This lemon blueberry cake is so moist, delicious, and bursting with Springtime flavor! It features layers of zesty lemon cake dotted with beautiful blueberries, filled and frosted with lemon cream cheese buttercream. It’s the epitome of Spring in cake form and perfect for a brunch, birthday party, or a weekend bake. Look at how beautiful these cake layers turned out!
One Reader, Nanita, says: “The cake came out so fluffy and moist with the perfect amount of lemon and blueberries. It is a delicious recipe for Spring but I’m sure you can make it any time of the year!” ★★★★★
Contrary to my recipe for lemon cake with blueberry buttercream, this lemon blueberry cake has fresh berries baked right inside each layer. It’s light enough to be a brunch cake but delicious enough to be the centerpiece for Easter, Mother’s Day, an upcoming birthday, or any celebratory event. And while these flavors are typically associated with Spring, you could make this cake year round and no one would complain. I promise!
Adding Blueberries to a Lemon Cake Recipe
I’ll be honest. I thought this lemon blueberry cake was going to be a breeze to test, especially since I already have a cranberry orange cake recipe that seemed like a great starting point. Turns out that blueberries are a LOT heavier than cranberries, so during the first test all of my blueberries sank to the bottom. It happened again with the second test, and then after doing some research I realized that since blueberries are so heavy, the lemon cake batter needed to be thicker and I needed to make two important changes:
- Using all-purpose (or plain) flour is a must. I use cake flour in most of my cake recipes because it yields such a tender crumb, but after swapping the cake flour for all-purpose flour in this recipe and tweaking some of the other ingredients, the batter was much thicker yet still created the perfect texture in the baked cake. This thicker batter helps keep those blueberries suspended as they bake.
- Cutting the blueberries in half. The size of blueberries varies so much, and at first I was nervous to cut the larger ones in half and fold them into the batter because I thought they’d leak. Turns out cutting blueberries in half, coating them in flour, and folding them into the batter yielded PERFECT suspension in the baking process and they don’t leak at all.
After making these two changes and tweaking some of the other ingredients, the result was the perfect lemon blueberry cake with amazing citrus flavor, a moist yet tender crumb, and the perfect suspension of blueberries in every slice!
Lemon Blueberry Cake Ingredients
This lemon cake recipe uses every part of a lemon to get the perfect citrus flavor. The zest is mixed together with the sugar to release essential oils + the juice is added to the milk to create buttermilk, which adds both moisture and flavor. Even though this cake uses all-purpose flour, which is heavier than cake flour and typically yields a denser cake, the other ingredients are tweaked to maintain a moist and tender crumb while perfectly supporting those blueberries!
Here’s what you need to know about some of the key ingredients:
- Lemon zest + fresh squeezed lemon juice. As mentioned previously, this recipe uses every part of the lemon for flavoring this cake. The lemon zest is mixed with the sugar in the beginning of the recipe to release lemon essential oils from the beginning. Then, you’ll juice a few lemons into the milk to create a diy buttermilk that adds lots of moisture and flavor at the end of the recipe. In total, you’ll need 3-4 medium lemons.
- All-purpose flour. After lots of testing, I realized that the batter for this cake needs to be thick enough to support the blueberries and keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake pans during the baking process. All-purpose flour (or plain flour) is the best choice here. While I am normally a fan of cake flour for most of my recipes, don’t be tempted to substitute it in.
- Whole Milk. In the beginning of the recipe, you’ll add lemon juice to the whole milk to create homemade buttermilk. This creates moisture and adds flavor to the cake. Since whole milk has a high amount of fat and protein, it’s the best choice for adding moisture while binding the ingredients together. The best substitutes here would be soy milk or full-fat buttermilk, but whole milk is my recommendation.
- Granulated Sugar. This not only sweetens the cake but also tenderizes the crumb, creating a softer cake.
- Butter + Vegetable Oil. These are the two base fats I use in this recipe, a little bit of butter for a rich texture and a little bit of vegetable oil for added moisture.
- Large Eggs. These add structure to the cake and help bind the ingredients together.
- Fresh Blueberries. I recently discovered that using a paring knife to cut the blueberries in half is a game changer – they won’t sink at all! I don’t recommend substituting these with frozen blueberries since they have extra water content, and I also don’t recommend using freeze-dried blueberries. Those won’t have enough water content and end up having the texture of raisins once baked. Fresh blueberries are best!
Delicious & Stable Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
To fill and frost this cake, I decided to make a lemon cream cheese buttercream that makes this cake extra delicious! I tried a different method of mixing this time to make the cream cheese frosting extra stable without having to add extra powdered sugar or cornstarch. Basically instead of creaming the butter and cream cheese together before adding the powdered sugar, I switched up the order of ingredients to where I add the cream cheese last. It worked! And the lemon cream cheese frosting was so pleasant to work with and even pipe-able!
If you want, you could sub the lemon juice in this frosting recipe to make regular cream cheese frosting and it would still taste delicious. Either way, the one key thing to note is that you must use brick-style full-fat cream cheese (not low-fat or the spreadable kind in tubs). If you can’t find that locally, I recommend using a different kind of frosting. Here are some suggestions:
How to Decorate a Lemon Blueberry Cake
I really love the way the lemon blueberry cake layers turned out and wanted to highlight them without making a full-on naked cake. So, after filling and stacking the cake layers, I used the lemon cream cheese buttercream to frost a semi-naked finish and let some of the blueberries underneath shine through. Then, I used the rest of the lemon cream cheese buttercream to pipe a braided border with Wilton Tip 4B. It’s basically a series of diagonal overlapping shells and it turned out so pretty! For garnishing the braided buttercream border, I added some fresh blueberries and little slivers of a lemon slice.
You can decorate this lemon blueberry cake however you’d like and no matter how it turns out visually, it’s one of those cakes you’re going to want to dig into with a fork straight off the cake stand. I’m pretty obsessed with it and I hope you will be too!
Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
Ingredients
Lemon Blueberry Cake
- 2 Cups (265g) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 1/3 Cup (80ml) lemon juice from 3-4 medium lemons
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest from 1 medium lemon
- 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 Cup (75g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 Cup (60ml) vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Cup (135g) fresh blueberries, cut in half
- 2 tsp all-purpose flour (for coating the blueberries)
Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
- 3/4 Cups (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6 Cups (720g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 12 Oz (339g) full-fat brick-style cream cheese*, room temperature NOT the spread
- Pinch of salt, or to taste
Garnish (optional)
- fresh blueberries + lemon slices
Instructions
Make the Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/177ºF and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with cooking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottoms.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk and lemon juice and set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and lemon zest until fragrant and well combined, about 1 minute. Add the butter and cream it together with the lemon-sugar mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vegetable oil and beat until combined, light and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle as needed.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Add the vanilla, then turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for one minute.
- Turn the mixer off and add the flour mixture all at once. Mix on low speed until just combined, then slowly pour in the lemon milk mixture. Mix until just combined, about 30 seconds.
- Coat the blueberry halves in 2 tsp flour and use a rubber spatula to fold them into the lemon cake batter, then divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool for 5 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans. Transfer the cake layers to a wire rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Make the Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.
- Add about 1/3 of the powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined, then add the lemon juice and continue mixing on low speed. Add the rest of the powdered sugar until combined. It will look pretty crumbly and thick, but don't worry! It will come together after the next step.
- Add the cream cheese and salt and mix on medium speed until fully combined and smooth (no lumps), about 2-3 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.
Assembly
- Once the cake layers have cooled completely, level them to your desired height. Fill and stack the cake layers with lemon cream cheese buttercream, then crumb coat the cake with more lemon cream cheese buttercream. Refrigerate the crumb coated cake for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting firm up.
- To create the design pictured, use the lemon cream cheese buttercream to frost a semi-naked finish on the cake. Add the remaining lemon cream cheese buttercream into a piping bag fitted with Wilton Tip 4B, then pipe a braided border (a series of overlapping diagonal shells) onto the top edge of the cake. Garnish the braided border with fresh blueberries and slivers of a lemon slice.
Notes
- The lemon blueberry cakes can be made ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to two days. Alternatively, you can store the wrapped cake layers in the freezer for up to 2 months before thawing and frosting.
- The lemon cream cheese buttercream can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. When you’re ready to use it, bring it back to room temperature and re-mix it with your stand mixer on low speed until it’s smooth and uniform.
- The decorated cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Take it out of the refrigerator an hour or two before serving – it stores best cold but tastes best at room temperature.
I hope you love this lemon blueberry cake recipe as much as I do! Let me know who you made it for in the comments below + be sure to tag @sugarandsparrowco on Instagram to show me. I love to see what you create!
Hi! This looks devine and I can’t wait to try it! Just wondering if the cream cheese should be room temperature before adding to the frosting?
Good catch, Cheyenne! Yes, the cream cheese should be room temperature. Excited for you to try this recipe!
This cake looks absolutely delicious, I’m planning to bake this for my sister’s upcoming birthday 🙂
Any thoughts on adding blueberry filling between the cake layers with the buttercream? Similar to your Lemon Raspberry Cake? I don’t want to overpower the lemon taste with too much blueberry but I feel like it would be yummy!
Hi Chanel! I think blueberry filling would be delicious between the layers! I don’t think the blueberry flavor will be overpowering. I don’t yet have a blueberry cake filling recipe but this one looks good: https://amycakesbakes.com/blueberry-cupcake-filling/
I made this cake exactly as the recipe was written, and it’s absolutely divine! Beautiful rise on the layers, moist, and the frosting was perfect.
I can’t wait to make this for someone’s birthday!
Thank you so much.
Yay, Glenda! I’m so happy you loved this recipe!
Any suggestions to make this recipe vegan?
Hi Denise! I haven’t tested a vegan version so I can’t recommend any alterations. I’ll be sure to let you know if I write a vegan version of this recipe though!
This cake is so delicious!! I can’t wait to share it with more family and friends!! I tweaked the frosting some to fit my usual buttercream frosting and added lemon extract for more flavor but otherwise PERFECT! Thank you for the clear step by step instructions!
Hi! I absolutely LOVE your recipes they are truly amazing!! I just made this one yesterday, however I feel like I didn’t get a good rise and my cakes are pretty level to the point where I can’t really level them any further and the top layer feels a tad bit dry (more so the edges are kind of crispy on the outer rim). Is there something I might have done wrong? I did two 8in and they came out to be about 1 in high. Is there anything I can do to help keep it moist before I frost it today? Thanks so much again love your stuff so so much!!
Hi Haley! I’m not sure why the cakes didn’t rise higher than one inch. Is your baking powder fresh? If it’s older than 6 months it will lose its ability to make the cake rise. To keep the cake moist, I would wrap the layers in plastic wrap even if the cake is warm. This helps make any crispy edges moist. Hope that helps and hope that the cake tastes perfect once you dig in!
Totally agree! I made your Red Velvet cake, but before I did, I bought new baking soda, threw out the old stuff (2018!!!!!) and got a great rise from the cake. Fresh ingredients make the difference!
Will make this Lemon Blueberry cake this week. Can’t wait.
Great recipe! Any tips for converting to 9” cake pans instead of 6”/8”?
So happy you love this recipe, Aaron! You could keep the recipe as-is for two 9-inch layers (they’ll be about 1 inch tall) or make 1.5x the recipe and have a little more than enough batter for two taller (closer to 2″) 9-inch layers. Enjoy!
I made this cake and hands down, it was the best cake I’ve ever made. Your strawberry cake is a close second. Thank you for this recipe. I would make anything on your website and it would be amazing.
I made the recipe and it turned out amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
Experienced baker—Unfortunately the batter turned out too thin, cakes did not rise and turned out the dense/thick consistency of fallen cake.
Looking back at the photos, the layers don’t appear to be the height I would usually aim for so should have taken notice. Disappointing.
Hi Amy! Sorry this recipe didn’t turn out quite right. The layers in the photo are about 1.75 inches tall. Were you expecting them to be taller than that? It also sounds like something went wrong in the recipe if the layers turned out dense and fallen, and if the batter was too thin. This batter should be fairly thick. The only things I can think of are perhaps your butter was too softened (it should be just room temperature), the other dairy ingredients were too warm, the baking powder was expired or the cake wasn’t baked for long enough. I’m not sure if any of those were the case but this cake batter should be nice and thick at the end of the recipe and should bake into a soft/fluffy consistency.
I am trying this recipe soon and can’t wait. I love all your cakes.
I do have a question. No matter what I do, following your instructions, my buttercream never seems to be firm enough. I refrigerate it and do all the “tricks and tips” recommended. I have used instant clear jel to stabilize whipped cream, have you ever tested or know if I can use it in buttercream to help. Thanks for any advice and again for all the deeeeelicious recipes.
Hi Jennifer! Is this with all frostings or just the cream cheese? I changed up the order of ingredients in this cream cheese frosting to make it more stable, so if you haven’t tried this recipe yet I’d see how it compares to your past attempts!
It has really been with all my frostings, regular and cream cheese. I do live in a very humid climate. Maybe that is part of it?? I will still make it. They are always fantastic, even if I have buttercream issues.
A humid climate will definitely affect your frosting consistency. You might try making the frosting more heat/humid stable by subbing half of the butter with shortening and adding a little meringue powder. I have a blog post that explains how to do that here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/buttercream-recipe-for-hot-weather/
Thank you so much. I will try that.
I was looking for a lemon and blueberry cake recipe for Mother’s Day and when Whitney posted this one I knew I had to try it. The cake came out so fluffy and moist with the perfect amount of lemon and blueberries. It is a delicious recipe for Spring but I’m sure you can make it any time of the year. All her recipes look amazing and I just wish I had more time to bake for fun.
Can this be made in a regular cake pan? I am not very good at layer cakes. Thank you
Hi Beth! I haven’t officially tested this recipe in a sheet pan but I’m assuming it will work! I would bake this in a 9×13 pan at 350F and check for doneness at 30-35 minutes. Add more time in 3-5 minute increments until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Enjoy!
Any tips for converting this recipe to cupcakes?
Hi Beth! Yes. Be sure to make the batter according to the instructions above (reserve some of the blueberries before folding the rest into the batter). Then, fill your tins no more than 2/3 full and bake at 350F for 14-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Enjoy!
Thanks for catching that typo, Ginger! In the directions you’ll add 3 large eggs one at a time.