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.
Elena
My husband and I made this cake over the weekend and it was delicious! That frosting just puts it over the top! Your video and instructions are great. We did have a little bit of a hard time with the cakes. We added extra baking time but the centers still seemed under baked and they sank a bit during the cooling process. Would you recommend that we increase the temp rather than continue adding time? We were concerned that they’d dry out if baked too long. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Elena! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I wouldn’t recommend a temperature increase, unless your oven temperature is off. I would just bake it a few minutes longer. 🙂
Elena
Thanks so much for your prompt response and of course for all of your delicious recipes! 🙂
Michelle Hoffman Hoffman
Absolutely delicious! I made a batch of lemon buttercream to put better the layers and vanilla buttercream for the top and sides. This cake is light and tastes amazing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed it, Michelle! Thanks for your review 😊
Jay
As planned, made this for Easter Sunday and it was absolutely delicious! Love your recipes. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s great, Jay! Thanks for coming back and letting us know how it went for you 🙂
Amy Howell
I’m having trouble finding the icing recipe, I saw something about butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream and vanilla but not how much of each. If you could send it to me I would appreciate it! Thanks, Amy Howell
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Amy! Here you go: Lemon Frosting
Norma
Can I make a single layer cake instead of a tiered cake?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Norma! Yes, it will work in a 9 x 13. Make sure you don’t overfill your pan (you may have a little excess batter) and keep an eye on it as we’re not sure how long it will need to bake. 🙂
Fatemah
Hello, do you think this recipe would work if i substituted the blueberries with raspberries?
Sam
Hi Fatemah! That should work here. 🙂
Diana Colombo
Made this for the first time and it came out PERFECT for Easter, I didn’t have 3 8″ pans so I did one, but then didn’t have much time so did 2 9″ inch, I need to buy more 8″ and do the 3 layer, but we did eat the 8″ as a tester and made layer cake with the 2 9″ inch, I made your lemon frosting with curd and it came out great, I’m not a fan of butter frosting, I prefer cream cheese so next time I will do a cream cheese frosting with it, Do you have a lemon cream cheese frosting recipe with the curd (Enjoyed making curd for the first time) ?? Thank you for sharing so many wonderful recipes, Every time I try one, it never disappoints, Your lemon brownie recipe is a favorite in my house.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Diana! We’re so happy you liked the cake! We actually provide instructions on how to make a lemon cream cheese version in the post–take a look at the first purple tip block 🙂
Dawn
Made this yummy cake for Easter dessert and it was a huge success! I will definitely recommend to others and make it again and again.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it was such a hit for you, Dawn! ❤
Jane
Will this recipe work as cupcakes and do you have an idea on bake time? Also, I’m wanting to make these for an event where they’d be available 7:30 am- 3:30 pm. Would they do alright sitting out at room temp or should they be refrigerated?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Jane! Yes it does, and they will take about 16-18 minutes. The cupcakes can sit at room temp for a few hours (probably three at most), so it might be best to set half of them out in the beginning of the event, then bring the other half a few hours later. Hope that helps!
Heidiann
Can I use a 9 x 13 inch pan instead of the round pans?
Sam
Hi Heidiann! You will be able to bake it in a 9 x 13. Make sure you don’t overfill your pan (you may have a little excess batter) and keep an eye on it as I’m not sure how long it will need to bake. 🙂
Kelly
OMG, this cake/frosting combo was delicious!
Sam
Thank you so much, Kelly! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Mary B
Loved the recipe – one of our Easter desserts – made as cupcakes! That way all of us could enjoy them..
Rachel
Looks incredible!!! Do you think it could be made as a bundt cake? If so, how would you amend the recipe?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Rachel! We think that will work fine. Your bake time will be different though, so keep an eye on it! 🙂
Linda Hensens
OMG Sam!! I made this cake with the lemon frosting yesterday, 04/16/22, and it was nothing short of incredible! Even my husband, who doesn’t normally like cakes with frosting, said it was really good! I actually made the cake layers the night before as well as the frosting and put it together for our family BBQ yesterday. The flavors of the lemon with the blueberries are one of my favorite food combinations. The cake was pretty easy to make totally from scratch, and the frosting was relatively easy too, even though I thought it wouldn’t be because of making the lemon curd. I’ve never even tasted lemon curd before I made it, and WOW! what a flavor punch it was!! I ate a piece of the cake for breakfast this morning, and I’m pretty sure the rest of this cake won’t be around our house for very long! Thank you for this recipe! My family and I absolutely loved it!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Linda! 🙂
Diana Colombo
Right it was so pretty and taste so good! It’s such a great feeling when a recipe comes out looking like it should and taste even better, this one is definitely in the make again, and again pile. If you haven’t tried her lemon brownies, they are really good if you love lemon. My only regret is I didn’t take a photo of the cake, so will I have to make it again! Mothers day is coming up!
Janice
Made this today for our early Easter meal. Loved it! Not too sweet, absolutely delicious. Thank you.
Cathy
I made this cake today for our Easter get together & it was all eaten ! I should have made two because there wasn’t enough to go around! It was loved by children & adults definitely a hit ! Thank you for sharing this recipe!