I made this cake a few weeks ago for a celebration. A celebration of something I’ve wanted and worked towards for a very, very, very long time. My dearest friends, I am writing a cookbook! And I could not be more ecstatic about it!! Adventures in Chicken is set for a fall 2016 publishing date with the wonderful Haughton Mifflin Harcourt. The deepest thanks goes to my literary agent, Holly Smith, and to my Editor, Justin Schwartz for helping bring this to fruition. I’ll be working on this for a good long while, but I’ll still be posting here of course, just perhaps not quite as often at the end of this year and the beginning of the new one. But it will all be for a delicious, savory cookbook that I know you will all love, so I hope you’ll forgive me for any gaps in posts, however long or short they may be. And I also want to thank you all for your readership, kind words, and comments. Without your continued support I wouldn’t even be writing this book.
Now, to the cake! I’ve always loved the flavor of oregano and thought its limitation to savory uses was a bit of a waste, so I decided to incorporate it into my celebratory cake along with some honey, lemon juice, and olive oil. And to cut through the herbal cake, I used a wonderfully sweet blackberry buttercream made from the ripest, freshest blackberries. The result was a cake that was wonderfully fragrant, sweet without being cloyingly so, and moist. The flavor was absolutely unique, unlike any cake I’ve ever tasted, and in the best way possible. Perfect for a very special celebration like this one.
Rosemary Honey Cake With Blackberry Buttercream
This delicious blackberry cake tasted like the best of late summer in a slice. With sweet-tart blackberry jam between the cake layers, and a creamy blackberry cream cheese frosting, this summery corn cake is the best way to enjoy the fruits of the July, August, and September seasons!
Ingredients
Blackberry Jam
- 1 pound ripe blackberries
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons sugar-free pectin
- 1 tablespoon honey
Rosemary Honey Cake
- 3 and 1/2 cups cake flour
- 1/4 cup cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon vanilla etxract
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary finely chopped
Blackberry Buttercream
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/4 cup cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Blackberry Jam
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In a medium saucepan, bring all ingredients to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium low and continue cooking until the mixture thickens, about 8 to 10 minutes, stirring the mixture and crushing the blackberries with the end of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and set aside to cool completely.
Rosemary Honey Cake
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until well blended. Set aside.
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In an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the eggs, sugar, and honey at medium speed until thick, about 1 minute. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add the flour mixture to the batter in thirds until completely incorporated, then stir in the rosemary. Evenly distribute the batter between 3 well-greased and lightly-floured 8-inch cake pans.
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Place the pans in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes turn golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the pans and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Blackberry Buttercream
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While the cakes are baking, make the frosting. Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth and fluffy and fully incorporated into the butter mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed, beating about 2 minutes more.
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Reduce speed to low and add the powdered sugar in 4 increments, mixing until incorporated before adding the next bit. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the blackberry jam and mix until completely smooth.
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Measure out two separate 1/3 cups of the icing and place each 1/3 cup in a separate bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of the blackberry jam to one bowl and stir until smooth. And add 1 *tablespoon* of blackberry jam to the *other* bowl and stir until smooth. So you'll now have three shades of frosting, the palest shade in the big mixing bowl, a medium shade in a little bowl, and the deepest shade in the other little bowl.
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Layer the cake with the jam between each layer. Frost the entire outside of the cake lightly with the palest shade (from your large mixing bowl). Ice the bottom third of the sides of the cake with the deepest shade, then ice the middle third of the sides of the cake with the medium shade, and lastly, ice the top third of the sides of the cake with the lightest shade. Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Blackberry Buttercream recipe adapted from America's Test Kitchen.
Congratulations. What wonderful news! And what a gorgeous celebration cake!
Thank yo so much Liz!!
Oh, I am so excited for you! You so deserve it, and I have no doubt that your book will turn out fantastically, as everything else you do seems to. Speaking of which, this cake. This cake is unlike ever I have ever seen, and I mean that with good intentions. I've never seen or heard of ornamental oregano, but it makes a stunning appearance on top that blackberry buttercream. You are an absolute genius when it comes to these things.
Thank you Meghan! I am obsessed with ornamental oregano, it looks soooo beautiful in hanging baskets and the Kent's Beauty variety has these beautiful lavender flowers that come out between the leaf layers. I bought a ton this summer and am hoping they make it through the Oregon winter to resurface next year.
Well, it's about time!! SO excited for this book to come out. I'll be first in line! Buuuuuuuuuut I definitely need to get on this cake first. Gorgeous!
Awww thanks Katrina!! And yes, definitely get on that cake, so tasty!!
Wow! Awesome news! My congratulations… I can't wait to have it in my kitchen)) oh, and also your new blog design is so cool, still "yours" but so new))
Thank you, Maryna! I'm so glad you like it, I had a lot of fun putting the new design together 🙂
Aw, Eva! Congratulations, lady! What a stunning cake to celebrate such an exciting occasion 🙂 Your flavor combinations are always so unique–oregano in cake?! Whoa. I'm so into that! I like the site updates, too. The honey stirrer logo is rad!
Haha, thanks Brianne!! I am all about eating honey and hney dippers are one of my favorite things to photograph, so I knew I needed to work one into the new header somehow hehe 🙂 And I am so excited!! It's been a lot of fun brainstorming recipes for it, but tricky at the same time because I have to keep them to myself for so long and I'm so used to just sharing them here in a week or two haha
Congratulations on the book!
The flavour combinations in this cake sound so intriguing. I've tasted some sweet pastries that used traditionally savoury herbs, and they were delicious. I just have one question: why do you add cream of tartar to the buttercream? Thanks!
Thank you Meinhilde! The cream of tartar helps which up the buttercream so it's a bit fluffier, since the syrup can weight it down a little without it 🙂
YAY!!! Congrats on the cookbook, that's such wonderful news! Can't wait to hear more about it!
Thank you so much my friend!! We have much catching up to do 😀
Beautiful as usual Eva! Can't wait for the cookbook!
Awwwww thank you so much Millie!! 🙂
Congratulations! Love the book title!
Thanks Christina!! I'm a big fan of it, too! 🙂
Congratulations on your new venture!
Thank you, Alison! 😀
Congratulations!!! I'm sure it will be beautiful, like all your photos always are! I'm a little bummed that it's all savoury but hey – maybe it'll get me to cook something other than desserts for once!
You are so sweet, Megan! And I'm hoping to do a sweets cookbook after this one, fingers crossed 🙂
Congratulations!!! And the new headshot is beautiful, by the way! I've emailed with Justin in the past, and he's SO nice, so you're a lucky lass! I can't wait to read your book (I'll book review for you!!!), I'm sure it'll be beautiful!
Thanks so much, Melissa!! I will definitely get in touch closer to the release date to coordinate a review 🙂 And Justin is the greatest, so helpful and patient!
Congrats on the cookbook! I can't wait to grab one! I've made 5 of your cakes so far and they have all.been.epic. Question, this cake seems to have an ombre affect…how did you do that? Thanks! I'll be missing the frequency of your posts, but I'm so excited for you!
So happy to hear you enjoyed them all! Cakes are my favorite to experiment with. I did the ombre effect by making some vanilla buttercream and spreading it just on the top of the cake, then I frosted the rest and the layers with the blackberry buttercream and kind of spread the two together where they met at the top 🙂
Perfect! I can't wait to try that out! It's so beautiful. Thanks, lady!
YES!!! There are not words to describe my excitement that you're writing a cookbook, how much you deserve this new exciting adventure, and how STUNNING this cake is — so much love for all of the above, and SO SO SO happy for you! The hugest congratulations, Eva!!!!
Cynthia you are just the best, thank you so much my dear friend!! Sending a huge hug your way! 😀
ahhh!!!!! this is so exciting!!!!! i cannot wait. fall 2016 cannot come soon enough 🙂 and this cake is gorgeous, as always!!!
Awww thank you lovely Molly!!! It seems so far away but I know I'll practically blink and it will be here already haha 🙂
This is so very exciting, Eva!! I'm sure it's gonna be gorgeous! Can't wait to hold it in my hands and cook from it. Oh and this cake; lovely!
Thank you so much, Sini!! Your words make me so happy 🙂
Congratulations, Eva! I know it will be amazing.
Thank you, my friend!! I appreciate your encouragement 🙂
I'm just so proud of you…
Thank you my lady! 🙂
Congratulations Eva!! I am so incredibly excited for your book!! xxx
Thank you so much, Sneh!!! You are so kind, I am so excited to see it all come together 🙂
So excited for you!!!! I've been a huge fan of yours (and your photography) ever since I stumbled upon your blog. You are so talented and your recipes are superb and ridiculously creative.
Ahhh thank you Laura!! You are making me blush 🙂
Amazing news! You are extremely talented and I am sure the book will betray just that! Congratulations!
Thank you so very much Valentina!! That makes me very happy to hear 🙂
Congratulations on your book! So exciting! Such an announcement definitely deesrves a piece or two of this beautiful cake. 🙂
Thank you Eileen 😀 It definitely made the celebration feel tastier!
Yay, congratulations!
And where did you find the ornamental oregano!? I looked everywhere for a plant this year to no avail.
Thanks so much my dear!! And I found it at Portland nursery on Stark around mid July. I bought all the ones they had left (3) so I don't know if that was their last batch of them or not. I'm curious to see if they'll come back next year or if I'll have to grow new ones!
This is sooo fantastic! Congrats to you on the book!
Thank you so much Jocelyn!! 😀
Amazing. Congratulations. Fantastic. Wonderful. so pleased for you 🙂
P.S. Love the new logo, it's super cute.
Awww thank you Kimberly 🙂 And I am so glad you like the new logo!
You make the most beautiful cakes. The flavors of this one, particularly, are so unique and interesting. I love rosemary and mint and thyme in desserts, and I know I will love oregano, too.
And congratulations! I can't wait to buy a copy!
You will definitely love this cake, it has such a pleasant herbal quality to it that I just love. And thank you for you sweet words!
Yay Eva, congrats!! Awesome, I know that this is goint to be a gorgeous masterpiece!
And what a beautiful cake, so lovely!
Thank you so much, my friend!!
Hey Eva! That's great! Your own cookbook, aaah! Congratulations, it's going to great, I know! Cake looks amazing 🙂 Good luck and have fun creating your book!
Thank you so much, Adinda!! I am so excited for it, so many tasty recipes to make 😀
Congrats on the cookbook! That is so very exciting and wonderful that all your hard work on here has paid off!
Thank you so much for this recipe . It looks great i will try it today ! 🙂
Try this recipe it's my favorite cake: http://no.findiagroup.com
This is such exciting news! I will be first in line for this undoubtably gorgeous cookbook. And this cake is stunning! xx
when I mix the frosting comes out uniformly lilac how does yours look streaked almost ombre
Wonderful – a cookbook with magic moments. I love your blog, the food, the light. Iris
This is the best cake I’ve ever made. Its unique and I’ll dare say fancy. Its unique ingredients make this a show stopper. How genius of you to come up with this flavor combination. Thank you, this is a pass down recipe!
AWWW thank you *SO* much Sandy! You are the sweetest! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I LOVE this cake! I made it for a wedding recently and it was a huge hit! I struggled with the baking portion though. My cakes sank! Like more than half way down and I don’t know why?! Any tips? Insight?! I made 3 batches with all the same results. I have 3 more orders for this cake and cannot afford to waste so much product!
Everything looks, elegant, delicious and original and full of art. I can imagine the tastes.
Recipe Question: The frosting recipe includes 1/2 + 2Tsp granulated sugar. But I didn’t see when to incorporate in the instructions so I added it in at the end, which gave the frosting a crunchy texture.
Most beautiful photography
The recipe calls for granulated sugar but never says when to add it in the directions. Do you even use that or just stick with the powdered sugar? Also, in the comments you mentioned using cream of tartar but that isn’t in the ingredient list OR in the directions. If you use this, how much and when do you add it in? Thanks for your response!
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