This easy mixed berry cake is made with lemon and yogurt and is good any time of day! All you need is a springform pan or deep dish pie pan.
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Who could resist this mixed berry cake, a perfect little snack cake just winking up at you from the table? It's deceptively easy to make, perfect any time you need a little treat. (Let's be honest, we always need a little treat!)
I rarely have milk in the house so I used yogurt here, which adds a richness and tang to the cake batter. I also added lemon juice and lemon zest, because berries always want those two things to bring out their sweetness.
If you know me at all, you know I love fruit on a cake, and this is one of the prettiest and tastiest ones you ever did see.
Jump to:
Berry cake ingredients
- Strawberries and blueberries: You can use both, you can use one or the other, you can even use a different berry in this cake! It's flexible.
- Sugar: Some for the cake batter and some for scattering on top of the berries.
- Unsalted butter: So we can control the amount of salt ourselves.
- Plain Greek yogurt: Full fat or low fat, either will work.
- Lemon juice and zest: This gives the cake batter such good flavor and aroma and really brings out the sweetness of the mixed berries.
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking Powder: This will give our cake a good lift, since it has to hold up all those berries.
- Salt
How to make a mixed berry cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen's strawberry summer cake.
Step 1: Prep the cake pan and preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter a 9-inch springform pan, line it with parchment paper, and butter the paper as well. (You can also use a 9-inch deep dish pie pan. Butter it, but you don't need parchment.)
Step 2: Slice strawberries and juice the lemon
Core the strawberries and slice in half with a small paring knife.
Use a microplane grater to zest the lemon. Then juice it.
Step 3: Prepare the wet and dry ingredients
Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Use a hand mixer to cream together the butter and 1 cup of sugar for about 3 minutes. See tips below.
Then add lemon juice and zest, yogurt, egg, and vanilla and stir to combine.
Gradually add the dry ingredients in about three batches. Make sure to fully incorporate ingredients, but don't over mix. Stop the mixer as soon as everything is combined.
Step 4: Top with mixed berries and bake!
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to spread it evenly to the edges.
Place the strawberries cut-side down on top of the batter, then fill in with the blueberries all over the top of the cake. Some of the berries will be stacked on top of each other and that is okay. Scatter the berries with the reserved 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350, then turn the heat down to 325 and bake for another 50-60 minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Tips for the best mixed berry cake
- There is a high sugar to butter ratio, so when creaming the butter and sugar it will not get particularly creamy or fluffy, as it might with other batters or cookies.
- This cake batter is quite thick. It has to be to support the berries on top.
- For the sugar on top, you can use regular sugar or turbinado (raw) sugar. The sugar is not there to get crispy, it's there to help the berries macerate a bit. I tried it both ways, and slightly preferred the turbinado sugar, but if you don't have any on hand, don't make a special trip, just use regular sugar.
- You can use a 9-inch springform pan or a 9-inch deep dish pie pan. If using the pie pan you won't need the parchment paper when prepping the pan.
Recommended tools and equipment
- Cutting board and paring knife: To cut the berries and the lemon.
- Hand mixer, mixing bowls, silicone spatula: To mix up the cake batter.
- Microplane grater: To zest the lemon. Probably my favorite kitchen tool!
- 9-inch springform pan, offset spatula: The spring form pan makes serving really easy, but you can also use a 9-inch deep dish pie pan. You'll need the offset spatula (or use a silicone spatula) to make the cake surface even before adding the berry mixture on top.
Serving suggestions
- This mixed berry cake is great for breakfast!!!!! It's one of my favorite ways to serve it. Maybe alongside a Coffee Granita?
- It makes a beautiful dessert for Easter or Mother's Day.
- Serve at brunch with Eggs en Cocotte and Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes.
- Try it with afternoon tea or coffee.
FAQ
Store at room temperature, loosely covered, for up to two days. If you still have any left after that time (how could you, though?) transfer to the refrigerator for up to 2 more days.
Yes you can! This cake works well with every kind of berry. Try all strawberries, or all blueberries, you can even switch to raspberries or blackberries. As long as you keep it to one pound of berries total, you're good.
Fresh berries are best, but you can substitute frozen mixed berries in this cake. You'll want to take the extra step of thawing the berries first, and draining them well to avoid adding extra moisture. Frozen blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries work best, frozen strawberries tend to hold too much water.
A mixed berry cake that's easy, versatile, and made with simple ingredients!
- This is a moist, lemony cake that has sugared berries exploding with peak flavor on top.
- It's perfect for potlucks, with an afternoon cup of tea, or my favorite—have it for breakfast!
- No special ingredients required, you might already have most of them in your kitchen!
- So easy to make: just whip it up in a couple of bowls with a hand mixer and a spatula!
- Using a springform pan makes for easy removal and dynamite presentation!
More fruit-filled dessert recipes
Try these easy desserts with fruit from every season!
- A Plum Upside Down Cake made in a cast iron skillet is a beautifully caramelized thing.
- There's nothing better than an Easy Peach Crumble in the summer.
- This Apple Ricotta Cake is tender and moist, and it's gluten free!
Recipe
Mixed Berry Cake
Equipment
- 9-inch springform pan or 9-inch deep dish pie pan
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp sugar divided
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 egg room temperature
- ½ cup greek yogurt room temperature, full-fat or low fat
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- zest of one lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan, line it with parchment paper, and butter the paper as well. (You can also use a 9-inch deep dish pie pan. Butter it, but you don't need parchment.)
- Core the strawberries and slice in half with a small paring knife. Use a microplane grater to zest the lemon, then juice it.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Use a hand mixer to cream together the butter and 1 cup of sugar for about 3 minutes. See note below.
- Then add lemon juice and zest, yogurt, egg, and vanilla and stir to combine.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients in about three batches. Make sure to fully incorporate ingredients, but don't over mix. Stop the mixer as soon as everything is combined. Transfer the cake batter to the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to spread it evenly to the edges
- Place the strawberries cut-side down on top of the batter, then fill in with the blueberries all over the top of the cake. Some of the berries will be stacked on top of each other and that is okay. Scatter the berries with the reserved 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 350, then turn the heat down to 325 and bake for another 50-60 minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes comes out clean. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before removing from the springform pan.
Notes
- There is a high sugar to butter ratio, so when creaming the butter and sugar it will not get particularly creamy or fluffy, as it might with other cake batters or cookies.
- This batter is quite thick. It has to be to support the fruit on top.
- For the sugar on top, you can use regular sugar or turbinado (raw) sugar. The sugar is not there to get crispy, it's there to help the berries macerate a bit. I tried it both ways, and slightly preferred the turbinado sugar, but if you don't have any on hand, don't make a special trip, just use regular sugar.
- You can use a 9-inch springform pan or a 9-inch deep dish pie pan. If using the pie pan you won't need the parchment paper when prepping the pan.
- This cake is great for breakfast!!!!!
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