Blueberry Cake is a great way to use up summer berries! This cake is soft, moist, and dense (without being at all dry!) and reminds me of a big fluffy blueberry muffin! Top everything off with a simple lemon glaze and enjoy!
Oh, friends, I really, really hope you like blueberries as much as I do.
Not only have I already shared these completely addictive blueberry crumb bars and blueberry cobbler, but somewhere along the way during my baking journey I got completely carried away and now have 3 more perfected blueberry recipes waiting in the wings for you.
The good news is that 1) I promise to try and space them out as much as I can, and 2) if you’re not a blueberry fan (which you really should be because blueberries are amazing, but I won’t hold it against you 😉), in most cases you can substitute your favorite summer berry. That holds true for this Blueberry Cake, as well.
Raspberries, blackberries, even sliced strawberries would work well in today’s Blueberry Cake recipe, but I highly recommend starting with blueberries.
To make this cake incredibly soft, I use the same technique that I used with my favorite coffee cake and added a whole brick of cream cheese into the batter.
The cream cheese makes the cake dense, moist, and so incredibly soft that each bite almost just melts in your mouth. The cream cheese also adds a subtle flavor, just a hint of tang that you won’t be able to recognize as cream cheese while you are noshing away, but that enhances the flavor of the blueberry cake.
Tips for Making Blueberry Cake
This Blueberry Cake is really pretty simple to make, but I do have a few tips to help you along the way.
- Unless you have a really deep 9″ cake pan, I recommend using a springform pan for this recipe. Springform pans have tall edges and this recipe makes a fair amount of batter, so if you use a standard cake pan there’s a high possibility that the batter will overflow the pan while baking. Trust me, nobody wants to clean up that mess!
- You can use fresh or frozen berries, either works great in this recipe.
- As I mentioned above, if blueberries aren’t your thing, an equal amount of raspberries, blackberries, or sliced strawberries would also work just as well.
- Due to the density and volume of the batter, this blueberry cake does take a long time to bake, at least an hour! Have patience and make sure that the center is completely baked (use the toothpick test) so you don’t cut in to a half baked cake!
- I top my blueberry cake off with a lemon glaze. If you don’t like lemon, you can leave out the glaze completely or just make a simple vanilla glaze by substituting the lemon juice called for in the recipe with water and increasing the amount of vanilla to ½ teaspoon.
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
Alright, that’s it for today and I’ll try to keep my next blueberry recipe at bay for at least a little while longer.
Also, don’t forget about my Recipe of the Month Challenge! Bake these brownie cookies this month and share a photo for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift card!
Enjoy!
Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (113g)
- 8 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature (225g)
- 1 cup light brown sugar tightly packed (200g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (335g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk* (120ml)
- 1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries (210g)
Lemon Glaze
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar (160g)
- 1 ½ Tablespoon lemon juice (20ml)
- 1 ½ teaspoon water
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and lightly grease and flour a 9" springform pan.
- Using an electric mixer (a stand mixer or hand mixer will work) cream together butter and cream cheese in a large bowl.
- Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt.
- Grab your buttermilk and gradually alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter, stirring until all of the flour mixture and buttermilk have been combined.
- Use a spatula to gently fold in blueberries until combined.
- Evenly spread batter into prepared springform pan and bake on 350F (175C) for 60-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with few crumbs (no wet batter).
- Allow to cool before topping with lemon glaze.
Lemon Glaze
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, lemon juice, water, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Use a spoon to drizzle over cooled cake. Allow glaze to set (about 10-15 minutes) before slicing and enjoying.
ANNA
Hi Sam,
I baked this cake today and it came out greasy all over inside and didn’t rose up so much. I left it in the oven for one and a half hour, but there wasn’t a change. The taste was really really good! For this 5stars and because I think it:s my fault I don’t decrease them for the bad consistency I had.
What did I do wrong? It’ years! Since I had a greasy cake and it was greasy ALL OVER! Only 2mm on the outside were not, but this were dry. The rest was a little bit creamy too. I baked half, because I own a 20cm spring and was aware of the high rise. So it was lesser batter too. I don’t get why it turned out like this.
Help, I love the taste and would love to bake it again.
Sam
Hi Anna! I’m so sorry this happened! It sounds like it may have needed more time in the oven if the inside was creamy. If the outside was over-cooked is it possible your oven temperature is off?
kathleen
Hi Sam,
Can this recipe be used to make muffins? Thanks for all your delicious recipes!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kathleen! I have a blueberry muffin recipe that I would reccomend trying instead. 🙂
kathleen
Thank you Sam! Your blueberry muffin with cream cheese is my daughters favorite and we also enjoyed your blueberry muffin recipe. I have full block of cream cheese and was hoping to use it. Thank you for your time.
Sugar Spun Run
Absolutely! I am so glad that she loves the muffins. 🙂
Cynthia Scott
¡This recipe is so delicious! I just did it and I recommend it 100%. Thanks for sharing this recipe on your page.😍
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Cynthia! 🙂
marlene harkcom
I’m actually in the process of making this. When I set it out to cool do I remove the sides of the pan immediately or leave it together until it cools?
Sam
Hi Marlene! You can leave it in the pan until you are ready to serve it. 🙂
Ujwala
Hi! Can I substitute yogurt for cream cheese? Love your recipes! Ujwala
Sam
Hi Ujwala! It could work, but I found the substitution will make the cake drier and not as soft.
Julie
I really wanted to love this cake. I love blueberries and I also love so many of Sam’s other recipes. I made the cake according to directions and unfortunately, by the time the cake was done all the way through, the bottom had turned tough and had a burnt flavor. It wasn’t a total loss as I was able to trim off the browned bottom, but I don’t think I’ll make this one again. There are plenty of other great recipes here to choose from, though!
Sam
Oh no, I’m so disappointed to hear this, Julie! 🙁
Barb
I’m going to use frozen blueberries. Should they be defrosted before adding to the batter?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Barb! No, you do not need to. I hope that you enjoy the cake. 🙂
Krow
Do you think it’s okay to freeze this cake after baking it?
Sugar Spun Run
I personally have not frozen this cake, however, I think that it should be fine. Enjoy! 🙂
Sharon
How long do you leave the cake in the springform pan before I info it.??
Sugar Spun Run
Hello, Sharon! I am not sure what you are asking? If you’re asking when you can release the springform pan and cut into it, I recommend letting it cool before you cut into it. I hope that you enjoy your blueberry cake.
Mary
Have tried several of your recipes and think they’re great! Looking forward to trying this one too. Does the finished product need to be refrigerated? Or can it be stored at room temp?
Sam
Hi Mary! I am glad you have enjoyed everything so far. This cake can be kept at room temperature. You will want to make sure it stays in an air tight container. I hope you love this one too. 🙂
Kat
I made this cake yesterday and it was soooo soft and moist. I definitely had to bake it for nearly 20 minutes longer than the recipe called for but I live at higher altitude too. My only comment was that, although the glazed topping was excellent, I was craving a bit of icing or maybe even homemade whipped cream to balance out the density. Either way, it was amazing and I’m not a good cook at all.
Also – I love your savory recipes too. More of those please!!
Thank you again 🙂
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cake, Kat! I do try to work on some more savory recipes, but I can’t escape my sweet tooth sometimes. 🙂
Ziva
This cake is wonderful! For people who think it tastes like a mix: good! It’s always nice when you can find a recipe that uses ingredients that are identifiable but can stand up to a grocery store product. If you like mixes better then go ahead and enjoy your high fructose corn syrup. I added a little extra vanilla just to enhance the flavor and doubled the recipe to make a 9×13 cake, otherwise nothing was altered. One word of caution: the batter will be very thick so care should be taken when adding the blueberries and egg whites so as not to bruise the berries. This cake is very moist and not overbearingly sweet – much better than a mix! This would also make lovely muffins. Thank you so much Irene, this is definitely a new favorite!
Sam
I’m glad you enjoyed the cake!
Silvi Pimentel
Hello, quick question, can you use sour cream to substitute the cream cheese for this recipe?
Sam
I’m not sure how it would work, I’m sorry!
Ziva
Thank you
Valerie L.
Sam, We just love blueberries in our household, and this recipe sounds like it will be incredibly moist with the addition of both cream cheese, as well as buttermilk in the batter. So I am definitely going to have to try this one!
Sam
I really hope you love it, Valerie!!! 🙂
Julie Amstutz
can you use a bundt pan
Sam
Yes but the baking time will vary so just keep an eye on it