Lemon and Blackberry Cake

For the Cake:

1. Grease and Flour Two 8" Cake Pans
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and water. Set aside.
5. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
7. Add the vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix well.
8. Add the flour mixture and yogurt mixture in five additions. Alternate between the flour and the yogurt, starting and ending with the flour. Be careful not to overmix the cake. Mix the final flour addition until just barely mixed into the batter.
9. Divide into the pans equally. Gently tap the pans to even out the batter.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cakes are light golden brown and a knife comes out clean when inserted.
11. Poke holes into the cake while still warm and add the blackberry syrup to the top.
12. Set aside and let cool completely in the pan. (Note that you may want to run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan to prevent the cake from sticking to the sides.

For the Syrup:

1. While the cake is baking, make the syrup. Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan.
2. Cook over high heat until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is slightly reduced, or about 5-10 minutes.
3. Let cool completely. Set aside until cake is baked.

For the Frosting:

1. Cream together the butter and the sugar.
2. Divide the frosting into two batches.
3. For the lemon frosting, add the lemon curd, lemon zest, and lemon extract. Cream into the frosting.
4. For the blackberry frosting, add the blackberry preserves and blackberry extract. Cream into the frosting. You may want to leave some streaks of the preserves for extra visual appeal.

Assemble the Cake:

1. Once the cake is completely cool, remove the cake from the pans.
2. Layer the cake, frosting the middle with blackberry frosting or more blackberry preserves.
3. Frost the outside of the cake with a thin coat of lemon frosting for the crumb coat. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
4. Frost the outside of the cake with more lemon frosting. Add irregular dabs of the blackberry frosting and smooth around the sides and top for a watercolor effect.
5. Optional: Top cake with fresh blackberries and lemon slices.
6. Keep the cake refrigerated until 30 minutes until it's ready to serve.