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This Lemon and Berry Swim “Swimming in Butter” Cake is a wonderful thing with a wonderfully funny name. The name swim biscuits/swim cake comes from the idea that the batter is swimming in butter at the point of baking! Essentially, you make up a thick batter and pour it into the dish which already has the melted butter in it!
During baking, the butter melts into the batter, resulting in a super fluffy and flaky bake! Somewhere between cake and scones, this is a really fun bake when you want something new with no skill needed! This is a really easy dessert recipe, and is definitely best eaten when still slightly warm.
For the filling, I use lemon zest and lots of frozen berries. The cake smells amazing and will light up your kitchen! Whilst it has an unusual name, the texture and taste are terrific. When you make the batter, you will find it is fairly thick compared to standard cake batter, but that’s how it should be! Once baked, the top is just that right level of crisp to complement and contrast with the fluffy middle!
TIPS FOR THE BEST Lemon and Berry Swim “Swimming in Butter” Cake
- Butter: This isn’t added to the actual cake recipe, but goes into the dish. The batter then gets dumped on top of the melted butter, so it all bakes up together in the oven!
- Batter: The batter should look very thick – barely pourable. You might need to “dollop” the batter into the dish!
- Berries: I use frozen mixed berries, but any combination of berries will work! I find frozen often cheaper and easier, but fresh will also work!
- Baking Time: The bake time is somewhere between 35-40 minutes. You want the top to look crisp and golden (like a scone), and a knife inserted will come out clean/a little crumbly!
For these Lemon and Berry Swim “Swimming in Butter” Cake, I use a basic 8′ square pan (I like this one). I also recommend a good stand mixer or high speed mixer (like this one) to make the batter. If you want more wild traybake recipe ideas, check out my Salted Caramel Brownies or these Cheesecake Brownies. For videos and baking inspiration, head on over to my Instagram.
Lemon and Berry Swim “Swimming in Butter” Cake
Ingredients
- 400 g Plain Flour
- 3 tsp Baking Powder
- 65 g Granulated Sugar
- 1 Lemon – Zest and Juice
- 450 ml Buttermilk (or prep at the start: 440ml Milk with 10ml White Wine Vinegar/Lemon Juice)
- 100-150 g Frozen Berries
- 100 g Unsalted Butter Melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas Mark 6. Have an 8" square pan ready.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, buttermilk, and lemon juice and zest. Gently stir in the berries.
- Melt the butter and pour this into the baking dish. Add in the batter and spread across the dish. Bake about 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden and a knife inserted comes out clean! Let cool a little before slicing and serving.
