As I was perusing the freeze dried fruit section of my local Trader Joe’s, I stumbled upon a bag of freeze dried blueberries and just had to add them to my cart. It’s no secret that I love adding freeze dried fruits to buttercream (case in point: this delicious Raspberry Buttercream Recipe), and could imagine how amazing both the color and the flavor would be with these bluebs added. With my buttercream flavored set, I started thinking on cake flavors to pair it with, and that’s how this lemon cake recipe was born.
I’ll admit, I’ve never ever made a lemon cake from scratch before. I thought it would be easy: just add some freshly squeezed lemon juice and zest into my vanilla cake batter, bake it up, and all would be good. Well, it wasn’t. I learned some valuable baking lessons in my recipe testing sessions, mainly that the acidity of lemon interacts with rising agents like baking soda and baking powder in such a way that it creates too much rise, and the cakes will fall in the center if there isn’t the right balance of acidity. After a few fallen cakes as a result of my recipe testing, I realized that decreasing the amount of baking soda in this recipe yielded a beautiful rise and a cake that is perfectly packed with fresh lemon flavor. Science, y’all.
For flavoring the cake, I initially thought fresh lemon juice would create the most authentic flavor but learned another valuable lesson: the most powerful flavor comes from the zest of a lemon, while fresh lemon juice only bakes off in the oven and doesn’t contribute much to the overall flavor. So I ended up ditching lemon juice completely and opted for the zest combined with a little lemon extract to create that powerful zing you’d expect to taste in a lemon cake. Extract is much more concentrated than fresh lemon juice, so you don’t have to use a ton to get a powerful lemon flavor that tastes totally pure. In addition to the perfect amount of lemon flavoring, using cake flour and sour cream in the recipe makes this cake super light, fluffy, and moist. Just look at this beauty:
With my perfect lemon cake recipe finally squared away, I topped it with the blueberry buttercream I’d been dreaming about ever since I saw that package of freeze dried blueberries at Trader Joe’s. I’m happy to report that it’s as heavenly as I imagined! The little flecks of blueberry are so pretty and since they’re freeze dried, you don’t get all the excess liquid from fresh blueberries messing up the frosting consistency. It’s my favorite way to flavor fruit-based buttercreams!
To decorate, I frosted a smooth layer of blueberry buttercream, then used Wilton Tip 1M and 4B to pipe a diagonal set of rosettes and stars that continues partially around the top of the cake. I popped a few fresh blueberries and these Yellow Solid Sprinkles into the buttercream piping for some additional color and texture. So easy and pretty to look at!
I ended up taking my final cake to work (yes, still rocking my day job) and it was gone before lunch time. Now that’s a true sign of a great cake! If you’re a lover of lemon cake, this recipe is sure to please. The best part is, you can pair it with a berry-flavored buttercream or try it with this lemon buttercream or this cream cheese buttercream for an alternate flavor palette. Whatever you choose to do, I can promise this cake will rise beautifully and will be packed with the perfect amount of zing!
Update 2022: I slightly changed the measurements of the lemon cake to yield less batter because it made too much for the cake pictured, which is a 3-layer 6-inch cake. Same amazing recipe, scaled down to just the right size!
Lemon Layer Cake With Blueberry Buttercream
Ingredients
Lemon Layer Cake
- 2 3/4 Cups (290g) sifted cake flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 2/3 Cups (355g) white sugar
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon zest (about 1 medium lemon)
- 1 tsp pure lemon extract
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
Blueberry Buttercream
- 2 cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 package (34g) Trader Joe's freeze dried blueberries
- 6 Tbsp (90ml) whole milk, room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 7 cups (840g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Make The Lemon Layer Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/177ºC. Prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with baking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottom of each pan. Alternatively, you can grease and lightly flour the pans.
- In a medium bowl, add the cake flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), beat the butter on high for two minutes until creamy. Add in the sugar and continue to cream on medium-high for another two minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Add the sour cream, lemon zest, lemon extract, and vanilla extract. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 1 minute, scraping down the bowl and paddle once more.
- With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add the milk slowly and mix until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. They’re done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they’re entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.
Make The Blueberry Buttercream
- With a food processor, grind the freeze dried blueberries into a fine powder and set aside. Whip the butter using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed until it’s creamy and light in color, about 5 minutes. Add vanilla, milk, and blueberry powder and continue to mix on medium for 3 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar in two additions, mixing on low until fully incorporated. Add the salt and continue to mix on low for another 30 seconds.
Assembly
- After torting the cake layers, fill and frost them with the blueberry buttercream. To replicate the look of the cake design pictured, frost the cake with a smooth layer of blueberry buttercream, then refrigerate it for about 20 minutes to let it firm up.
- Prepare two piping bags by fitting the first with Wilton Tip 1M and the second with Wilton Tip 4B, then fill both with blueberry buttercream. Pipe rosettes and stars in a diagonal design on the front of the cake, then continue the pattern partially around the top edge. Add some fresh blueberries and yellow sprinkles onto the piping wherever you desire.
Notes
Did you make this recipe? I want to know what you think! Let me know in the comments below or tag me on Instagram so I can see what you’re caking!
Hi Whitney,
Will this recipe work for a 9×13 cake pan?
Thank you,
Gina
Hi Gina! It will. Here’s an article I wrote on baking my layer cake recipes as sheet cakes: https://sugarandsparrow.com/sheet-cake-recipes/ hope that helps!
Hi!! I’m making a lemon blueberry cake for my mother in laws birthday 🙂 what would you suggest as for adding in frozen blueberries to the lemon cake batter?? I plan on tossing them in some flour and lemon juice before putting them in so they don’t sink.
Hi Shayla! That sounds so lovely and although I’ve never tried adding blueberries to this batter before I think it should work! I would definitely toss them in flour first so they stay suspended in the batter. Let me know how it goes!
I’ve made this cake twice and both times it fell in the middle. is it because I filled the cake pans (4 6 in. pans) too much? I used the correct amount of baking soda and powder. Should I reduce one? My granddaughter wants this cake for her birthday and I’m running out of time and money! Help, please@
Hi Karen! I’m so sorry to hear that the cakes fell. One of the most common reasons why cakes sink is that the baking powder is expired (it loses its ability to give a cake rise after about 6 months). If your baking powder is fresh and assuming you haven’t made any substitutions, here are some other common reasons why a cake would sink: https://sugarandsparrow.com/why-cakes-sink/ hope that helps!
Hi, I want to make this cake but need only 3, 6 inch layers, if I do this cake “Lemon Cake With Lemon Cream Cheese Buttercream” will it be okay? The cake needs 300ml milk, but the lemon layer cake w blueberry only needs 240ml milk, will it have the same consistency (light n fluffy)
Thanks a bunch!
Also both recipes have the same amount of baking soda and powder, is there any difference in the cakes consistency?
Hi Hiba! It will have the same consistency. Enjoy!
I’m planning on making this frosting tomorrow to frost cupcakes with, do you know about how many cupcakes this frosting recipe will cover?
Hi Mike! This frosting recipe will cover around 30-35 cupcakes depending on how much frosting you’re putting on. Enjoy!
Hi Whitney, do you know if the cake layers bake up quite tall when using 8 inch pans?
If you’re making three layers, they should bake up to about 1.5 inches tall.
Hi Whitney! Your cake was so delicious – I baked it for my brother’s birthday but he doesn’t usually like lemon or blueberry so it was a bit risky really. I didn’t tell him the flavours and he said this was the best cake he’d ever had. I totally agreed! Thank you sooo much!!!
Yay, Emily! I am so happy this recipe was a hit for your brother’s birthday! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know 🙂
Hi Whitney,
Have tried your freeze dried Strawberry buttercream and it was delicious!!! Can I pair the blueberry buttercream with chocolate cake layers? And for frosting a two 6inch layer cake should I half this buttercream recipe?
So happy you love my freeze dried strawberry buttercream recipe, Shipra! You can certainly pair the blueberry buttercream recipe with chocolate cake layers, and if you’re filling and frosting a double layer 6 inch cake you can half the recipe. Hope that helps!
I tried a variation of this cake for my sisters 50th birthday yesterday because she loves lemon. I was afraid of doing the lemon cake so I chickened out and did your yellow cake recipe with a mix of lemon and huckleberry frosting. I also did a lemon curd in the middle to give it some added lemon flavor. I had a few cups of huckleberries in the freezer my kids picked this summer instead of the blueberries because it has a similar flavor but more potent. It was phenomenal. I also added a 1/2 cup of the huckleberry compote I made in between the layers. I am currently recovering from the sugar coma as I write this.
That sounds delicious, Chad! So happy to hear that you loved my yellow cake recipe and those added flavor elements sound like they were the perfect compliments!
Hi Whitney!
I can’t find freeze dried blueberries, but can find plain “dried blueberries” (which I think are air dried vs freeze dried). Do you think these would work?
Hi Angela! Air dried blueberries should work as long as they can be ground into a fine powder.
I believe I found Freeze Dried – at Target (according to their site). No Trader Joe’s near me and can’t wait for my best friend the Amazon delivery guy. Headed to Target in the morning and making it tomorrow afternoon for my daughter’s 21st birthday. THANK YOU for your help!!!
Hi!
If I wanted to make two 6 inch cakes each with 3 layers would I double the recipe?
Hi Melissa! Since this recipe makes a total of four 6-inch layers, you could make 1.5x the recipe to make a total of six 6-inch layers (3 layers per cake). Just multiply each ingredient by 1.5 and you’ll have the perfect amounts! If it makes it easier math-wise though, you could double the recipe but just know you’ll have a little more than enough.
Would frozen blueberries (or raspberries) work instead of freeze dried? On another note, your cakes are amazing! Thank you for sharing them!
Hi Charlotte! Unfortunately, frozen berries won’t work the same since they’ve got all that extra juice. The reason I love using freeze dried is because the process preserves the flavor of the berry but eliminates all of the juice. This looks like a good recipe for using frozen berries if you don’t have access to freeze dried though: https://bakerbynature.com/lemon-cupcakes-with-fresh-blueberry-buttercream/
Hi Whitney! So excited to make this… going to use the Baker By Nature blueberry buttercream recipe for the frosting as I have an insane amount of fresh blueberries on hand. Do you think the qty of buttercream called for in her recipe will do the trick for a 3-layer 8″ cake?
Hi Stephanie! I would definitely double her recipe to have enough buttercream for filling and frosting a 3-layer 8-inch cake. Excited for you to try this lemon cake and let me know how it tastes with fresh blueberry buttercream!
our grocery store only had freeze dried raspberries, and it was a happy accident, because this frosting tasted like black raspberry ice cream! It was the tastiest frosting I have ever had, my entire family agrees. So far we have only tasted the discards from the cake leveling, but that was also super delicious. I didn’t have lemon extract but I tested 3 large lemons and it was perfect. We are waiting for it to firm up and then on to the decorating!!!
Then this cake has to travel 5 hours in the car to surprise my mother-in-law with a front lawn quarantine style birthday party. I hope it makes it in one piece. But, if not, the pieces will still be delicious! Also, I started following you on instagram after “the Budget Mom” posted her beautiful cake and spoke of your site. Boy, was she right! Your cakes are amazing!
Yay, Bethany! I am so happy to hear that you love this recipe and I’m sure it tastes incredible with freeze dried raspberry buttercream. So excited for you to bless your mother-in-law with this!!
Hi Whitney
Is the cake pictured here a six inch or an eight inch cake?
Hi Lauren! The cake pictured is a 6 inch.
I made the buttercream and although I ground the blueberries into a fine powder, it is crunchy/gritty in my buttercream. Does this become softer as it sits?
Hi Brandi! The blueberry bits do become softer with time and moisture from the rest of the buttercream.