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:
Could I make this as cupcakes? Cooking time if so?
I am planning on making this for a birthday party. Will it hold a stacked cake?
Fantastic Flavor. Recipe was well written and I didn’t have any trouble following. I WILL MAKE THIS AGAIN! My icing was pretty soft after all the mixing, I noticed that with another commenter too. I would put the icing in the fridge to firm up so I can get more cream cheese frosting in between the layers.
AGAIN – THIS WAS SO GOOD!
Would this work in 9″ cake pans? Or would the layers be too thin?
I made this cake twice already, the first time was for my husband’s birthday. It was the best cake I ever made! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I was nervous when I presented it on his birthday because I had never made it before, so I just hoped it would taste OK. It was way better than OK! My whole family loved it and I was amazed that I actually baked a cake that was this good. Thank you again! Followed every step except I used 2 – 9” cake pans as that’s all I have.