Instructions

LIME CAKE

1. Adjust an oven rack to the center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 8-inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray and set aside.
   
2. In a bowl or a 4 cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together milk, egg whites and lime flavoring. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment attached, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lime zest on low speed until combined. Add butter one tablespoon at a time until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces, about 1 minute. Reserve ½ cup of the milk mixture and pour the remaining to the flour mixture and mix on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the reserved ½ cup milk mixture to the batter and mix until combined, about 30 seconds. Do not over mix. The batter may look curdled. Give the batter a final stir by hand with a rubber spatula.
   
3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and smooth tops with a rubber spatula. Gently tap cake pans on the counter to settle the batter and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 20 to 25 minutes, switching and rotating pans halfway through baking.
   
4. Let cakes cook in their pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Invert cakes on to wire racks to cool completely, about 2 hours.
   

BLACKBERRY FILLING

1. Place thawed blackberries in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Over a bowl pour blackberry puree over a sieve to remove the solids. The puree will be thick. Use a spoon to stir and press the puree through the strainer.
   
2. Place blackberry puree in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add sugar and cornstarch mixture and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. Once the puree thickens, remove from the heat. Cool for 5 minutes and then add fresh lemon juice. Chill for about 2-3 hours in the refrigerator until ready to use.
   

BLACKBERRY SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

1. Place the blackberries, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until pureed. Set aside until needed.
   
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour in the egg whites and sugar and whisk by hand until combined. Fill a medium saucepan with about 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Place mixer bowl on top, being sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water and attach a candy thermometer.
   
3. Whisking occasionally, heat the egg mixture until the temperature reaches 160 degrees. Once the mixture reaches 160 degrees, transfer to a stand mixer and beat the mixture on high speed for 10 minutes or until medium-stiff peaks form. At this point the outside of the mixer bowl should be room temperature. Switch out the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment and with the mixer on low speed, add the butter one tablespoon at a time, and then add the vanilla extract and blackberry flavoring. Once combined, turn up the mixer speed to medium-high and beat until the buttercream is smooth about 5 minutes. Gradually add the blackberry puree and mix until combined.
   

ASSEMBLY

1. Place a nonslip mat on top of a cake turntable and place a cake board on top. Center the first cake layer on top of the cake board, making sure there's even spacing from all around the edges. Fit a piping bag with a round piping tip or coupler and fill the piping bag with about 1 cup buttercream. Pipe a buttercream dam around the outer edge of the cake. Fill the center with half of the filling and spread out in an even layer with a small offset cake spatula. Place the second cake layer on top and gently press to adhere to the bottom cake layer. Pipe a buttercream dam around the outer edge and spread the remaining filling out in an even layer until it reaches the buttercream dam. Add the third and final cake layer (bottom side up) on top and gently press to adhere.

CRUMB COAT

1. Apply a thin layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake, creating a crumb coat. Chill the crumb coated cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
   

CAKE DECORATING

1. Apply a generous amount of buttercream on top of the chilled cake and spread out the buttercream just over the top of the cake. You should have excess buttercream hanging off the edges. Line an 8-inch acrylic cake disc with parchment paper and place disc parchment side down on to the cake, making sure it’s level and the bottom cake board and the top acrylic disc line up.
   
2. Apply buttercream over the sides of the cake. Gently press a cake scraper against the bottom cake board and the top acrylic disc and rotate the turntable to remove the excess buttercream and to smooth the sides of the cake. Apply more frosting to any gaps and use the cake scraper and rotate the turntable again until the sides are smooth.
   
3. Holding an offset cake spatula horizontally to the side of the cake. Gently press the spatula tip (starting from the bottom) on the side of the cake, while gently rotating the cake turntable. Continue to rotate the turntable while slowing working the cake spatula all the way up the sides of the cake until you reach the top.Chill the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before removing the acrylic disc.
   
4. Carefully insert your offset cake spatula under the acrylic disc and rotate the turntable to loosen. Remove the disc and the parchment paper. Smooth out the top of the cake with a cake spatula. Starting from the outside edge, using your offset spatula, rotate the turntable while moving the spatula slowly towards the center to create ridges on the top of the cake.
   
5. Decorate the top of the cake with fresh blackberries, lime slices, fresh lime zest and coordinating sprinkles. Carefully transfer cake to a cake pedestal and serve.