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Lemon Blueberry Cake

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Lemon Blueberry Cake. A tender layer cake recipe brightened with lemon juice, lemon zest and wild blueberries, frosted with a tangy sweet lemon cream cheese frosting.

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

Today’s cake is tart yet sweet and perfect for summer. A tender butter cake is brightened with a hint of fresh lemon juice and flecks of lemon zest. Wild blueberries dancing throughout each layer give the cake a pop of contrast, both in appearance, texture and taste. Then comes the dreamy cream cheese frosting that boasts tangy cream cheese and tart lemon juice balanced with mellow butter and powdery sugar.  It’s the kind of frosting you’ll want to eat with a spoon, if you’re in to that kind of thing.

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

Rustic swirls keep the frosting simple and casual, making this cake a welcomed addition to any of your summer events.  Topped with clusters of lemon wedges, fresh berries and edible flowers, the complete package looks pulled together but truly takes little effort.  Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone how easy it was!

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

 

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Lemon Blueberry Cake

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4.9 from 30 reviews

Lemon Blueberry Cake. A tender layer cake recipe brightened with lemon juice, lemon zest and wild blueberries, frosted with a tangy sweet lemon cream cheese frosting.

  • Author: Carrie Sellman
  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 45 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Yield: One 8" Round Cake (3 layers)
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Cake

Ingredients

For the Lemon Blueberry Cake:

  • 3 cups cake flour + 2 tablespoons cake flour, divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 8 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon organic lemon zest
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 2 cups wild blueberries, frozen or fresh

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
  • 4–6 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon organic lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

For the Assembly:

  • Lemon slices
  • Fresh blueberries
  • Edible flowers (optional)

Instructions

Make the Lemon Blueberry Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and lightly flour three 8″ round pans. Line with parchment paper circles.
  2. Sift together 3 cups cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a small bowl, combine milk and lemon juice.  Stir to combine and set aside for milk to curdle.  This is similar to making homemade buttermilk!
  4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high using the paddle attachment.  Beat until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
  5. With the mixer on low, add eggs one at a time.  Mix well after each egg.
  6. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest.  Mix to combine.
  7. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  Do not over mix.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl.
  8. In a small bowl, gently toss blueberries with 2 tablespoons cake flour to coat. Using a spoon or spatula, gently fold blueberries into batter, being careful not to break berries.
  9. Divide batter evenly between the three 8″ round pans.
  10. Bake for 30-33 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
  11. Let cool in pans for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.

Make the Cream Cheese Frosting:

  1. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
  2. Add vanilla, lemon zest and juice and mix until combined.
  3. Gradually add confectioners sugar, adjusting amount, until desired sweetness is reached. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Whip until smooth.

Assemble the Cake:

  1. Place one layer of cake onto serving plate or cake stand and top with about one cup of lemon cream cheese frosting.  Repeat with second cake layer, more frosting and then last layer of cake.  Crumb coat and frost cake with remaining frosting.  Decorate with lemon slices, additional blueberries and edible flowers, if desired.
  2. Store in refrigerator.  Serve at room temperature.

Notes

  • If using frozen blueberries in the cake, do not thaw before mixing into cake batter.  Avoiding over mixing once the berries are added to prevent the cake batter from turning grayish-purple from their juices.
  • I used 365 Frozen Organic Wild Blueberries from Whole Foods.
  • You may bake this as two full-sized 8″ round cake layers. Alternatively, I baked it as three intentionally shorter 8″ round layers – this saves time and effort because the shorter layers do not need to be torted.
  • If frosting is too thin after whipping, refrigerate for 30 minutes before assembling cake.  The chilled frosting will have a thicker consistency.  For an even thicker consistency, add additional confectioners’ sugar as desired.


 

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

Lemon Blueberry Cake - lemon cake studded with wild blueberries, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting | by Carrie Sellman for TheCakeBlog.com

 

 
MORE LEMON CAKE RECIPES TO TRY:

Carrie Sellman , Founder & Editor

Carrie Sellman is the Founder & Editor of The Cake Blog. Her work has been published in BRIDES Magazine, Country Living Magazine and featured online at People, Today, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Redbook, Real Simple, TLC, The Cooking Channel and more.

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Comments

    • It’s not a super tall cake but probably 4.5″ to 5″ tall. I was actually planning for it to be a naked cake but decided to give it a full coating because the frosting really makes it!

  8. Can’t wait to try this!

    What depth of pan is needed? Does this need to be an 8″x3″ or will 8″x2″ be okay?

    Thanks 🙂

    • 8″x2″ will be fine. Baking the cake in three 8″ round pans intentionally creates shorter layers that do not need to be torted (cut in half horizontally).

  10. I made it yesterday and very pleased with the result!!! It’s so fragrant and juicy! I coudn’t resist and ate two pieces at once)) Thank you, thank you so much!!!!



    • I would not recommend this one for a wedding cake, simply because the frosting is cream cheese based which makes it not a good candidate for sitting out a reception for hours.

    • A crumb coat is a super thin layer of frosting you put on the cake as a first step, to help lock in all of the crumbs. Simply use just enough frosting to create a thin, almost see-through layer of frosting over your entire cake. Let is sit for a few minutes to firm up. You can even pop it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to help this along. Then frost your cake as you normally would. The crumb coat will prevent any pesky little crumbs from appearing in the finished frosting.

  14. I made this 3 days ago! Very nice flavor and looks just like pictured! The only thing I would mention is that the cream cheese filling is super soft…. especially on a hot day. I left it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes and it was still too soft to be frosted. So soft that the weight of the cake layers squeezed out the filling that it was impossible for me to frost it well. I managed to frost the whole thing quickly and left it in the fridge over night, and it solidified pretty well. I would definitely make it again! (with a little less sugar for my taste)

    • Thanks for the feedback Ann! Yes, all the whipping can really heat up the butter and cream cheese, making the frosting quite soft. This can be exasperated even more depending on how warm your ingredients are when you start and how long you let the mixer run. But popping the frosting in the refrigerator brings it back to a more stable consistency.

      This type of frosting is traditionally made more stable by adding additional powdered sugar. Many cream cheese frostings call for 3 times the amount of powered sugar!! But my house really likes it less sweet, which is why I’ve written it this way.

      You could always add more sugar next time, but it sounds like you’d rather have it less sweet too!

      • Thanks Carrie! I did add a lot less sugar than you recommended… Which probably explains why the frosting was so soft! Well noted. Thank you for your response!

      • Will the recipe yield plenty of frosting, or is it just enough to frost a three layer cake? I tend to like more frosting!

    • Another side note for our UK friends! I recently learned from one of our amazing readers that cream cheese in the UK is different than our cream cheese in the USA. Cream cheese in the USA is sold as a solid block. Cream cheese in the UK comes in pre-whipped tubs. The pre-whipped consistency of UK cream cheese makes it much harder to achieve stable cream cheese frosting without adding copious amounts of sugar!

      • I agree – cream cheese buttercream can become very sweet while you’re adding enough powdered sugar to get the right consistency. Try starting with cold or very cool cream cheese. Believe it or not, it will whip up just fine.
        Have you tried adding a little corn starch? One tablespoon has the thickening power of a half cup of powdered sugar. Don’t overdo it, though – no more than four tablespoons in your whole frosting recipe.

  15. Would it be possible to bake as a sheet cake? I don’t have an infant that makes longer processes difficult! Wanting to make this for a shower and get the great taste without the extra steps. Thank you!

      • Okay! Thank you! I’ll give it a try and let you know! Should i still bake is on 350?just keep a close eye on it until it is done?

        • Yep, still bake it at 350. I’d check on it around 27 minutes or sooner if you can really smell it baking. Theoretically , it should take about the same time or possibly longer than baking it as (3) 8″ rounds.

          It’s done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (not to be confused with hitting a blueberry pocket and your toothpick coming out blueberry blue – test again in another spot).

          Good luck!

  16. Hi, CARRIE SELLMAN

    Thanks for posting such an amazing recipe. I Want to try it very soon in home and So pretty and Delicious cake ! I Love all the blueberries in the cake too.

  17. Hi there!

    I just bought a huge amount of blueberries on sale and summer is for blueberries, am I right?

    I’m making this for dessert tonight. It looks pretty easy to make and with my maiden name being Baker, I’m sure this will be a piece of cake!! 😂

    Thanks for the recipe!

  18. Got. To make it as this is a lot. Like a banana cake I enjot and buttermilk is the key to moiste. Desserts

  20. Hi carrie, looks yummy, eager to try it on the next days to come. My question is can i bake the batter one at a time since my oven is just small? Thanks.

    • You could bake the pans separately but unfortunately your results will not be exactly the same. You’ll see the best results when baking your batter immediately. If you do have to wait it out for oven room, it’s best to pour the batter into your pans right away and let the batter rest there. As opposed to the batter resting in your mixing bowl, then later stirring and pouring into the pans to bake.

      Here’s an article that talks more about what happens when your batter rests before baking. Hope it helps explain a little more! https://thecakeblog.com/2015/07/do-your-cupcakes-need-a-rest.html

  21. The flavor of this cake was wonderful and the frosting was amazing. My cake turned out very dense. It had the texture of pound cake. Is it supposed to be like that?

    • Thanks for the feedback Sherri, glad you enjoyed the flavor combo! The cake itself is a butter-based recipe which will seem more dense if you’re used to oil-based recipes. That being said, I personally thought it was a fairly tender butter cake. If yours became overly dense it could be the result of a heavy hand when measuring flour, using AP flour instead of cake flour or overmixing. Just some ideas to help you troubleshoot next time.

  22. This recipe looks great! Do you think that raspberries could be substituted for the blueberries?

  24. This cake looks absolutely devine. Are you able to post the recipe in a metric version for is Brits please.

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