My kids love blueberries. They eat them by bowls. Now when the weather is warmer, my husband has started his morning golfing. He will usually bring home boxes of them from the blueberry farm where the golf course is close to. And my kids cannot be happier.

In fact me too! I love baking/cooking with blueberries. They are tasty, versatile and really easy to work with. You can literally use blueberries to bake anything. Muffins, cake, sorbet, bars, cupcakes, tart, ice cream pie, quick bread… And they go perfectly with a lot of other flavors and fruits. One of the universal favorite combinations is blueberry and lemon.

I was trying to use up the leftover lemon curd from the lemon meringue shortbread tart I made earlier. And that’s how I came up with this simple sponge cake, layered with whipped cream, lemon curd and blueberries. I just added a hint of powdered sugar to lightly sweeten the whipped cream as the tangy lemon curd itself is pretty sweet. And that’s why you don’t want to go crazy with the lemon curd. Just a drizzle of a tablespoon or so on each cake layer is good enough.

Ingredients (one 6-inch layered cake):
3 large eggs, room temperature, separated
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
1/4 cup store bought or homemade lemon curd
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line the bottom of three 6-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a bowl of a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar on high speed until thick and light in color, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Mix for another minute.
Sift flour and the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over top of egg yolk mixture. Fold the flour mixture in the egg mixture, followed by half of the meringue.
Fold the rest of the meringue into the batter until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pans evenly and smooth the top.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a thin knife around the cake edge and place the cake on a wire rack to cool completely.
Whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar until it holds stiff peaks.
To assemble the cake, place one cake layer on your serving plate and spread 1/3 of the whipped cream on top. Drizzle about a tablespoon of lemon curd on the cream. Place a few blueberries along the edge of the cake, and scatter some in the centre. Top with other cake layers, followed with cream, lemon curd and blueberries.
Chill the cake until ready to serve.