Complete recipe includes instructions for a basic vanilla cake, lemon kiwifruit curd, blackberry buttercream frosting, chocolate ganache, and a recipe video as well! The Flavor Bender turned 2 this month! So naturally, I’m celebrating with cakes and cupcakes! This gorgeous Vanilla Kiwi Cake with Blackberry Buttercream Frosting is one of them! I mean, how delicious does that sound? 🙂 This kiwi cake also happens to be my very first creation with my stunning new girl, Madeline (pronounced Mad-a-lyne; that’s important!) – my brand spanking new KitchenAid mixer! Do you feeeeeeeeel my excitement? 🙂 It’s been 2 years since the first post went up for The Flavor Bender (which happened to be these snowball cookies, also known as Mexican wedding cookies), but it feels both shorter and longer all at the same time. This blog is all about unique flavor combos, creative recipes, delicious desserts, and making the process of cooking and baking fun and exciting while giving you the confidence to do so! And it bears repeating every year that this blog wouldn’t have come to be, if it weren’t my partner in everything, my husband – Mr. K! I’ve always loved cooking and baking and the kitchen has always been my sanctuary. Even though I always used to document the food I made (with terrible pictures), it was always looked upon as a hobby by everyone around me. And when I first found out about this thing called Culinary School, it was my dream to go to Le Cordon Bleu (in Australia) and come out as a top notch chef or pastry chef. Mr. K has has been my biggest cheerleader through it all, backing me 100% for the first time to get started on that dream with this little blog. And I’m loving every minute of it now! 🙂 I made a version of this delicious blackberry vanilla kiwi cake for Mr K almost an year ago, but never got around to sharing it on the blog. So today, not only am I going to share with you guys the recipe for a basic vanilla cake, I’m also showing you how to make a regular vanilla cake like this even more exciting with filling and frosting flavor combinations. You can also check out my popular and standalone post on the best vanilla cake recipe (and vanilla cupcakes), if you like as well.
A basic vanilla cake is very versatile
A basic vanilla cake can be made impressive by the flavor combinations that you build upon it. Of course you don’t want to go overboard with too many flavors so that some of them get lost. But by focusing on 1-2 stand out flavors (more if your cake is going to have extra tiers/layers), you can really add your mark on the cake. So today my basic vanilla cake gets a super tasty makeover with a delicious, tangy lemon kiwi curd filling, and a sweet, fruity blackberry buttercream frosting! 🙂
Recipe notes for this vanilla kiwi cake
Bake even strips are AMAZING to create flat, even tops in your cake. PLUS they give lighter colored cake sides. IF YOU DON’T HAVE BAKE EVEN STRIPS – RECYCLE your towels by cutting strips (for the height of the cake pans). These can be soaked and used instead of bake even strips. I know they work, because I still own my first bake even strips which were actually recycled towel strips. The bake even strips are not required, but the water soaked strips help spread the heat evenly along the cake pan, ensuring even baking. Always chill the cake layers to make cutting easier. It is easier to cut even layers if the cake is cold. Use a serrated knife (bread knife) to make it even easier. When frosting the cake, use 2 cake boards as a guide for even frosting. Use a straight scraper (I use a bench scraper which I use only for cakes) to get straight, even sides. Warming up the scraper makes it much easier to smoothen the frosting as well.
Beyond being an awesome flavor combo, I also love the aesthetics of the filling and frosting in this kiwi cake. For different curd filling options, you can check out my lemon curd, pineapple curd and passion fruit curd. And as for frostings, I’ve got a whole bunch of them in my archive of creamy frosting recipes! The creamy kiwi curd is a gorgeous green with black specks that you get from the seeds, and the blackberry frosting is a beautiful deep purple with dark purple speckles from the druplets. It’s a pretty speckled blackberry vanilla cake, inside and out! So, here’s the recipe for a soft, fluffy, moist vanilla cake that’s light and buttery with just the right amount of sweetness without being rich, and some tips to bake the vanilla cake properly with even, moist results every single time! Plus, a video on how I slice the cake into layers, and then fill it with the kiwifruit curd and frost it with that gloriously delicious blackberry frosting! This blackberry vanilla kiwi cake was also my FIRST project with my new love – Madeline!
More delicious cake recipes you’ll love
Best vanilla cake recipe Classic chocolate cake recipe Best glazed chocolate bundt cake Mulled wine cake (sponge cake with wine frosting) Coffee layer cake (espresso cake) Ginger cardamom cake with rose buttercream (magnolia cake) Best devil’s food cake Classic white cake White coconut cake with lemon buttercream (Winter cake) Lemon raspberry cake (with lemon curd)
Recipe video
