Vegan Lemon Blackberry Ginger Layer Cake

Vegan lemon blackberry ginger layer cake with vegan lemon cake layers, blackberry ginger jam filling covered in a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and topped with lemon zest.

We avoided the big virus for as long as we could but it finally hit us. While I’m feeling a lot better I still have a bit of a nagging cough and sore voice so I figured if I was up for making a cake I should use some lemon and ginger to help soothe things… It works like that right? haha

This is a really nice cake if you’re craving something fresh with a bit of zest. The blackberry ginger is very subtle and gives a nice added flavour to the cake. Swiss meringue buttercream is so lovely! It’s soft, silky and fluffy. It’s just such a nice wrapping on this cake.

You can find the recipe for the lemon cake layers, blackberry ginger filling and Swiss meringue buttercream below along with my YouTube video to see how it all came together.

Print Recipe

Vegan Lemon Blackberry Ginger Layer Cake

Ingredients

Lemon Cake Layer

• 1 1/4 cup oat milk
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon zest zest from one lemon
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest

Blackberry Ginger Filling

• 2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
• 1 tbsp ginger micro planed
• 1/4 cup juice from one lemon
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Vegan Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 1 1/4 cup aquafaba liquid from a can of chickpeas
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup vegan butter softened
• 1 cup vegetable shortening

Instructions

Lemon Layer Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Lightly grease three six inch or two eight inch cake pans and cover the base with a circle or square of parchment paper.
• Make vegan buttermilk in a large bowl by stirring together non-dairy milk and vinegar. Set aside for a few minutes.
• In a large bowl (or bowl of a stand mixer) sift together flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk until combined.
• To the vegan buttermilk mixture add sugar, lemon juice, zest lemon extract, oil and vanilla, whisking to combine.
• Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients beating with a hand mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment until smooth.
• Divide cake batter evenly to the prepared cake pans, smoothing out the tops and bake for 30 mins approximately. Time will vary depending on your oven and what size of pans you choose to use.
• I always like rotate the pans at around the 20 minute mark. I will use a toothpick to check the cakes doneness – minimal crumbs stick to a toothpick after you insert it into the centre of the cake.
• Place pans on a cooling rack and wait until completely cooled to decorate.

Blackberry Ginger Filling

• Add ingredients to saucepot and cook on low heat until blackberries are easily mashed and liquid has reduced slightly.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• Combine the aquafaba and white sugar in a sauce pot and bring to a full boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes allowing the sugar to completely dissolve, remove from heat and cool completely.
• Using a stand mixer with whisk attachment add the cooled aquafaba and sugar mixture whip on high speed until it is thick and glossy and has firm peaks, about 5 minutes.
• Combine cream of tartar with 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and add one teaspoon of this mixture at a time to the whipped aquafaba meringue. Once added add remaining cup of powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time.
• Add vegan butter and vegetable shortening bit by bit while continuing to whip.
• Add the vanilla.

Assembly

• In the center of the cake board, place the first cake layer top side up.
• Spread buttercream over the cake layer and add some blackberry filling.
• Place cake layer and repeat steps until last cake layer placing final cake layer bottom side up.
• Perform a ‘crumb coat’ if you choose by applying a thin layer of buttercream around the cake and place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
• Once the crumb coat is set, frost the cake with remaining buttercream and decorate to your liking.