Lemon Blueberry Cake

May 10, 2014

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This Lemon Blueberry Cake is extra lemony thanks to the lemon juice, zest, and extract in the batter and frosting. The fresh blueberries and lemon cream cheese frosting make this the best summer cake recipe I’ve ever made! 

slice of Lemon Blueberry Cake on white plate

Refreshing Lemon Blueberry Cake

At 11:00 PM, what’s the best thing to do? Make cake of course!

Who knows why, but I decided to start baking this lemon blueberry cake that late. Every now and then that ‘gotta bake something’ urge hits and you just go with it, right?

I’m a night owl anyway, and as much I try to break the habit it seems almost impossible, I blame Pinterest. At least I waited until morning to frost it, as much as I wanted to just dive into the cake at midnight.

I had a bag of lemons and plenty of fresh blueberries and I was planning on making scones, but I’m WAY more of a cake person. Totally different things, but I wanted to put my fresh fruit to its best use — the scones can wait.

You need to make this lemon blueberry cake recipe at least once this summer while all the fresh blueberries are in season. It’s so bright and refreshing and it just screams summer.

The cake is soft and moist, it’s loaded with blueberries and plenty of lemon flavor from three different sources (lemon zest, extract and juice). The irresistibly creamy cream cheese frosting complements each flavor in the lemon cake and balances out the sweetness of the cake perfectly.

This has got to be my new favorite summer cake recipe! I can’t wait for all the summer get togethers so I have an excuse to make this again.

Lemon Blueberry Cake garnished with lemon slices and fresh blueberries

Lemon Blueberry Cake Ingredients

For the lemon blueberry cake layers, you’ll need:

  • Cake flour
  • All-purpose flour
  • Baking powder and baking soda
  • Salt
  • Granulated sugar
  • Unsalted butter
  • Lemon zest
  • Eggs
  • Lemon and vanilla extracts
  • Milk
  • Sour cream
  • Lemon juice
  • Fresh blueberries

And for the the easy cream cheese frosting you’ll need:

  • Cream cheese
  • Unsalted butter
  • Lemon and vanilla extracts
  • Powdered sugar
  • Blueberries and lemon slices, for garnish

Lemon Blueberry Cake garnished with blueberries and lemon slices on a white plate

How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cake

  • Grease and flour three 9-inch round baking pans and place parchment paper on the bottom.
  • Sift the flours, salt, and baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl.
  • In a separate bowl, whip together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until pale and fluffy.
  • Pour milk into measuring cup, then stir in the sour cream and lemon juice and let mixture rest for three minutes.
  • Add eggs and extracts to butter mixture and mix to combine.
  • Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the butter mixture, alternating between the two.
  • Fold the blueberries into the cake batter, then divide the batter between the three pans.
  • Bake cakes until golden brown and fully cooked.
  • While the cakes cool, make the lemon cream cheese frosting. Frost the cake once completely cooled.

Can I Use Frozen Blueberries in This Recipe?

You can probably make this cake with frozen blueberries, but you’ll need to add them to the cake batter while still frozen. The frozen berries will likely tint the lemon cake quite a bit, but it’ll still taste good.

Can I Make Cupcakes with This Recipe?

I haven’t made cupcakes with this exact recipe before, but you should be able to turn this recipe into lemon blueberry cupcakes without issue. You’ll likely only need to bake the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes, but that’s just a guess.

slice of Lemon Blueberry Cake on white plate with lemon slices

Tips for the Best Lemon Blueberry Cake

  • This easy cream cheese frosting recipe can be repurposed for all kinds of baked goods. Leave the lemon extract out for a more versatile frosting.
  • You need to whip the butter and sugar together until the mixture is very pale, almost white. If you don’t whip the butter enough, the cake will turn out dense and heavy.
  • Toss the blueberries in a little flour before adding them to the cake batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.

close up of Lemon Blueberry Cake slice

More Lemon Blueberry Recipes You’ll Love:

More Lemon Desserts to Try:

 

4.84 from 25 votes

Lemon Blueberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This is one of my all time favorite cakes! It's filled with bright lemon flavor and dotted with lots of fresh juicy blueberries. A new summertime staple!
Servings: 16 servings
Prep45 minutes
Cook25 minutes
Ready in: 3 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

Make Lemon Blueberry Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 3 9-inch round baking pans and line the bottom of each with a round of parchment paper. Butter parchment paper and lightly dust pan with flour, shaking out excess.
  • Sift cake flour into a mixing bowl. Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk for 30 seconds, set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment (if you don't have the paddle attachment that constantly scrapes sides of the bowl while mixing, then stop mixer occasionally throughout entire mixing process and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl), whip together butter, granulated sugar and lemon zest until mixture is pale and fluffy.
  • In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, measure out milk then stir in sour cream and lemon juice, let rest 3 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, mix eggs into butter mixture one a time, then stir in lemon extract and vanilla extract. Toss blueberries with 3 Tbsp of the flour mixture.
  • Working in three separate batches, beginning and ending with remaining flour mixture, add 1/3 of the flour mixture (to the butter/egg mixture) alternating with 1/2 of the milk mixture and mixing just until combined after each addition. Gently fold in blueberries.
  • Divide mixture evenly among prepared baking pans. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 24 - 27 minutes.
  • Cool in baking pans about 20 - 30 minute then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. Once cool, frost with cream cheese frosting and decorate with blueberries and lemon slices if desired. Store in an airtight container.

Make Cream Cheese Frosting

  • In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitter with the paddle attachment, whip butter until pale and fluffy.
  • Add cream cheese and mix until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon extract and powdered sugar and blend several minutes longer until smooth and fluffy (if frosting seems slightly runny, you can chill it for a bit before frosting cake).

Notes

  • You need to whip the butter and sugar together until the mixture is very pale, almost white. If you don't whip the butter enough, the cake will turn out dense and heavy. 
  • *Omit lemon extract if making this cream cheese frosting for a different recipe. This frosting is good on so many different kinds of cake!
  • Recipe Source: Cooking Classy
Nutrition Facts
Lemon Blueberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Amount Per Serving
Calories 565 Calories from Fat 261
% Daily Value*
Fat 29g45%
Saturated Fat 17g106%
Cholesterol 120mg40%
Sodium 225mg10%
Potassium 175mg5%
Carbohydrates 70g23%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 50g56%
Protein 6g12%
Vitamin A 1020IU20%
Vitamin C 3.5mg4%
Calcium 82mg8%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.