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Lemon Blueberry Cake from Scratch

Last Updated On: February 28, 2024 | Published: July 16, 2018 by Melissa Diamond | 42 Comments
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We're happy to report that our search for the PERFECT scratch Lemon Blueberry Cake is over!

The flavor combination of tangy lemon balanced with sweet blueberries is one of our favorites. You will love this soft, moist cake recipe.

Lemon Blueberry Cake, sliced, on a cake pedestal.

How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cake

You can find the full, printable lemon blueberry cake recipe further down in this post, but here is a quick rundown of our steps!

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch round pans. I also like to line them with circles of parchment paper.
  • In a medium sized bowl add these dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to blend, set aside.
  • In another bowl or measuring cup combine the sour cream, lemon juice and lemon zest, vanilla extract and lemon extract and set aside.
  • In the bowl of your mixer, mix the softened unsalted butter until smooth. Next, slowly add the sugar and mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until fluffy.
  • Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
  • Add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour mixture (three additions of dry ingredients and two of wet). Mix until combined, do not mix above medium speed or overmix.
  • Toss the blueberries in 1 Tablespoon flour and gently fold into the cake batter. The cake batter is very thick (as it is based in part on our white almond sour cream cake). Divide the batter between the 3 pans smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before turning out.
Moist and Delicious Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com

Assembling the Cake

We decided to boost the lemon and blueberry flavors in this lemon blueberry cake recipe with our luscious lemon cream cheese frosting in between the cake layers as well as a delicious blueberry buttercream!

We absolutely love cream cheese frostings. However, there are other options as well! Feel free to change things up as you like! A lemon curd or lemon buttercream filling would taste great too!

Piping a Dam

Since our lemon cream cheese filling is a bit soft, I piped a blueberry buttercream dam about ¼ inch inside of the edge of the cake before filling. This helps to keep the filling right where it belongs as the layers are assembled.

Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

In this frosting recipe, you'll see that the blueberry buttercream's key ingredient is a flavorful blueberry syrup, which is a simple reduction. We love this delicious recipe as well as its speckled appearance!

With this recipe, you will have plenty of extra frosting for decorative piping, borders, etc.

Decorating the Lemon Blueberry Cake

Decorate the cake however you like! Our blueberry buttercream is very easy to work with. After crumb coating the assembled cake in a thin layer of frosting, I used a star tip 21 to make patterns of overlapping rosettes and vertical lines. (For more details on working with a star tip, check out our star tip piping tutorial!)

Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling and Blueberry Buttercream Frosting!

Here is a peek inside. This cake is ultra moist with a tender crumb and wonderful flavor. Keep it in mind the next time you need a birthday cake recipe, holiday cake, potluck dessert, and more!

Moist and Flavorful Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com

Recipe FAQs

Yes, because of the cream cheese filling, this cake should be refrigerated (in an airtight container or under a cake dome). For the very best flavor and texture, remove the cake from the refrigerated 2-3 hours before serving. This will allow plenty of time for the cake and frosting to warm and soften. 

Yes, just as with the majority of our cake recipes from lemon cake and orange cake to banana pudding cake and more, these layers freeze beautifully.

After baking the cake layers, allow them to cool until slightly warm (or room temperature). Then, wrap each layer tightly in plastic wrap followed by foil. (You can use foil wrapped cake boards for added support if you'd like). Place in the freezer for up to three months!

To thaw, move the wrapped cake layers to the kitchen counter. Keep them wrapped for at least 30-45 minutes. Then, unwrap and continue to warm to desired amount for decorating. (Some decorators like to assemble cakes when the layers are partially frozen as they are less fragile.)

Wild blueberries are smaller in size therefore more lightweight. This makes it must less likely for them to sink as the cake bakes. However, if you cannot find frozen wild blueberries, use regular- the batter is still thick enough that most should stay suspended.

Sour cream adds richness to cake recipes without thinning the cake batter. The added fat as well as the slight boost of acidity in the cake batter makes for a softer, more tender cake.

Some of our favorite cakes that contain sour cream are our sour cream pound cake, chocolate bundt cake, chocolate sour cream cake, and yellow birthday cake.

Cake flour contains less protein than all purpose flour. This leads to less development of gluten in the cake batter, which makes for a softer cake.

More Lemon Cakes

We have so many lemon cakes and frostings for you to try! You can find a few of our favorites below, but check out our full collection of favorites here!: Best Lemon Cakes and Frostings Roundup.

Some of our most popular lemon cakes are our scratch Lemon Cake, Lemon Pound Cake, Strawberry Lemon Cake, and Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake.

Thanks so much for stopping by! We would love for you to check out our full collection of hundreds of cake recipes and free cake decorating tutorials!

You'll find everything from birthday cake ideas and elegant cakes, to baby shower cakes, cake recipes from scratch, cake mix recipes, and more.

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Moist and Flavorful Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com

Lemon Blueberry Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe
This homemade Lemon Blueberry Cake is the perfect balance of lemon and blueberry flavor! So moist and perfect for spring and summer gatherings!
Course: Cakes and Cupcakes
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Equipment

Ingredients

For the Cake

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened (226g) Shouldn't be overly soft, but soft enough to easily dent when pressed.
  • 2 cups sugar (400g)
  • 3 large room temperature eggs (if in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes)
  • 1 cup sour cream (242g)
  • ⅓ cup juice and zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (4g)
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon extract (10g)
  • 3 cups cake flour (plain in the UK) — if you do not have cake flour see substitution below (342g)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder (7g)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (3g)
  • 1 ½ cups wild blueberries tossed in 1 Tablespoon flour — Keep the berries frozen until just before stirring in. Wild blueberries are smaller and are less likely to sink in the cake batter. You can use fresh or frozen I usually use frozen.

For the Blueberry Syrup

  • 1 cup blueberries (125g)
  • 2 Tablespoons sugar (27g)
  • ¼ cup water (57g)

For the Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (354g)
  • 7 ½ cups 863g powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla (8g)
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon salt optional to cut sweetness
  • ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons blueberry syrup- more if needed to reach your desired consistency

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Filling

  • 1 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (113g)
  • 8 oz Cream Cheese (Do not use reduced fat or cream cheese in the tub containers. Soften very slightly.)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice (4g)
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract, optional (2g)
  • Zest of One Lemon approximately 1.5 teaspoons 3g
  • 3 to 3 ½ cups 345g - 374g powdered sugar, adding more if necessary

Instructions

For the Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, grease and flour three 8x2 inch round cake pans. Three layers will give you slightly shorter layers but more filling per slice.
  • In a medium sized bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk to blend, set aside.
  • In another bowl or measuring cup add the sour cream, lemon juice and zest, vanilla and lemon extract. Blend with a fork and set aside
  • In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually ad the sugar and beat on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until it is lightened in color and fluffy.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
  • Add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of wet). Mix until combined and smooth, do not mix above medium speed or over mix.
  • Toss the blueberries in 1 Tablespoon flour and gently fold into the cake batter. The cake batter is very thick. Divide the batter between the 3 pans smoothing the tops with the back of a spoon.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool 5 to 10 minutes then turn out.
  • Makes 7 cups cake batter
  • (This recipe works well for cupcakes too)

For the Blueberry Syrup (Used in the Buttercream)

  • To a saucepan add the above ingredients and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase to medium heat and cook until the mixture is reduced a bit. Cool the syrup before using in the buttercream. It can be refrigerated 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
  • INSTRUCTIONS FOR BLUEBERRY BUTTERCREAM
  • Cream the softened butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
  • Gradually add the powdered sugar and blueberry syrup until the powdered sugar is incorporated . Mix on medium speed 4 to 6 minutes or until smooth. Slowing the mixer down to a low speed setting during the last minute of mixing helps to eliminate air pockets.
  • Makes 6 cups frosting

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Cut butter into ½ inch slices and add to the bowl of your mixer, beat until smooth.
  • Cut the cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating until blended.
  • Add the lemon juice and lemon zest. ½ teaspoon lemon extract, (optional) for a stronger lemon flavor.
  • Gradually add powdered sugar and beat until well blended.
  • This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly and remix. Do not microwave to soften.

Assembly

  • Place the first layer on your pedestal or cake base. Pipe a dam of blueberry buttercream about ¼ inch within the edge of your cake layer and fill with lemon cream cheese frosting.
  • Add next layer and repeat.
  • Frost the cake with blueberry buttercream. I like to apply a thin crumb coat layer first, and then follow either with a second layer of frosting, or with piping as I did in today's cake. I used a star tip 21 to create the piped designs. Due to the cream cheese frosting, this cake should be refrigerated until within a few hours of serving.

Notes

Substitution for Cake Flour: For each cup of flour in the recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch. This recipe has 3 cups of flour, measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.
4.56 from 43 votes (43 ratings without comment)

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42 Comments

  1. I plan to make this cake next. I just really love your cakes!! I have a question about overmixing. After adding in the eggs, about how long should I mix so that I don't overmix the batter? Thank you.

    Reply

  2. Hi Rachel, Thank you for your nice comment, I'm happy you are going to bake this cake. You will add the eggs 1 at a time and mix until the yellow of each yolk is disappears. At this point begin adding the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream mixture. You will mix the first addition of dry ingredients until the they are blended in, the same for the sour cream mixture and so on until all ingredients are mixed. You may need to mix another minute or until the batter looks smooth. Do not mix above medium speed. I usually mix at number 3 or 4 on my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. If you are using a hand held mixer, you may need to mix a bit longer than you would with a stand mixer. I hope you will enjoy the cake.

    Reply

  3. Love this recipe! It got rave reviews at my daughter's Birthday party! Went with a Pineapple fiing instead of lemon, and made it Sofia the First style

    Reply

  5. In the recipe where it says "1/3 cup - juice and zest of two lemons", is the 1/3 cup made up of the juice and zest together, or it is a 1/3 cup of juice and a 1/3 cup of zest? Thanks.

    Reply

  6. This cake looks delicious! My husband has requested a Lemon Blueberry Cake and this one came up on Pinterest. I was reading through the post above and the batter is mentioned as being thick. Does that make the cake dense or is it light and fluffy? I am just wondering about the texture? Thank you.

    Reply

  7. Hi Alyssa, The cake batter is thick and this keeps the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the pan. A thick batter does not make the cake dense. Also, we used frozen wild blueberries that are smaller. We think this is a delicious cake, I hope you will give it a try.

    Reply

  8. It has been a month since I had time to bake a cake, and I chose this one. I am so happy I did. It is DELICIOUS!! The texture of it is amazing! I was planning to carry the rest of it to a get together with some friends tonight, but now I want to keep it all for myself. :) It is wonderful! I love that the blueberries do not all sink to the bottom but are distributed throughout the whole cake. I did not make the blueberry buttercream but did a cream cheese flavored buttercream instead. I highly recommend this cake. If you are looking for a superb tasting lemon blueberry cake, this is the one.

    Reply

  9. I love your website; so glad I found you! :)
    I plan to make a friend a Lemon Blueberry sheet cake in a couple of days. I see you have Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes using cake mix and this one here from scratch. Can the cupcake version work for a 13 x 9 sheet cake, if I want to stick to the 'doctored' type? Or do you think only the scratch recipe would work best for a sheet cake? Any significant differences to make me decide since they both look good to me?

    Reply

    1. Thanks Mary! Yes, no problem to use the doctored cake mix version as a sheet cake! ;0) The instructions on the back of the box will give you some guidelines on about how long it should bake. Hope you enjoy it!

      Reply

  10. I know you can't make any promises but do you think this recipe would work with raspberries instead of blueberries? I have a request for a lemon raspberry cake. Thanks!

    Reply

      1. The raspberries worked. It was my first time making a cake for someone that wasn't family and thanks to your recipe, it was a hit! Thank you very much!!