I clearly wasn’t thinking straight at the time as after I poured the frosting on the cake, which I did so shortly after it came out of the oven, it pooled around the edges and wasn’t thick at all. It kind of disappeared after a few minutes into the cake. Which when you think about it, its much like a syrup. Turns out, it’s absolutely perfect for this vanilla and blueberry cake.
The frosting is also easy done in a pot on your stove top. I know it’s not the typical way of making cake frosting, think of it as a syrup but with added icing sugar. Once your cake is finished baking and you have removed it from the oven, sit it aside and get started on your frosting. In a pot, you melt together your butter, lemon juice and icing sugar. Once completely smooth. Pour it on your warm cake, yes, whilst it’s warm from the oven and still in it’s baking pan. The key to get the icing to soak through your cake is for it to still be warm. That way it’s easy for the syrup frosting to pour down through the cake whilst it’s still soft.
Allow your cake to cool down completely in the pan as the icing is still soaking through. Once cooled, the cake is quite soft and very delicate, so please handle it with extra care. I’ve provide detail in the recipe method on how to remove, transfer and handle your cake, as it can break easy as it’s so beautifully soft. Which is a slight down side (the breaking) but only if you’re rough with it.
Ready to enjoy your delicious vanilla, blueberry and lemon cake? Let’s bake!
Vanilla & Wild Blueberry Sheet Cake with Lemon Syrup Icing
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: Serves: 8-10
Description
A beautiful luscious moist vanilla cake that is bursting with wild blueberries. The lemon icing is syrup like in consistency that soaks through the warm cake, creating a beautiful soft textured cake. Enjoy with a hot cuppa or coffee.
Ingredients
Scale
- Cake
- 1 ½ cups (225g) gluten free plain all purpose flour, or regular plain all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¾ cup (160g) raw granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (approx. 60g in shell), at room temperature
- ½ cup (120ml) milk, at room temperature
- ½ cup (120ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (140g) wild frozen blueberries, may also use fresh. If you don’t have access to wild blueberries, use small regular frozen or fresh blueberries
- Lemon Syrup Icing
- 30g (2 Tbsp) unsalted butter
- 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ¾ cup (100g) icing/powdered sugar
Instructions
- Cake
- Preheat oven to 180ºC (356ºF). Lightly grease a 7-inch x 11-inch rectangle baking tray with butter then line it with a sheet of baking paper, ensuring there is some overlap so you can lift up the paper to remove the cake later on. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Whisk until well combined.
- Add egg, milk, olive oil and vanilla. Using a spatula, gently fold until just combined.
- Add blueberries and gently fold through, ensuring not to over-mix.
- Pour batter into lined pan, spreading it out evenly with the spatula.
- Transfer to oven and bake for 28-30 minutes or until lightly golden on top and a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and set aside, you’ll now make your icing so you can pour it over the cake whilst it’s warm, the icing takes just a few minutes to make.
- Do not remove cake from pan.
- Lemon Syrup Icing
- Make your icing straight after you remove the cake from the oven, as the cake needs to be warm when you pour it over.
- In a small size pot, add butter and lemon juice. Put over a low heat and warm through until butter completely melts, don’t let it come to a simmer/boil. Mixing occasionally.
- Add icing sugar and vigorously whisk through until no lumps remain and the mixture is completely smooth. It will be slightly thick.
- Remove from heat and immediately pour over the warm cake, spreading it over the whole cake using a spatula.
- It will settle around the sides but then it will gradually soak through the entire cake, top and sides. Set it aside to do this.
- Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan.
- When ready to remove, gently pick up the sides of the baking paper and place cake on a wire rack or board.
- Carefully slide of the paper, I like to use a large flat cooking spatula for this step. The cake is really soft and delicate so please handle it gently as it can break.
- Slice and enjoy! Or very gently slide it into a large tupperware/airtight container, using the spatula again to make it easier to handle/transfer.
- Store in an airtight container, in the pantry, for 3-4 days.
- Prep Time: 20min
- Cook Time: 30min
Gale Hart says
This makes a wonderful, delicious cake and an instant family favorite. I'm going to try a cranberry orange version over the holidays. So happy to find this amazing one bowl vanilla cake recipe!
★★★★★
Samantha says
Hi Gale! I'm so happy to hear you made and enjoyed this cake recipe and your family did also, it's one of my favorites. Your cranberry and orange version sounds fabulous for the holiday season, I'll have to try that myself! Thanks for sharing, Sam x
Mallory says
This looks amazing! I’m just wondering, do you think an egg replacer will work in this recipe? Something like Bob’s Mill.
Samantha says
Hi Mallory! Thanks so much 🙂 I haven't tried an egg replacer myself in this recipe but I'd recommend an actual egg replacer such as the one you mentioned and not a flax or chia egg. As those can alter the recipe too much and I'm not sure how the finished cake would turn out. So definitely try an egg replacer. Hope that helps! 🙂
Camille says
HI Samantha,
Thank you for all the great recipes. Just to pick up on the previous question, would it work to replace the egg with some apple cider vinegar, similarity to your vegan vanilla coconut icing cake?
Thanks !
Camille
Samantha says
Hi Camille, you're most welcome!
Great question! I think it might work with this cake too as it has the baking powder, soda and olive oil. I can only suggest for you to give it a go as I haven't tried it myself just yet - I plan to now you mention that. A fantastic idea for an egg free version for this cake. Hope that helps, enjoy your day, Sam 🙂