Butterfly Pea Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

A two layered butterfly pea cake frosted with white cream cheese frosting and decorated with blue fondant flowers and blueberries on a white cake stand, with a section cut out.

5 from 4 votes

Butterfly Pea Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

This butterfly pea cake makes a decadently pretty blue cake. It is soft and fluffy and is heavenly when combined with lemon cream cheese frosting.

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Decorating time30

Total Time1 35

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: Seven inches round cake

Calories: 6993.8kcal

Author: Priya Maha

Ingredients

Cake

4 egg whites (at room temperature)
320 g granulated sugar
160 g shortening
320 g self raising flour
200 ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ tablespoon butterfly pea flower powder (blue matcha powder)
⅓ teaspoon salt

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

450 g powdered sugar
135 g cream cheese
45 g shortening
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (lemon rind)
1½ tablespoon lemon juice (strained)

Decoration

Fondant (in 2 shades of blue)
Blueberries

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Baking the cake

Preheat oven to 175℃.
Melt the shortening over low heat in a small saucepan. Turn off the heat as soon as it is almost melted and let it to melt completely in the heat. Set aside to cool.
Separate the egg whites and egg yolks. Set aside the egg yolks as they are not required in this recipe.
Add the egg whites into a grease-free bowl and whisk the egg whites on medium speed until they turn frothy and stiff peaks form. Make sure the beaters are also free from grease.
Gradually sprinkle half of the sugar into the egg whites and continue to whip the egg whites until they turn glossy and stiff peak form again. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, measure the self raising flour, cornstarch, salt and the butterfly pea powder. Sift twice.
Add the remaining half of the granulated sugar into the flour mixture and mix with a hand whisk until well combined.
Make a well in the center and add the melted shortening, followed by the milk and the vanilla extract.
Mix with a hand whisk until the mixture turns smooth.
Scoop one third of the whipped egg white into the flour mixture and fold it in gently. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as you fold.
Continue with another one third of the egg white. Fold well but do not overmix to avoid deflating the egg whites.
Finally, pour the flour mixture into the remaining egg whites and fold well, until there are no streaks of the white egg whites left.
Divide the cake batter between two well greased 7 inches round cake tins. Make sure to line the bottom of the tins with parchment paper and grease the parchment lining as well. This is crucial as the cake tends to stick to the bottom of the pan even after greasing.
To ensure the batter is equally divided between the tins, weigh the cake tins with the batter in it. This will help ensure the cakes bake evenly and with same height.
Bake the cakes for 45 minutes in the preheated oven at 175℃ until the top is soft but firm to the touch.
Make sure the cakes are well baked or they risk collapsing once you remove from the oven. The cakes should be soft but firm to the touch. Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the tins for about 3 to 4 minutes.
Use a butter knife or palette knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the tin.
Turn the tins over onto wire racks and peel off the parchment paper lining. Turn the cakes over again so that they face upwards. Let them cool down completely. Keep them covered with a kitchen towel to prevent them from becoming dry. It also helps to wrap them in plastic wrap while they are still warm and refrigerating them to lock the moisture.

Making the lemon cream cheese frosting

Measure cream cheese into a medium bowl.
Add the shortening.
Cream both until smooth and creamy.
Next, sift in the powdered sugar. You can either sift it directly into the creamed mixture or sift it separately and then add it into the bowl.
Mix the sugar into the creamed cheese and shortening with a spatula to moisten it. This step is not necessary, but it will help avoid the sugar from flying all over as you turn on your mixer.
Once the sugar is lightly moistened, beat the frosting until it turns smooth with an electric mixer. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and beat again until well combined.

Decorating the cake

To prevent the brown crust around the cake layers from showing after assembling the cake, use a sharp knife or a serrated knife to slice it off from the top, bottom and sides of each cake layer.
Place the first cake layer on a cake plate.
Place the plate on a turntable for easy frosting. Spoon some cream cheese frosting onto the cake layer and spread it with a palette knife.
Top with the second cake layer.
Cover the cake with the remaining frosting. To avoid the cake crumbs from getting mixed with the frosting, it is advisable to cover the cake with a thin layer of crumb coat like in this Earl Grey lavender cake. Refrigerate for a few minutes to allow the frosting to firm up.
Remove the cake from the fridge and apply the next layer of frosting. This time, apply it thicker.
Start from the top and then cover the sides. Level the frosting reasonably well with a palette knife. You need not achieve a perfectly smooth coating as you will be doing designs on it with the palette knife.
Hold the palette knife at about 45 degrees angle, on top of the cake, at the center. Apply very light pressure and turn the turntable with the other hand. As you turn the turntable, move the palette knife outwards, towards the top edges of the cake, creating a circular pattern as you move it.
For the sides, use the same palette knife (wipe off any excess icing that is stuck to it), and move the knife from bottom to top, creating slanting lines on the side.
To complete the decoration, roll the fondant thin and cut out the flowers using small flower cutters.
Arrange the flowers on the cake, combined with fresh blueberries to create a pretty pattern on it.

Notes

Well whipped egg whites - Ensure no grease in the bowl or beaters when whipping egg whites; rinse with hot water and dry with a kitchen towel. Use room temperature egg whites.
Flavoring - Include vanilla, almond, or rose extract for better cake flavor (shortening lacks flavor, unlike butter, so you definitely need the extracts).
Baking time - Follow the recommended baking time; underbaking can lead to the cakes collapsing. When fully baked, the cakes should be soft but firm when touched.
Moist texture - Cover the cakes with a kitchen towel when cooling to prevent drying. And after cooling slightly, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate until they cool down completely. This will help the cakes retain the moisture and give them a moist texture.

Nutrition