Lemon Blueberry Cake
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Treat yourself to this Lemon Blueberry Cake, a summer dessert with fresh lemon and blueberries baked right into the cake and homemade cream cheese frosting on top. Every slice tastes like sunshine!
Lemon lovers, prepare yourself for this sweet and fluffy Lemon Blueberry Cake. As one of my favorite summer desserts of all time, I can never get enough of its bright lemony flavors, juicy bursts of blueberries, and luxurious cream cheese frosting on top. It’s like my lemon loaf and blueberry cake recipes had a baby!
When a dessert basically tastes like sunshine, you know it’s going to be a hit. That’s why I always bring this lemon blueberry layer cake to the Memorial Day or Fourth of July party. Whether it’s the zingy lemon, juicy blueberries, moist crumb, or creamy, tangy frosting, everyone seems to ask for a second slice before they’ve even finished their first.
- Looking for more citrus desserts? Try orange cake, lemon cookies or orange scones.
Recipe features
- One of the very best summer cakes! Just like my blackberry lavender cake and vegan strawberry cake, this blueberry lemon cake was made for celebrating the warm weather.
- It’s sort of like my lemon blueberry muffins, but in cake form.
- Never baked a cake before? No problem—this blueberry cake recipe is totally foolproof and beginner-friendly.
- Uses fresh seasonal ingredients and baking staples to give you a sweet, bright, and moist treat.
Ingredients
Butter – Melt the butter ahead of time, then set it aside to cool fully. Using warm, melted butter in the cake batter will cook the eggs, and no one wants scrambled eggs in their cake!
Lemon – You need both freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest for the cake. I highly recommend squeezing the lemons yourself—the juice is way more flavorful than the stuff from the bottle.
Flour – I like using all-purpose flour because it gives the cake a fluffy and sturdy crumb. Cake flour (use 2 1/4 cups) might work as a substitute, but it will make the cake much more delicate.
Blueberries – I used fresh blueberries because they were in season and are usually very juicy and flavorful.
Cream cheese frosting – I decorated the cake with a homemade cream cheese frosting made from cream cheese, butter, lemon juice, vanilla, and powdered sugar.
How to Make a Lemon Blueberry Cake
Step 1: Prep the ingredients. Melt the butter and set it aside to cool completely. Take the milk and eggs out of the fridge so they can come to room temperature.
Step 2: Make the lemon sugar. Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Rub them together with your fingers.
Step 3: Finish the batter. To the bowl with the sugar, stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk the butter, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice together. Pour the dry mix into the wet ingredients and carefully mix the two until they’re just combined. Fold in the blueberries.
Step 4: Bake. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two pans, then bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Let the cakes cool completely.
Step 5: Make the icing. Whisk the cream cheese icing ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and fluffy.
Step 6: Decorate and serve. Spread some of the frosting over one layer of cooled cake, place the second cake layer on top, and decorate the top and sides with the remaining frosting. Slice and enjoy!
Tips and FAQs
- Let the eggs, milk, and butter come down to room temperature before you do anything else. Using warm, melted butter will cook the eggs and cause the butter to solidify, thus causing your cake to bake unevenly.
- Soften the cream cheese and butter at least 30 minutes before making the frosting. Just take them out of the fridge and place them on the kitchen counter while you make the cake. Once they’re soft, they’ll be much easier to whip into a smooth and creamy frosting.
My Pro Tip
Recipe Tip
The secret to the wonderful lemon flavors here is the lemon sugar. By massaging the lemon zest into the sugar crystals, you release the lemon’s essential oils and make the batter that much more fragrant and vibrant. Yum!
Variations
While I don’t recommend straying too far from the original recipe, you can make a few changes:
- Not a huge fan of blueberries? Feel free to use an equal amount of raspberries, pitted cherries, chopped strawberries, or blackberries instead.
- Instead of cream cheese frosting, decorate the cake with lemon or vanilla buttercream, whipped cream, or a thin vanilla or lemon glaze.
- Decoration ideas: Top the iced cake with extra fresh blueberries, a sprinkle of lemon zest, extra piped icing, candied lemon slices, and/or fresh mint leaves.
Do frozen blueberries work in cake?
Fresh blueberries are the best here because frozen blueberries will cool down the batter and require the cake to be baked longer. If all you have are frozen blueberries, go ahead and use an equal amount, but don’t thaw them ahead of time—just fold them right into the batter at the end.
Why did my blueberries sink to the bottom of the cake?
This can happen when your blueberries are especially juicy or wet (like if they were washed and not dried or thawed from frozen). If the berries seem wet, pat them dry with paper towels or toss them in a pinch of flour before folding them into the batter.
Can this recipe be made gluten-free?
I have only tested this lemon blueberry cake recipe with all-purpose flour and can’t say if a gluten-free alternative would work or not. If you try using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend or another substitute, let me know how it worked out for you in the comments!
Can I use a different pan?
I haven’t tested it, but this recipe should also work in a 10- to 12-cup bundt pan or a 9×13 rectangular pan instead of two 8-inch cake pans. The baking time will vary depending on the size of your pan, so watch the cake carefully.
Storage
Room temperature: Cover the cake and keep it on the counter for up to 3 days. Just make sure it isn’t too hot in your kitchen, or else the icing will melt!
Refrigerator: Refrigerate the covered cake (whole or sliced) for up to 5 days. It will dry out a little in the fridge, but will still taste amazing.
Freezer: The unfrosted cake layers will freeze well for up to 3 months. Wrap them individually in plastic before freezing, then thaw them in the fridge overnight before frosting and serving.
More summer desserts
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Lemon Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup milk, room temperature
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 ½ cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups blueberries
Cream Cheese Icing:
- 6 oz. cream cheese
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- If you haven’t already, melt the butter and allow it to come to room temperature, and remove the milk and eggs from the fridge.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line two 8” cake pans with parchment paper, and spray with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest, then use your fingers to rub them together, which will release the lemon flavor.
- To that same bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir to combine.
- In a large bowl, whisk the butter, milk, eggs, vanilla and lemon juice together, then pour the dry ingredients into the set and whisk together with a hand mixer, being careful not to over-mix. Fold in the blueberries with a rubber spatula.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Place the cake in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Leave the cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before icing them.
- For the icing: Add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk together with a hand mixer until the icing is smooth.
- Dollop a large amount of icing on top of one of the cakes and spread it around, then place the second cake on top and repeat the process until the cake is coated in icing. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Made this for some guests and they kept asking me how I made it.