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.
MORE LEMON CAKE RECIPES TO TRY:
Reading the directions, I do not see where the milk/lemon juice is supposed to be added. Could you please clarify that. Thanks!
The milk/lemon juice is added in step #7.
Made this cake and was absolutely delicious!!
Icing was so runny wouldn’t even stay on the cake, however i’ve just read the comment about cream cheese being different in the UK so makes sense 🙂
All my blueberrys sank, I was just wondering if you have any tips so it turns out like your images 🙂 As would love to make again !
Hi! Is there a top to help avoid all the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the cake? Also, do frozen blueberries need to be thawed before being added? Thanks!
Tossing the blueberries in flour can help prevent sinking but I get the best results when using smaller blueberries. I really like the frozen wild blueberries (linked in the recipe). Do not thaw, just toss them in flour to coat and mix them into the batter. The batter may solidify a tad because of the cold berries but it works out in the oven. 🙂
I made this cake last night and I only have 3 words to describe it…..A. Maze. Ing!
Thank you 🙂
I plan on making this recipe today but I don’t quite understand step 7. What do you mean by add the flower into 3 batches, alternating milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture?
It just means to alternate adding the ingredients to the mixing bowl…
– part of the flour
– part of the milk
– part of the flour
– end of the milk
– end of the flour
Hope that helps!
This was so very good! I didn’t have the lemon zest so I left it out and it was still amazing.
Do you think it will freeze well prior to assembling?
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I would like to know how many portions can I have from the recipe? Thanks 🙂
I made this for Easter and it was a smashing hit! I made it vegan with almond milk, flax seed, and eliminated the cream cheese. Make sure you squeeze fresh lemons for the juice. It is a BEAUTIFUL cake!
Where do I get the eatable flowers??
Carrie,
Do you know if the bases of the cake can be frozen and then taken out to thaw and be frosted?
Did you soak the cake layers with sugar syrup during assembly
Yummiest cake I have EVER made!! I made it for Mother’s Day and it was a big hit! It became my favorite cake ever. Only need an excuse to bake again.
My BFF is coming this weekend, am thinking of trading the blueberries for raspberries, has anyone done this or think it can be done without changing anything else in the recipe?
I just doubled it for a sheet cake and it worked fine!
The cake is light and has wonderful lemon flavor! Unfortunately the frosting would not firm up, even using 6 cups of powdered sugar and refrigerating 30 minutes. I ended up adding significantly more powdered sugar until it was a consistency that wouldn’t slide off the cake. That made the icing super sweet. I will definitely make the cake again, but I might try a different icing next time.
I love blueberries and I love lemon. How would I adjust the amounts if I used 3×6″ pans?
When you refer to organic lemon zest, do you zest fresh lemon or use a purchased, dried lemon zest? I’m just starting to learn to make and am so excited to try this cake!
Can you make this cake a day ahead of time?