This soft and fluffy lavender blackberry cake is so easy to make in just one bowl, and bakes into the most perfectly moist and tender sheet cake. With a homemade lavender infused dairy free milk and easy blackberry jam swirled throughout, this secretly vegan and eggless blackberry cake is topped with the creamiest blackberry cream cheese frosting for the ultimate spring cake! Perfect for any special occasion, and so deliciously easy for all levels of bakers!

slice of vegan blackberry cake on a plate

The perfect spring cake: lavender blackberry sheet cake!

If you’re looking for the easiest cake recipe that’s still beautiful and elegant, and tastes like a dream, then you’ve come to the right place.

Hi, my name is Britt, and I have a major thing for cakes. So much so, that I made my all time favorite blueberry lemon cake the star of my first baking cookbook! It’s really just deliciously good (just go check it out over on Instagram!).

So this blackberry cake. An absolute heavenly mixture of light and fluffy lavender-infused cake with swirls of fresh blackberry jam and the most spoon-ably delicious blackberry cream cheese frosting.

sliced vegan blackberry cake

It’s light and buttery soft yet super moist and tender, with the perfect amount of sweetness to complement the tart flavor from the blackberries. And this blackberry cake happens to be made entirely eggless and dairy free- but don’t worry, we’re not using any funky ingredients!

In fact, this unbelievably vegan cake recipe is so easy to make with the simplest ingredients. And you only need one bowl! Seriously, just a whisk and a bowl. It’s that easy. And you get this texture? 

sliced blackberry lavender sheet cake on parchment paper

Unbelievable. And it’s the perfect cake recipe for Mother’s Day, Easter, or any springtime gathering (aren’t sheet cakes the best? That’s why I adore my vanilla sheet cake too!). 

So let’s make it!

How to make homemade blackberry jam:

What I love about this cake recipe is the blackberry jam. Most blackberry cakes like to incorporate a blackberry puree, but I’ve found way more success with a jam instead.

This is because we’re reducing the water content in the blackberry jam, which means we don’t have to account for too much extra moisture in the cake batter. It’s really a dream come true, and it’s so easy to make.

Of course, you can purchase a store bought blackberry jam, but here’s how I made mine:

  1. Start by heating the blackberries, maple syrup (or granulated sugar), and lemon juice together until the blackberries are softened.
  2. Mash the blackberries with the back of your silicone spatula or fork.
  3. Then continue to cook down the blackberries until thickened. The mixture will be reduced by about 1/3 of what it was, and it should take about 5-6 minutes. So easy!
homemade blackberry jam
blackberry frosting
close up of vegan blackberry frosting

Key steps to making blackberry cake:

The best part about making this cake is that you don’t need any special equipment. We’re not doing any fancy techniques nor using any equipment other than a small pot, a bowl, a whisk and a hand mixer (so you can put away the stand mixer and paddle attachment!). 

In fact, the cake itself is just made with a large mixing bowl and a whisk. And you still get that lovely tight crumb? I mean, it doesn’t get any easier! 

So here’s the breakdown of how we’re going to make this easy vegan sheet cake:

  1. Lavender milk: If you’ve ever made tea, then you’ll know how to make this lavender infused dairy free milk. And don’t fret- there’s no soapy-taste to this at all. It’s just so lovely and subtle, and really helps the blackberry jam to shine!
  2. Blackberry jam: Honestly, jam made from fresh berries is so underrated! We’ll be swirling this jam into our cake batter and integrating it into our frosting.
  3. Cake batter: There’s no need to cream any butter nor gently fold in ingredients. This lovely and lush spring cake is made as easily as a box mix cake.
  4. Blackberry cream cheese frosting: We just essentially take our delicious cream cheese frosting, and add our reserved blackberry jam to it! Of course, if you’d prefer a buttercream, you can absolutely adapt my blueberry frosting recipe to a blackberry version. See my notes in the recipe card!
lavender infused dairy free milk
lavender being strained into colander
blackberry cake batter
blackberry cake batter with swirls in it before baking
baked blackberry cake
decorated blackberry cake

Can I make this as a layer cake instead of a sheet cake?

Absolutely! If you’d like to make this blackberry lavender sheet cake as layer cake instead, you absolutely cake. Simply pour the cake batter into two or three 8″ cake pans, and bake. 

For two layers, the cake will probably need about 35 minutes in the oven. 

For three layers, the cake will need about 27-30 minutes.

You can still use the same frosting amount to frost your cake layers.

slice of vegan blackberry cake

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

One Bowl EASY Lavender Blackberry Cake (No Egg & Dairy Free) pinterest pin

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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slice of vegan blackberry cake on a plate

One Bowl EASY Lavender Blackberry Cake (No Egg & Dairy Free)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 7 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 20
  • Cook Time: 50
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
  • Yield: 16 1x
  • Category: Cakes
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

This soft and fluffy lavender blackberry cake is so easy to make in just one bowl, and bakes into the most perfectly moist and tender sheet cake. With a homemade lavender infused dairy free milk and easy blackberry jam swirled throughout, this secretly vegan and eggless blackberry cake is topped with the creamiest blackberry cream cheese frosting for the ultimate spring cake! Perfect for any special occasion, and so deliciously easy for all levels of bakers!

Ingredients

Scale

Blackberry jam:

  • 1 8-ounce container fresh blackberries, rinsed
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup or granulated sugar
  • juice from 1 lemon

Blackberry lavender cake:

  • 1 1/2 cups (300 mL) dairy free milk
  • 1 tsp dried culinary lavender
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cup (300 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (225 g) salted vegan butter (I recommend Miyoko’s or Flora Plant butter), melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1 cup (240 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3 3/4 (450 g) cups all-purpose flour (or gluten free 1:1 baking flour + 1 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch)
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/3 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup blackberry jam

Blackberry Cream Cheese Frosting:

Instructions

  1. Make the lavender milk: Bring the dairy free milk to a boil and remove from heat. Add in the lavender and steep for 2-3 minutes. Then strain the milk over a heat-safe jar to remove the lavender. Place the jar into the fridge to cool while you move onto the jam.
  2. Make the jam: First start by making the blackberry jam. In a medium pot, add the washed blackberries, maple syrup, and lemon juice together, and turn the heat onto medium. Stir the blackberries in with the syrup and allow the mixture to come to a boil. Cook the blackberries until soft, then mashed them with the back of a silicone spatula or fork. Continue to cook the jam until thickened and reduced by about 1/3, about 5 minutes. You can lower the heat if you feel your jam is cooking too fast.
  3. Cool the jam: Once the jam is cooled, it will thicken more in the fridge. Allow the jam to cool completely for the frosting. While you’re making the cake batter, you can cool the jam in the fridge. It will still be warm going into the cake, but for the frosting it should be completely cold.
  4. Prep: While the jam is cooling, preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9×13 cake pan with parchment paper. Add 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar to the lavender milk, and store in the fridge still while you make the batter.
  5. Make the cake batter: Check on the lavender milk to see if it’s cooled. If it’s not cool yet, wait to make the batter. If it’s nearly room temperature, you can begin to make the batter. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted vegan butter, sugar, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, and slowly pour in the lavender milk as you whisk the batter. Whisk JUST until the dry ingredients are integrated into the wet ingredients.
  6. Add in the blackberry jam: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Add in a few dollops of blackberry jam on top, and use a butter knife to gently swirl the jam into the cake batter. Less is more here!
  7. Bake: Place the cake pan into the oven to bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. The top of the cake will be lightly golden brown.
  8. Cool: Cool the cake in the cake pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting. There should be no more heat in the cake before you make the frosting.
  9. Make the blackberry cream cheese frosting: Prep the cream cheese frosting according to instructions. Then add in the blackberry jam, and the additional cup of powdered sugar if needed to help the frosting from splitting. Cream together until fluffy and integrated.
  10. Frost the cake: Frost the blackberry sheet cake with the frosting, and decorate with additional blackberries.
  11. Slice and serve! Serve and enjoy- store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

Blackberry cream cheese frosting: You can make this a blackberry buttercream instead if you’d prefer! Simply swap out the blueberry jam for the blackberry jam in my blueberry frosting. Enjoy!

Gluten free: I like to use King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten free flour. It’s amazing!