it looks delicious!
You kill me. I want one of these!
I’m in summer mode too! I can’t help it. It’s so warm here!
It’s totally like summer here too in So Cal… and I have to say that I am loving it. A weekish ago I was making casseroles and now I’m grilling fish and making fruit salsas. I’ll take it!
I’m thinking about making your buffolo chicken dip and cake sandwiches for my annual superbowl party. Game? What game?
Can I come??!
Ha
Of course!
This is my first time at your site. Liked the recipes and ideas…great job !
hi and welcome!
You said you’re working on a cookbook?….Get that thing published ASAP, please! I’ve been perusing your blog for a couple weeks now and the witty posts, gorgeous photos, and drool-inducing foods have totally won me over. It makes me depressed to be stuck in a stinky little dorm room with no kitchen! Keep up the fabulous work, and make it public the second your cookbook is out!
i made your orange blackberry muffins last night because right as i walked into supertarget, there was a humongous container of blackberries. as of tonight there are only two left! they will be gone before we go to bed. DELISH! i can’t wait to make this cake, got to run and get some more berries and heavy cream. i am gonna gain like 5 pounds this week!
so glad you liked them!
I keep coming back and looking at this again and again.
This is my kind of sandwich!
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