Lemon Berry Honey Butter Crunch Cake

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Ever want to experiment with flavors to create delectable tasting cake combinations that would wow your customers for your home bakery?

That’s totally me!

I love mixing and matching flavors to push the boundaries on cake flavors and combinations in my home bakery like my red velvet cookie butter crunch cake, my regular cookie butter crunch cake, and now I’m sharing with you my Lemon Berry Honey Butter Crunch Cake!

…I think I have a thing for putting “crunch” in cakes 😅…

This cake combination is so delicious, that I shared it with my neighbor to be the first taste tester (bakers’ neighbors are the luckiest people, am I right?), and ever since then she orders this exact cake multiple times every year! I love her. ❤️

This cake has it all: light fluffy cake layers, velvety smooth buttercream, a bright and fruity homemade jam, tangy and sweet cream cheese with honey, and a delicious cookie crunch. Excuse me, you’re drooling…

Now let’s get into this recipe!

This recipe combines multiple recipes into one delicious cake. That’s my style and I’ll break everything down for you step by step.

The Cake

First, let’s talk about this lemon cake. I bake up this cake in two 8” cake pans and then torte them to make 4 cake layers. The cake is really delicate, so you’ll need to take your time when handling them. it uses cake flour to give it a super light texture and fresh lemon to give it a nice citrus taste.

I adapted my recipe from this one, but you can use any lemon cake recipe you like, like this easy lemon cake recipe I love from this recipe book. I don’t mind. 🙂

I love this recipe book and I have been using a lot of recipes from it for my own cake business with rave reviews! Get you one and give the recipes a try!

BUT! To ensure that your cake comes together and has the same fire as mine, use the recipe I’m sharing with you below.

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The Buttercream

If you’ve been following me on Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, then you’ve seen me post about this buttercream. Many of you probably found me because of this recipe! Heyyyy! 👋🏽

It is my velvety smooth buttercream that I use in my cakes to turn buttercream haters into buttercream lovers. This is NOT an exaggeration and many baking friends have shared similar stories like this baker here:

This buttercream is an easier take on the traditional Swiss Buttercream that doesn’t require you to cook any eggs. This no cook Swiss Meringue Buttercream is absolutely divine! It’s super silky and smooth. I often get asked if it tastes like eggs…nope. It tastes like the best ice cream you’ve ever had!

Q: Can I use regular egg whites? (Non-pasteurized)

A: ABSOLUTELY NOT! The safety in this recipe is using PASTEURIZED egg whites that have already been treated. If you want to use fresh eggs, do the traditional Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe instead. It’s delicious too!

You can also check out my full written recipe with more commonly asked questions along with the answers, tips, and tricks to ensure you get the velvetiest faux Swiss Meringue Buttercream. If you have any other questions, leave them in the comments below.

The Fillings

This cake is packed with flavorful fillings. Honey cream cheese buttercream (adapted from this recipe), homemade mixed berry jam, and a honey crunch. Yum!

You can totally use a regular buttercream instead of cream cheese, add lemon extract, or use a different berry jam if you would like. That’s the beauty of recipes, you can mix and match and make it what you want! Just have fun with it.

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The Recipe

Lemon Cake

• 8 oz (226 g) buttermilk (You can also use 1 cup of regular milk with 1 tbsp of vinegar)

• 3 oz (85 g) vegetable oil

• 3 large eggs

• 2 Tbsp lemon zest (optional)

• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

• 1 tbsp lemon extract

• 12 oz (369 g) cake flour (cannot be substituted with all purpose flour)

• 11 oz (340 g) granulated sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 8 oz (226 g) butter

MIxed Berry Jam

• 24 oz (680 g) frozen mixed berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, black berries)

• 12 oz (340 g) granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Honey Cream Cheese Buttercream

• 10 oz (283 g) powdered sugar

• 8 oz (227 g) cream cheese (room temp)

• 2 oz butter (room temp)

• 3 tbsp honey

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Honey Crunch

• 12 roughly crushed Golden Oreos (big chunks and small chunks creates the crunch)

• 2 tbsp honey

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Instructions

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit

2. Coat two 8” cake pans in canola spray and flour

3. Split buttermilk in half. Add 4 oz to the oil and set aside.

4. Add the other 4 oz of buttermilk to the eggs, lemon extract, lemon juice and lemon zest. Mix together and set aside.

5. Sift flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into your mixing bowl.

6. With mixer on low, add in chunks of softened butter until combined.

7. Add the buttermilk and oil mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for 2 whole minutes.

8. Scrape down the sides of your bowl often to make sure all ingredients get mixed. If you skip this step you run the risk of grainy batter.

9. Add in the rest of your wet ingredients in three parts, scraping the bowl between each addition.

10. Divide batter into your pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.

11. Remove from oven and allow to cool a bit before removing from pan.

12. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer to make the decorating process easier.

Mixed Berry Filling

1. Add mixed berries, sugar, and lemon juice into a pan on the stove on high heat.

2. Bring to a boil stirring every now and then, then reduce the heat to a simmer.

3. Allow mixture to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. while you work on the other parts of this cake.

Honey Cream Cheese Buttercream

1. Whip butter, cream cheese, and honey together in mixer on high until light in color.

2. Add in powdered sugar and mix until creamy.

3. Mix in vanilla extract.

Honey Crunch

1. Crush cookies in a bag or this hand held food processor. You want a mixture of different sized chunks to create the crunch factor. Think Cookies and Cream.

2. Coat in honey.

Velvety Buttercream

1. Whip egg whites and powdered sugar until a meringue forms.

2. Add in butter. It will look weird and broken, but just keep on mixing for like 5 minutes.

3. Switch to paddle attachment. Add in vanilla and mix on low for 10-12 minutes until velvety, creamy, and smooth.

Assemble the cake

1. Lay cake layer on cake board.

2. Coat cake layer in a thin layer of buttercream.

3. Create a border or dam.

4. Add Honey Cream Cheese into the dam and smooth.

5. Add a layer of honey crunch.

6. top with cake layer.

7. Make a border of buttercream then add in berry filling.

8. Repeat the first layer with the cream cheese filling and top with last cake layer.

9. Coat in velvety smooth buttercream and decorate.

10. If you feel your cake wobbling, place in refrigerator until firm, then continue decorating.

If you try this recipe, let me know in the comments below and tag me on social media!

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