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.
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.
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 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.
- 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:
- Preheat oven to 350. Butter and lightly flour three 8″ round pans. Line with parchment paper circles.
- Sift together 3 cups cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- 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!
- 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.
- With the mixer on low, add eggs one at a time. Mix well after each egg.
- Add vanilla extract and lemon zest. Mix to combine.
- 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.
- 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.
- Divide batter evenly between the three 8″ round pans.
- Bake for 30-33 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
- Let cool in pans for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Make the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
- Add vanilla, lemon zest and juice and mix until combined.
- Gradually add confectioners sugar, adjusting amount, until desired sweetness is reached. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Whip until smooth.
Assemble the Cake:
- 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.
- 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.
Keywords: lemon blueberry cake
MORE LEMON CAKE RECIPES TO TRY:
Mariana says
Hello!
I live in a country where cake flour isn’t always available, I’m wondering if I can replicate this recipe with almond flour, instead? Maybe using 3 cups of almond flour + 2 tablespoons of all purpose?
If so, will I additionally need to add baking soda? I noticed the recipe doesn’t call for it.
Look forward to hearing back from you!
Mariana
Carrie Sellman says
If you don’t have cake flour but have access to all-purpose flower, you can make cake flour at home. Here’s how:
Measure out 1 cup of all-purpose flour. Remove 2 tablespoons of the all-purpose flour and replace it with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift this together numerous times to make sure it is well combined and aerated.
That being said, I’ve never tested this recipe with almond flour. Generally speaking, it takes some additional tweaking to make a gluten free cake as delicious as a traditional cake. Definitely doable but I don’t have specifics for this recipe.
But you should be fine using the DIY cake flour made from all-purpose flour. Enjoy!
Reena says
Just baked this. The recipe is SERIOUSLY good. I’m making it for a 30th birthday! Id searched for hours and went back and forth for a blueberry cake recipe and I’m so glad I followed yours. I was worried it might be too sour because but it is perfect. It’s a very moist cake! I used golden caster sugar instead of granulated because I had some left.
I was wondering if there’s any tips on making it rise more?
I’m going to make white chocolate frosting instead to go with it… can’t wait!
Carrie Sellman says
Thanks for the feedback Reena – glad you enjoyed it! As for making it rise more, we’re dividing the batter into three 8″ round pans so that we have intentionally shorter layers that don’t need to be torted (cut in half horizontally). It’s just an easy way to bake a three layer cake! If you want the layers to be taller, simply bake it in two pans instead of three.
PD says
Carrie, this cake looks amazing. Out of so so so many recipes, I’ve chosen this to make for our post wedding house party for about 30-35 people tomorrow (we got married at city hall 2 weeks ago). It will be an informal party with friends and we thought it will be nice to cut a gorgeous cake since we didn’t really celebrate with friends 2 weeks ago.
Could this cake be made a day in advance. If so, how do we store it? If in the fridge should it be covered?
Carrie Sellman says
Congratulations PD! And yes, you can make this cake a day in advance. Store the whole thing in the refrigerator, lightly covered with plastic wrap. I like to pop the finished cake into refrigerator until the icing is set firm, then drape it with plastic wrap so the icing doesn’t get messed up. The frosting will keep just fine, and the cake moisture is sealed in with the frosting. Just be sure not to add any flowers or berries on top until closer to serving. They will noticeably wilt.
Michelle Bolla says
Hi Carrie,
I want this for my daughters baby shower. She wants rose petals on top. Do you know where I can purchase edible rose petals?
Thank you.
Michelle
Carrie Sellman says
Here’s a link to where I purchased the edible flowers, hopefully they’ll have rose petals too! https://www.gourmetsweetbotanicals.com
Marilyn MacLellan says
Hi, I want to make this cake for my sister’s birthday and I’m considering doing some roses on top of it with the frosting. Do you think the cream cheese frosting here will be sturdy enough to create the roses? Do you have any recommendations for something I could do if it isn’t sturdy enough?
Thank you very much. I’m so excited to try this cake!
Carrie Sellman says
Unfortunately, this frosting is not a good fit for piping flowers. It will only lead to frustration for you!! I’d go with a traditional American buttercream or a Swiss Meringue Buttercream for your flowers instead.
Lezzlie Angbengco says
Hi! I wanted to add food coloring on it for a gender reveal cake, and i have to mix it again to get the wanted color for the cake. What will happen if I over mix the batter?
Carrie Sellman says
Your best bet is to mix the gel color into the batter by hand at the end. Mixing it in by hand will help prevent any overmixing. If you’re interested, here’s an article we did about what happens when you overmix: https://thecakeblog.com/2015/09/overmixing-a-cake.html
Lezzlie Angbengco says
I mixed it by hand afterwards to mix in the gel color but had to try several times to get the color that I wanted for the gender reveal cake because the cake was yellowish to start with. The cake came out tough and very dense. What do you think I did wrong? Is it because of overmixing by hand?
Mahee Ferlini says
Simply fantastic!!!
FATIN HAZWANI says
I’ve tried this. OMG!!!! It is so delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
ADAM says
So my wonderful wife made this as a birthday cake last night for me. I can’t believe I have lived 33 years without tasting something this delicious. I have found my new favorite cake and I wanted to say thank you because if she wouldn’t have found this on Pinterest, I would be lost, forever searching for the perfect slice of cake. I slipped downstairs early this morning and saw the browser tab still open on this page and it reminded me once again how awesome it was and I had to let you know…you made someone’s birthday very special.
Thank you so so much!
★★★★★
Carrie Sellman says
Wow, your comment definitely made my night Adam! Happy 33rd Birthday to you! And thanks to your wife for giving my recipe a try!!
Suzanne Keene says
I’m going to use this to make my nephew’s dedication cake. I’m also going to attemp to make the butter cream frosting a little thicker and cover with fondant. It looks AMAZING!
– Zanne
http://www.alittlefromthemiddle.com
Donna says
Made this cake last weekend, came out delicious!
★★★★★
Taylor says
Hi Carrie, it looks wonderful and was thinking about making this for Easter. But I was wondering is it possible for me to use 3, 9 inch cake pans instead of the 8 inch?
Carrie Sellman says
You won’t have quite enough batter for three 9″ round pans, but you could certainly bake it in two 9″ pans. Enjoy!
Rochelle Hodel says
My daughter’s 24th birthday was yesterday, and she requested that I make your lemon blueberry cake. Well, it was to die for. I think it was the best cake I’ve ever baked. It looked beautiful with the three layers, and tasted wonderfully tangy, but not too sweet. She brought the leftovers to work this morning, and everyone raved about it. It truly was your recipe, not my baking, that drew the complimentsame. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
★★★★★
Carrie Sellman says
Thank you Rochelle! Happy to be a part of your daughter’s birthday celebration, if only in the form of a recipe. Cheers to her! And you!
Savarna says
Hi
I can’t wait to make this but my dad can’t have eggs, do you know the best egg replacer for this recipe?
Thanks
Carrie Sellman says
While I haven’t tried this recipe without eggs, we did an article about egg alternatives that should give you some ideas to try. Hope this helps! https://thecakeblog.com/2016/12/egg-free-baking.html
Vanessa says
I’m so excited to try this! I have two questions though, as I am a new baker. I am wanting to make 24 cupcakes instead of a cake. How would you suggest I change the recipie? (I hope thats not too much to ask, if so, I understand!) Also, can I just use store bought buttermilk instead of using the lemon juice and milk mixture?
Carrie Sellman says
Here’s a link to a cupcake version of this recipe. It makes 30 cupcakes, so you’ll have a few extra. Enjoy!
https://thecakeblog.com/2013/05/lemon-blueberry-cupcakes.html
Vanessa says
Thank you so much!
Jadian says
Hi! This looks delish! I’m wondering if this would work as the top 2 layers of a stacked 3 tier cake with a different buttercream such as a Swiss meringue?
Carrie Sellman says
Yes, I don’t see why not. It is a pretty substantial butter cake. Enjoy!
Makenna says
Hello, I made this today, and the batter in the end turned out very thick. The cake came out ok, but I was wondering if this is normal? Also, I only had enough batter for 2, 8″ pans. If you could tell me what I might’ve done wrong that would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Carrie Sellman says
It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong to me. The batter is somewhat thick and fluffy because it is a butter based cake recipe (an oil based cake or cake mix will be a much thinner batter). The recipe is enough for two regular 8″ round pans. I baked this in three 8″ rounds, creating intentionally shorter layers. They bake a little faster, have less cake that has to be cut off to level and creates a pretty torted presentation without having to do a lot of cutting. Torting cake layers can be a such a pain!
Hope that all makes sense! 🙂
Samantha says
I have this cake in the oven as I’m typing this and ohhhh boy the lemon scent is bursting through my house! I can’t wait to take it out and wait for the finished product! I’m so excited to try it. It’s my brother in laws first Father’s Day this weekend and he loves lemons so I’m dying to remake it in a small 6″ cake if it turns out! I’ll update you on the results 🙂 thanks so much for so generously sharing your recipes! There’s SO many I have to try!!!
Pam says
Any thoughts on making this in 6″ pans? Bad idea?
Thank you.
SAMANTHA says
Made this with 8″ cake pans and they were great! I did 2 rounds instead of 3. Wondering how I would do 10″?? 😃😃
★★★★★
robert cantu' says
cheated a bit to save money, used the Duncan Hines classic white cake from the box. used the lemon and milk mix instead of water and butter instead of the veg. oil. added the lemon zest and blueberry as directed. used a can of cream cheese frosting added some powered sugar and lemon juice to tartan it up and stretch it out. colored some if the frosting blue for faux blueberries on top. ready to cut into it.
Elaine says
I followed the recipe exactly and the cake cake out quite sweet and very dense. Next time I make this, I would definitely cut down on the eggs and replace some of the butter with oil. The amount of oil and eggs made this into a pound cake texture cake rather than light and airy cake that I am looking for.
★★★
Elaine says
I meant to say “The amount of BUTTER and eggs made this into a pound cake texture cake rather than light and airy cake that I am looking for.
Amy says
I made this for the 4th and everyone raved! Thank you for the recipe, this one is a keeper!
★★★★★
Dana says
Can the cakes be frozen after baked?
Carrie Sellman says
Definitely. Just wrap the cake layers individually in several layers of plastic wrap before freezing. Let them thaw before assembling and frosting the cake. Enjoy!
Deepz says
Hi… Can u pls pls give the measurements in grams… I am dying to make this.. Is ur cup 200ml?? Always confused with cup measurements….
Carrie Sellman says
Here is a handy conversion calculator for you! This will help you convert all of the ingredient quantities to metric units.
https://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking