This Lemon Blueberry Cake is the perfect dessert for spring celebrations and get-togethers! Each layer is studded with blueberries and frosted with a bright and refreshing lemon icing. Recipe includes a how-to video!
All the Flavors of Spring in One Slice
So many of you have requested this lemon blueberry cake, and I am excited to finally share it with you today! With lemon notes in both the icing and the cake and a bounty of blueberries throughout each layer, this cake is so fruity and light. It’s absolutely perfect for spring and would be a very welcome addition to your Easter dessert table this year.
What’s So Great About This Lemon Blueberry Cake:
- It’s a lemony, perfectly tart variation of my vanilla cake with just the right amount of sweetness.
- A soft, plush crumb suspends at least some of the berries, thanks to the reverse creaming method (like I did with my chantilly cake!).
- We’re icing it with the lemon frosting I just shared last week, which makes it both refreshing and beautiful!
What You Need
Here are the key ingredients that ensure every bite of this cake is flavorful and light:
- Blueberries. I use fresh blueberries, but frozen will work too. If you use frozen, don’t thaw them first–just add them right into the batter.
- Lemon juice. For the most flavorful lemon blueberry cake, use fresh squeezed lemon juice.
- Lemon zest. Make sure you zest your lemons before you juice them! It will be quite a challenge to zest a juiced lemon.
- Buttermilk. While I love using my buttermilk substitute in a pinch, I actually don’t recommend using it for this cake. Stick with real buttermilk!
- Cornstarch. This helps achieve a soft, plush cake.
SAM’S TIP: While my lemon frosting complements this cake beautifully, you can make a cream cheese frosting variation that also tastes fantastic. To make this, follow the recipe for my lemon frosting, but add 4 oz of softened cream cheese in with the butter. You may need to add up to an additional cup of powdered sugar to get it the right texture!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make It
- Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add the butter one tablespoon at a time, using an electric mixer on low speed to mix after each addition.
- Slowly drizzle in the oil.
- Combine the remaining wet ingredients in a separate bowl, then slowly drizzle them into the batter.
- Use a spatula to gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
- Divide the batter among your prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes.
- Let the cakes cool in their pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting the cakes onto a cooling rack.
- Frost and decorate your cooled cakes, slice, and enjoy!
SAM’S TIP: If you only have two cake pans (or your oven only fits two pans at a time), you can let the remaining batter sit on the counter while the others are baking. If you do have three pans and they can all fit in your oven at the same time, definitely keep a close eye on them while they bake–most ovens do not cook evenly, and some may be done before others.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Just add them in frozen (no need to thaw) and bake as normal. Note that if you use wild blueberries, these tend to streak the batter and turn it purple. If you don’t mind that look (it’s almost like a tie dye effect), feel free to use them as well!
While many (but not all) of your blueberries will sink, you’ll still get a nice distribution of blueberry to cake in the final result, especially since the cake layers are fairly thin. I made several variations of this cake where the crumb was dense enough to suspend blueberries evenly throughout, but the cake itself ended up gummy, dense, flavorless, and just all-around lackluster. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take flavor and texture over perfect looks any day! Note: While some people like to toss their berries with cornstarch or flour to help keep them suspended, I found it made no difference here.
This cake can sit at room temperature for a few hours, but after that, it will need to be stored in the fridge in an airtight container.
And in case you are wondering, this cake is different from my (well-loved) lemon cake. While that one is divinely light, fluffy, and perfect in all its lemon splendor, today’s recipe was designed specifically to be a bit denser so that not all of the blueberries sink straight to the bottom (which would happen with my lemon cake).
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Lemon Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened and cut into 8 pieces
- ½ cup (120 ml) canola or vegetable oil
- ¾ cup (180 ml) buttermilk
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest zest lemons before squeezing
- ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice fresh-squeezed preferred
- 4 large eggs room temperature preferred
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (340 g) blueberries see note (12 oz)
- 1 batch lemon frosting or preferred frosting
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line three 8” round cake pans by lightly but thoroughly greasing and flouring the sides and lining the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon table salt
- Using an electric mixer, add softened butter, one tablespoon at a time, adding the next tablespoon only after the first is combined. The mixture will appear sandy in texture.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter
- While mixing on low-speed, slowly drizzle in oil.½ cup (120 ml) canola or vegetable oil
- In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla extract until combined.¾ cup (180 ml) buttermilk, 2 Tablespoons lemon zest, ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice, 4 large eggs, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- With mixer on low-speed, slowly drizzle in the buttermilk mixture until the batter is smooth and completely combined.
- Use a spatula to stir in blueberries.2 ½ cups (340 g) blueberries
- Evenly divide batter into prepared cake pans and transfer to 350F oven (if your oven is not large enough for all three pans or if you only have two pans, it is fine to let the remaining batter sit on the counter while the first two pans bake. If all of your pans do fit in the oven, make sure to keep an eye on them as most ovens do not cook evenly and some pans may be done sooner than others). Bake for 30 minutes or until the surface of the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow cakes to cool in cake pans for 10-15 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen cakes and carefully inverting onto a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Once cooled completely, decorate the cake using lemon frosting (or preferred frosting).1 batch lemon frosting or preferred frosting
Notes
Blueberries
I prefer to use fresh blueberries but in a pinch frozen blueberries will work instead. You do not need to thaw before using. Note that if you opt to use “wild” blueberries, they may streak your batter purple.Storing
Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 24 hours or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days (note that the refrigerator does tend to dry out cakes the longer they are in there).Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Melissa
Hello! Can this be baked successfully in a Bundt pan?
Sam
Hi Melissa! I’d be a little concerned that all the blueberries would sink to the bottom (top) and it may not come out of the pan very nicely.
Lena
I’m so devastated, I’ve never failed so horribly at baking before. Followed instructions to a T. The batter was SUPER thick, baked it anyway. At 30 minutes stuck a toothpick in came out clean, and o stuck it like 5 spots. After cooling and flipping it over on the rack I noticed some of the blueberries and batter were falling out! Currently renaming them but not hopeful. I will say, I ate the half cooked cake that fell on the counter and it was delicious! Hopefully they can still be salvaged.. why was my batter so thick? I stopped mixing as soon as it was combined..
Sam
Hi Lena! That’s so frustrating, I’m sorry to hear it. Honestly it sounds like something was accidentally mis-measured if it was as thick as you are describing. If you take a peek at the video you can see the consistency that it is supposed to be, did yours look like that?
Lena
Well after talking with my husband do you think it’s the milk I used? I didn’t use buttermilk I used whole milk but it was fairlife, which is like super filtered and I think lactose is removed.. I didn’t think about it being a problem but maybe that was it? Otherwise I used exact measurements with a scale. Maybe I over mixed it too? I’m not sure. I ended up turning it into a bread pudding that came out quite tasty.
Sam
I would guess it was probably the milk. I’m not very familiar with it. 🙁 I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it! 🙂
Cher
This is my go to recipe and base recipe for all other flavors I like to try… This is a non-fail recipe and and definite crowd pleaser!
Annie S.
Will this bake ok in a 9×13 pan?
Sam
Hi Annie! This will fit in a 9 x 13, but the berries are likely to sink. A few will may suspended. I know others have done it in a 9 x 13 with success. 🙂
Ainie Amin
This is not a good cake … it is a Great cake! Texture is soft, moist and fragrant. I’m not much of a fan of sweet cakes so I reduced the sugar used in the recipe by 80g. By using 220g castor sugar, it still taste sweet and the texture of the cake is not compromised. As for the frosting, I used a Cream Cheese Frosting with Lemon Curd and it actually complimented the cake very well. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
Gerri
It’s an incredible cake…and a huge hit for two birthdays!
Teresa Martinez
I made this cake and I have no clue what I did wrong but it was dry. Any suggestions?
Sam
Hi Teresa! The most likely culprit would be over-baking the cake, even a minute or two too long can dry out a cake, unfortunately. Alternatively it could be a matter of accidentally over-measuring the flour. I hope that helps!
Gisi
I made this as the bottom tier of a two-tiered cake. Absolutely delicious! A keeper yet again! Thank you for putting your recipes out there. I can just follow your recipes without having to adjust anything, not even the baking time.
I did cut down on the sugar, but I do that for all cake recipes. The layers were baked the day before, wrapped individually, and stored in the fridge. I used your cream cheese icing recipe, with just a hint of lemon in between the layers, because the top tier cake was your chocolate cheesecake ( with white chocolate, and as a 6 inch).
Maureen
This is the best Lemon Blueberry recipe I’ve ever tried, definitely a KEEPER for me. I have made this cake numerous times and can’t get enough of it. I have omitted the blueberries and made a Lemon cake from this recipe and it was DIVINE. One of my favorite cake recipes. Thanks for sharing your recipes with us.
Lori
I loved this recipe. I took it to a club function and came home with an empty cake plate. I might make a little more icing next time but the cake and icing combo is perfect. I love your recipes
Old Grey Mare
It is “a thing” to keep berries from sinking in cakes if you coat them with cornstarch, but I would think even carefully stirring them in could rub that off, so how about coating them first, but adding a few to the pans before you pour in the batter, then some batter, then more berries, then more batter, then a few berries on top that you push down a little into the batter?
Sam
I tried coating the berries and found it didn’t do much. I’m not sure the berries would stay if you put some down, add cake batter and add more. The cakes aren’t overly thick so I found it to not be a really big issue here. 🙂
Angela Lampley
I have to make this cake for a wedding. Is it possible to freeze the layers before frosting and decorating the cake?
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Rose Thress
Can I use gluten-free flour for this lemon cake
Sam
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out, but if you do, let me know how it goes. 🙂
Rhee
Do I bake 1.5x for an equivalent 9″ cake pan?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Rhee! Your bake time will likely be a minute or two less with 9″ pans.
Lindy
I have made this 3 times once as a cake for my family and the next 2x as cupcakes to bring to work. This recipe is legendary. I’m asked to make this blueberry lemon cake by people at least once a month.
Jeff
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes? Any adjustments? Or would you not recommend making cupcakes for this particular recipe?
Sam
Hi Jeff! This will work as cupcakes, with only adjustments to the bake time. 🙂
Jeffrey Donahue
I decided to go with something different. I made the Vanilla cupcakes and your chocolate icing and also the strawberry icing (Frozen strawberries) and they were a big hit. But to me – the blueberry lemon cake is still the best. I’ll try this in cupcakes next.
Dania
This recipe sounds amazing. I’d love to make it for my husband’s birthday, but I only have 6 inch round pans. How much would my bake time need to increase by?
Sam
Hi Dania! I’m not sure on a bake time on the 6 inch pans. It will certainly be reduced unless they are really thick cake pans. I would just keep an eye on them as they bake. Make sure you don’t over-fill your pans. 🙂
Dania
Thanks. I’ll take your advice.