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, vegetable, or avocado 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, vegetable, or avocado 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.
Monica
If I only have 9” pans should I only use two or should I increase the batter?
Sam
Hi Monica! You can either decrease the recipe by 1/3 or you can bake 2 of them and then the third when the first ones are done baking. 🙂
Maddie
I made this cake yesterday with the lemon frosting and I love it! I was a little worried when I read some comments that it might be dry, but it turned out perfectly moist and delicious for me. I do have one concern, all the blueberries seemed to fall to the bottom of the cake after baking. It’s not a huge deal in a tiered cake, but I was wondering if there was a way of preventing that from happening.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Maddie! Unfortunately we don’t have a good way to prevent them from sinking (we actually talk about it in the post!). Luckily the cakes still turn out beautiful and tasty regardless. We’re so happy you loved this recipe 💙
Yamelis
Hi ! Can I sub lemon for lime ? Thanks
Sam
Hi Yamelis! I think that could work. I haven’t tried it to know how it will turn out, but the lime shouldn’t change anything other than flavor here. 🙂
Brooke
Hi, I don’t have a lot of luck with baking, and, unfortunately, this was another example for me. I followed the exact recipe and no browning when I removed from oven, so I don’t think it was overcooked. You did mention it is dense; this one turned out overly dense, very heavy, dry and gummy to the chew. Thank you the recipe though. I’ll try a different one of yours next time. 😊
Sam
Hi Brooke! I’m so sorry this happened! The cake may have been over-mixed and under-baked. Did you check it for doneness with a toothpick? I think if you give it another shot and just be careful when mixing and use the toothpick test to make sure it’s done you can get it to come out perfectly. Practice makes perfect! 🙂
Pamela B.
The cake and frosting came out beautifully and the flavors were very well-balanced, not too sweet, not too tart. I had one problem tho–the cake was dry. No mistakes were made in measuring the ingredients and my batter was thick like that in the video. I do plan on getting an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature was not too hot, but if oven temp checks out OK, what can I do to get a moister cake?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Pamela! It could be that the cake was a touch over-mixed or over-baked. We’re glad you enjoyed it overall though!
Leslie W
This cake was incredibly delicious – the texture and moisture were decadent. I made it for a family gathering last month and it didn’t last! I was asked to make it again for 4th of July :). Question – would this recipe work without the blueberries as a lemon cake? I know there are other recipes on here for lemon however, I don’t think they use buttermilk and I would like to keep the moisture and density as close to this one as possible.
Sam
Hi Leslie! You can leave the blueberries out if you’d like. Since you’ll have less batter it may change your bake time slightly so just be sure to keep an eye on it. 🙂
Jersey Mom
I have never left a review for a recipe before but this one deserves one! It was delicious! We used 2, 9 inch cake pans instead of 8 inch and they worked out perfect. We also dusted our blueberries in a tablespoon or so of flour and that helped them not sink. We may have added a little more fresh lemon juice since we didn’t want to waste it. The cake was dense and moist. It was baked and iced the day before serving and refrigerated. A keeper! Thank you for sharing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy it was such a success for you! Thanks so much for your review–enjoy ❤
Anda
Hi. I wanna bake the cake a day in advance (just the batter) and assemble it the next day. Can the cake we stored in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap? I don’t want it to get dry and I can’t figure out if this is a moist cake or not.
Thanks 🙂
Sam
Hi Anda! You can certainly make it the day in advance and assemble the next day. I would recommend wrapping the cakes and leaving them at room temperature. The refrigerator tends to dry things out. 🙂
Connie Mailand
Always THE BEST. Every birthday I come here for my recipes ❤️I know I can rely on Sam for the greatest (also simple) recipes!!! I just made this today for our 10th anniversary cake and it is also our daughters 6th birthday. To see our daughter over joyed with the 3 tiered cake 🍰 plus 3 is our special number. Thank you Sam for the best recipes always! I followed the directions perfectly, checked cake early as my oven baked off when 3 cakes are added. Thank you so much!!! Perfect summer cake ❤️
Sam
Thank you so much, Connie! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Anne
I was really looking forward to making this recipe for my daughter’s dad’s birthday, because blueberries and lemon are his favorites. I followed the recipe exactly, but it ended up being very dry. I think next time I’ll add more buttermilk, because I did find the batter to be a little thick. I may add fewer eggs, as well, because I think more eggs might make it a little drier?
Sam
Hi Anne! I’m sorry to hear it turned out dry! I would not recommend adding more buttermilk or reducing the eggs. The biggest causes of a dry cake are typically accidentally over-measuring the flour (I recommend using a scale or see my post on how to measure flour properly if you are not using a scale), or over-baking, which is probably the more likely cause. Make sure your oven isn’t running hotter than it says (an oven thermometer helps!) and try checking the cake just a few minutes earlier, I think that would help a lot 🙂
Pam
Can I use gluten free flour?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We haven’t tried it, but we think it should work fine 😊
Pam Ritley
Hi ,
This is Pam and I used the Gluten Free All Purpose Flour for this cake. It turned out delicious!!
Sam
Thank you so much for your feedback, Pam! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Sylvia
This cake is FABULOUS! I made it for my boss’s birthday. (He has attended culinary school.) Everyone in the office LOVED it, and said that this cake was the best I’ve ever made, and I have baked a lot of cakes.
The lemon frosting is soooo good. I make 1.5 of the recipe and had a little left over… and I ate all of it. Delicious!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Sylvia! 🙂
Kellie
Can this be made in a bundle pan?
What would you recommend as directions?
Sam
Hi Kellie! It will bake up in a bundt pan. I’m not sure how long it will take to bake and I’m not sure if it will make too much batter for your pan or not so make sure to not overfill it. 🙂
Shannon
I made this cake last week for Eid and everyone loved it! I want to remake this cake but instead of lemon blueberry I want to add Ube extract. Can I just add 1/4 more buttermilk instead of the lemon? I loved the texture of the cake and I didn’t want to change it.
Sam
Hi Shannon! I haven’t tried it. Adding more buttermilk will change the texture. You could try adding some ube extract into my vanilla cake. 🙂
Lisa
I made this cake with the recommended lemon icing. And OMG ITSTO DIE FOR!!! MY HUSBAND HAS DECLARED THIS IS THE BESR
CAKE/ICING EVER. YOU MUST TRY IT.
Pamela
I would like to try these as fancy cupcakes. Do you have any recommendations for time length in oven or have anyone done this yet and the outcome.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Pamela! We’d recommend about 16-18 minutes for cupcakes. Enjoy! 😊
Krystyn
How many cupcakes would a full cake recipie make? If I only want 12 cupcakes, should I half the recipie?
Thanks!
Sam
I haven’t portioned it out into cupcakes, but I think half the batter will make at least 12 cupcakes. 🙂
Candi
I made this cake for Mother’s day. It is the BEST blueberry I have ever made. The lovvvvve the lemon frosting.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was a hit for you, Candi! Thanks for giving our recipe a shot ❤
SUSAN D MYERS
My husband does not like lemon anything. I made this cake and added a little extra milk and a lot of vanilla. I baked it in a 9X13 pan. The flavor was amazing, however I had to bake it about 48 minutes to get the cake to get done. Doing so made the cake drier than I would have liked. I would suggest that you use the 8″ or 9″ pans and not bake it quite as long. Will I make it again? YOU BET I WILL. Thanks for another great recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Susan! Thank you so much for the baking time feedback in the 9 x 13. 🙂
Browder
The flavor of the cake was good. It was very dry not moist. I was a little disappointed. However over all it was okay. Also a little too sweet. One cup sugar is enough. You have the sweet blueberries
Sam
I’m so disappointed to hear that your cake was dry! It may have needed a few minutes less in the oven. 🙁
Gwen
Hi, Sam – In your recipes like this one that call for all-purpose flour, do you use bleached or unbleached flour? I’ve recently learned that there is a difference in protein content between the two, so I’m not sure which one to use for cakes. Can’t wait to try this recipe! 🙂
Sam
Hi Gwen! I typically buy bleached flour. 🙂