“I made this blueberry lemon cake for a very special person’s 60th birthday, and it was a hit all around! It’s a very lemony, truly delicious cake, and actually quite simple to make. Thank you for this stand-out recipe!” ~Kristin
blueberry lemon cake combines 2 of my favorite flavors
My Blueberry Lemon Cake is a vibrant layer cake recipe bursting with juicy berries and fresh lemon. It makes a wonderfully unique birthday cake, and I’ve yet to meet a soul who can resist this fabulous dessert. Lemon paired with berries is a natural for spring and summer desserts because the flavors are light and bright. The fruity combo has a cult following, something special happens when the two get together that drives us wild.
This fan favorite cake joins lots of other lemon/berry desserts on the site ~
what you’ll need
- cake flour ~ I love the tender texture that you get with cake flour, but you can substitute all purpose flour as well.
- sugar
- fresh lemon
- butter
- buttermilk
- eggs
- fresh blueberries
- confectioner’s sugar
- baking powder and salt
I make a simple lemon sugar for this recipe
I give the lemon and blueberries equal billing in this recipe; I’ve used almost an entire pint of berries in the cake batter, but that’s balanced by the use of a unique lemon infused sugar, as well as a super tangy lemon buttercream frosting to tie it all together.
- I make lemon sugar by processing granulated sugar with the zest of lemon, and the result is an aromatic, super lemony sugar that gives a vibrancy to cakes, and other baked goods like nothing else.
ideas for decorating this blueberry lemon cake
There are lots of ways to garnish this cake, all of them gorgeous. Of course you can leave it plain, but why?
- You might decorate the top with edible flowers ~ purple pansies would be perfect.
- You could simply mound fresh blueberries in the center, accented with fine strips of lemon zest. A shower of powdered sugar helps define the berries and make them pop.
- You could also do it like I did but substitute small mint leaves for the thyme. I think it would be really nice to slice some of the berries in half crosswise to show off their beautiful interiors. If you do this, slice them just before serving.
You can see the lovely fluffy crumb of the cake in the photos…I’m a stickler for that texture in cakes. This recipe gives you the light fluffy result of a boxed mix, with the flavor and character that only a homemade cake can give.
how to bake a fluffy blueberry lemon cake every time ~
- Preheat your oven, this is important! The oven has to be at temperature when you slide your cake in or it won’t rise properly. I use an inexpensive oven thermometer to double check the temperature. Did you know that the majority of ovens do not run true to temperature?? That can spell disaster for baking.
- Make sure you prep your pans with butter, flour, and a round of parchment paper at the bottom, and do this first, so you can bake your cake immediately after you’ve mixed it. Just trace the bottom of the pan on a piece of parchment to get the right size. You can also buy inexpensive packs of ready made parchment circles on Amazon, in any size, and they’re super handy.
- Follow the recipe. It sounds silly, but it makes a difference…baking is a complex chemical process and cake recipes are carefully composed. Changes are risky.
- A stand mixer or electric beater is important when making cakes because you’ll need it for creaming the butter and sugar together. Make sure to beat for the correct amount of time, don’t skip or skimp on this step. You’re insuring a light fluffy cake by beating in all that lovely air.
- Your ingredients should be at room temperature, especially the butter and eggs. That helps them to emulsify together and create a smooth batter.
- Don’t open the oven to check on your cakes during the first 2/3 of the baking time. If you need to check or rearrange your cake pans, do it quickly so you don’t lose precious oven heat.
- The cake is done when it springs back lightly when touched in the center, when it has just started pulling away from the sides of the pan, and when a toothpick inserted in the deepest part comes out without wet batter on it. Don’t over bake.
This simple blueberry lemon cake comes together quickly, and when I’m pressed for time I’ll make the cake layers ahead and frost it later that day, or even the next day. The cake can stay out on the counter for a day, but after that should be refrigerated, if you have any left, that is!
Blueberry Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour (you can use regular flour)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 1 lemon, peeled with a vegetable peeler (no white pith)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 jumbo or 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsp lemon paste, optional
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 pint blueberries
lemon buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 cups confectioner's sugar
- 6-8 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
garnish
- blueberries
- thyme sprigs
- powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans, putting a round of parchment paper at the bottom of each one.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
- Put the sugar and lemon zest into a food processor and process until moist, pale yellow, and no large pieces of zest remain. This will take under a minute.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer for 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the machine as necessary.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. Beat in the lemon paste, if you’re using it.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture, and just before it’s completely mixed in, add the buttermilk and lemon juice. Blend until combined, but don’t over-mix. I like to finish by hand to get everything incorporated.
- Gently fold in the blueberries. Note: I didn’t use quite the whole pint. Then divide the batter equally between the two prepared pans. Spread out to an even layer.
- Bake the cakes in the center of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan, the top springs back when touched, and a toothpick comes out without any wet batter on it (moist crumbs are fine.)
- Let the cakes cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove them from the pans and continue to cool completely before frosting.
- To make the frosting, beat the soft butter and sugar together, gradually adding enough lemon juice to create a creamy spreadable frosting. If it is too thick, add more lemon juice, and if it is too thin, add a little more sifted sugar.
- Frost the cake and then decorate as you like.
Nutrition
Question please. I need to make something like a bar with a frosting that does not need to be refrigerated. I was thinking of making this cake in 9 x 13 pan and put a lemon/powdered sugar glaze (kind of like the lemon strawberry blondies). Do you think that glaze will be enough to set off the cake? Any other ideas? thanks! Louise
Well, I haven’t tried that, but I think it should work, you’d have to be careful not to over bake the cake.
I served this cake to 12 friends tonight and every single one of them told me how delicious they thought it was. Two of them asked me to send them the recipe.
I have one suggestion which I followed. I used one stick of butter for the frosting instead of two, and I used a one pound bag of powered sugar (which is less than the six cups called for). These changes made enough frosting for the cake.
Thank you so much for the feedback Santita ~ I’m glad it was a hit!
Hi, could you substitute buttermilk for Greek yogurt?
I substituted 1/2 yogurt and 1/2 milk and it turned out fabulous. I also use lemon curd instead of lemon paste. Totally true about the lemon sugar it’s a fabulous idea! And the cake was wonderfully moist and delicious everybody loved
Thanks so much Darlene 🙂
Have you ever used this recipe for cupcakes? I plan on doing this. Any tips for doing so?
I haven’t but maybe some of the readers have. I don’t see why you couldn’t bake the batter into cupcakes. Watch the baking time, maybe start with 12-15 minutes.
I don’t have a food processor- any other suggestions for the lemon sugar?
You could grate the zest and blend it into the sugar by hand.
I just received my lemon paste, so I already have an early Monday morning bake session planned. I have a difficult time finding full fat buttermilk. Does anyone else find it?
The buttermilk I use is low fat, cultured buttermilk. It doesn’t come in full fat, so you’re good with whatever you can find. You can also make it yourself using whole milk and a little bit of lemon juice or vinegar in a pinch.
Hey! I want to make this recipe tomorrow, but in my country we don’t use inches, but centimeters. I tried to make the conversion from inches to centimeters. But the result it’s kind of huge. So can you help me with the size in centimeters please? And one more thing. Buttermilk, never heard of it before, I Googled it and says it’s milk with lemon? Can you make this clear for me? Thank you!
Ariel.
Quito-Ecuador.
Hi sue, I’m looking forward to making this cake it looks and sounds lush. The lemon paste says optional but what is it? Not heard of lemon paste here in Scarborough, UK.
Thanks .
I’ve just discovered lemon paste myself Sharon, it’s a new product that I heard about and wanted to try. You can find it online, it’s from Neilsen Massey ~ here.
PPS sorry for all the question marks in my posts… they’re emojis on my screen : (
PS Sue, your lemon ? sugar is genius! To anyone making this, don’t skip that step… you won’t imitate that flavor any other way!
Well, it looks like I’m the only one who actually made this cake so far and I want to say to everyone MAKE IT!!! I absolutely love the flavor of real lemons, especially in the frosting! And the tenderness of buttermilk, butter and eggs combined make this cake heaven on a fork!!!??? I combined it with my homemade vanilla bean ice cream for a group of 10 women I hosted here yesterday for our monthly “Work of Our Hands” group and they could not stop swooning (does anyone still use that word???) over it!!! And, yes Sue, I absolutely love my Cuisinart ice cream maker too. And here’s an ice cream tip from me… ever since I got my Cuisinart and made my very first ice cream years ago, I decided that, if it’s called ice CREAM, that’s what mine will be so it’s always 100% heavy cream. If you can give me a good reason why every ice cream recipe I’ve seen uses as much or more milk as cream and often it’s just half and half, I’d be interested in seeing why. Needless to say, mine gets rave reviews since it’s so rich and creamy.
I haven’t made a layer cake since I stopped using boxed mixes decades ago but at 72 with 7 grandkids and the world’s most wonderful husband, they and our friends and family deserve only the best and this recipe is going to be one of my showstoppers from now on!!! ? (My husband just asked me for one more piece! ?)
Best comment EVER! I adored this cake too, so I’m so happy so have the feedback 🙂
As for the ice cream, the reason I cut the cream with milk or half and half is just to lighten the calories and fat, and I think it also gives ice cream a little lighter texture, but if you love the result you get from 100% cream, go for it 🙂