Old Fashioned Blueberry Delight Cake – Nilla wafer crust, lemon ricotta cake layers, ricotta filling, blueberry compote, and blueberry buttercream.
Blueberry Delight Bars
Last week I introduced you to my grandma’s Blueberry Delight dessert. This delicious and easy dessert is made up of a simple Nilla wafer crust, a whipped cream filling and blueberry compote. I not only loved how simple this dessert was to make, but I also loved the flavors and textures! So much so, that I just had to create a cake inspired by this beloved family recipe.
Blueberry Delight Cake
To turn this dessert into a cake, I used some of the very same elements as the bars and then added a few twists of my own!
Blueberry Delight Cake Elements
- Nilla wafer crust – similar to the bars, this cake starts with a Nilla wafer crust made of butter, cookies and sugar. You’ll bake the crust on its own for just a bit before adding the batter and baking again.
- Lemon ricotta cake layers – the cake layers are based off my Olive Oil Ricotta Cake, but you’ll see we’re using grape seed oil instead of olive oil in these layers. Grapeseed oil has less flavor than olive oil.
- Ricotta filling – for the ricotta filling, I made homemade ricotta (super easy) and added it to some powdered sugar and whipped cream. You’ll find the same recipe in my Ricotta Beet Cake. I love how the tangy cheese flavor pairs with the other flavors in this cake.
- Blueberry compote – the blueberry compote is exactly the same as the one my grandma uses in her recipe. I think you’ll love the hint of cinnamon.
- Blueberry buttercream – for the buttercream, I used my go-to vanilla buttercream and added some of the smooth puree from the blueberry compote.
Cake Assembly
Make sure to follow the instructions below to ensure you stack this Blueberry Delight Cake properly.
Stacking
Crumb Coat
Final Coat
STORING TIP: Once you’ve completed the decorating, you can serve it immediately or cover the cake completely and store it in the fridge for up to one day. If you need to store the cake for longer than one day, make sure to freeze your cake to ensure freshness.
SERVING TIP: Unlike my usual opinion, I actually do like this cake served slightly chilled. If you store it in the freezer, give it a few hours to thaw before serving.
The longer this cake sits out, the softer the Nilla wafer crust will become. However, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. This cake will be delicious no matter what!
Shopping List
Before you start baking, make sure you have the following items in stock (these are items you maybe don’t always have on hand):
- Whole milk
- Heavy cream
- Fresh blueberries (you can use frozen, but fresh is best for flavor)
- Nilla wafers (one, 11oz. box)
- Grapeseed oil (while I don’t recommend subbing grapeseed oil, if you can’t find it, you can use vegetable oil)
- Lemon
For a list of full ingredients, make sure to check out the recipe below.
Helpful Baking Tips:
- Preheat oven 20 to 30 minutes before baking.
- Use room temperature ingredients.
- Spray your pan. Line with parchment paper.
- In the cake batter recipe, beat butter and sugar on high for a few minutes.
- Turn mixer to LOW once you add dry ingredients.
- Don’t over bake your cake layer. When you insert a toothpick in the center of the cake it should come out with a few moist crumbs on it.
Enjoy!
More Recipes You’ll Enjoy
Blueberry Delight Cake
Nilla wafer crust, lemon ricotta cake layers, ricotta filling, blueberry compote, and blueberry buttercream.
Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST
- 70 Nilla wafer cookies, pulverized into a fine crumb
- 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
FOR THE CAKE
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp (12 g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) salt
- 1 cup (218 g) grapeseed oil
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tbsp lemon zest, from one large lemon
- 2 cups (480 g) ricotta cheese, homemade or store bought
FOR THE RICOTTA/FILLING
- 4 cups (960 g) whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups (346.5 g) heavy cream
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) salt
- 3 tbsp (43 g) white vinegar
- 3/4 cup (93.75 g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup (57.75 g) whipping cream
- *this makes enough for the filling, if you also want homemade ricotta in the cake layers, double this recipe.
FOR THE COMPOTE
- 1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries, 2 cups
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp (1.3 g) ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (118 g) water
- 2 tbsp (18 g) corn starch
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter, slightly cold
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar, measured and then sifted
- 1/2 cup juice of compote, try to leave out any of the blueberry chunks
- 3 tbsp (42 g) heavy cream
- 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
FOR THE CRUST
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch (or four, 6-inch) cake pans with nonstick spray, line with parchment and spray again. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Mix to coat the crumbs so you're left with a "wet sand" consistency.
- Divide the crumbs between the three pans (about 5 ounces in each). Pat firmly into place.
- Bake the crusts for 7 minutes.
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Cream the grapeseed oil and the sugar on medium speed in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for one minute. Stir in the lemon zest.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low, alternately add the flour mixture and the ricotta, starting and finishing with the flour. Combine until incorporated.
- Evenly distribute the batter among the three cake pans on top of the crusts (about 15-16 ounces of batter in each pan) and bake for 25 to 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Let cool in pans 5-10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, you can cover with plastic wrap and store in your refrigerator overnight or freezer for longer.
FOR THE RICOTTA/FILLING
- FOR THE RICOTTA (best to make ahead of time): Combine the whole milk, cream and salt in a large pot over medium heat. Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil, while stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
- Once the mixture has boiled for a few minutes, turn the heat off and add the vinegar. Give the mixture a stir and then let it sit for about 5 minutes. You'll see the mixture start to separate into thick parts and thin parts.
- Place a mesh strainer over a large bowl and then place a damp cheese cloth over the mesh strainer. Pour the milk mixture over the cheese cloth. Let the mixture strain for about an hour. Discard the liquid in the bowl and pour the ricotta in a bowl to chill until ready to use. Can be made ahead of time and store in the fridge for about 3 to 5 days.
- FOR THE FILLING: Combine the powdered sugar and whipping cream. Beat until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipping cream into 2 cups of the homemade ricotta.
FOR THE COMPOTE
- Combine all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the blueberries to burst and the liquid to thicken. It should coat your spoon well.
- This is best made ahead of time and can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a couple weeks.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed for about two minutes.
- With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the sifted powdered sugar until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix for another minute.
- Add the blueberry filling, vanilla, salt and heavy cream (one tablespoon at a time). Once the cream is incorporated, increase the speed to medium-high and beat the frosting for five minutes. It should get lighter in texture and color.
- Use a spoon to mix the frosting by hand, which will push out the air pockets created by the electric mixer.
ASSEMBLY
- Place the first cake layer, top side up, on a cake board or cake plate. Using a piping bag, pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of the cake.
- Fill the cake with ½ to ¾ cup ricotta filling, followed by ½ cup blueberry compote.
- Place the second cake layer on top and repeat step two.
- Place the final cake layer on top and apply a thin layer of buttercream around the entire. Freeze the cake for about 10 minutes to set crumb coat.
- Finish frosting the cake with the remaining buttercream and top with blueberry compote.
- See above picture tutorial for more details.
For the ricotta recipe, is there enough to use that for both the cake and the filling? Or would I need to double it. Just wondering since store bought is optional.
Double it or it’s ok to use store bought for the cake layers.
Hi Courtney 👋 I’m a big fan of your work ! You’re amazing!! My birthday its coming and when I saw this recipe I said I’ll like to try to make this cake! looks soooo delicioussss, but my husband is not a big fan of the blueberries so I was wondering if I can make it with raspberries instead of blueberries.
Thank you for sharing and have a great day.
Stay safe 🤗
Of course! Happy Birthday!
If we don’t have time/energy to make the ricotta, how much store bought ricotta would you recommend using?
2 cups for the filling.
Heavy cream. Whipping cream. May I use all heavy cream?
Yes!
Hello!
I am making this currently and feel like 1/4 cup whipping cream with 3/4 cup powdered sugar for the ricotta filling might be a typo – is it? I am following the recipe and it seems kind of pasty, not like whipped cream? Thanks!
It’s not a typo. It should be thicker.
Hi! This recipe looks delicious! I can’t wait to try it, but I have one question. For the crust, is it 70 grams, oz, or units of Nina? Thank you!!
It’s 70 cookies.
Haven’t baked yet, but wondering about this note: “ In the cake batter recipe, beat butter and sugar on high for a few minutes.”
I don’t see any butter in the actual cake recipe, just oil and ricotta. Is that missing or is this note referring to the buttercream?
I was just looking. I don’t see what you’re seeing. I have grapeseed oil in the recipe and in the instructions.
The comment is found in the Helpful Baking Tips section of the article.
Helpful Baking Tips:
Preheat oven 20 to 30 minutes before baking.
Use room temperature ingredients.
Spray your pan. Line with parchment paper.
In the cake batter recipe, beat butter and sugar on high for a few minutes.
I have made several of your cakes now and they have all turned out amazing!
Could I make this with your Graham Cracker crust instead of the Nilla wafer crust?
Absolutely!
Hi Courtney,
I live in Canada and we don’t have Nilla wafers available everywhere. Could I sub in graham crackers? If so, would you be able to tell me the weight amount I would need for the recipe? I want to make this for my husband’s 40th birthday – it has all his favourite things!! Thanks so much!
Absolutely delicious! I love your flavor combinations and this one is so unique and delicious.
I have a question about the cake construction. I made an 8″, three-layer cake and my bottom layer of the blueberry filling bulged out the sides due to the weight above. Could you share some tips on how to prevent that from happening? I looked again at your photos and I’m thinking either I may have had too much filling or had the blueberry too close to the edges, even with the dam of frosting. Appreciate any advice!!!
So glad you loved the cake and sorry to hear about the structure issues. Piping the buttercream around the edge will definitely help support it, but make sure the buttercream isn’t too soft (and it’s not too hot in the kitchen when you’re decorating). It’s also helpful make sure the rim of buttercream is well inside the edge of the cake.
I’m trying to change your blueberry delight cake into cupcakes. I was thinking of using the same recipe for the cupcake itself, filling the cupcakes with the blueberry compote and the making a ricotta blueberry buttercream. How long do you bake your standard size cupcakes compared to the 8 inch rounds?thanks in advance
About 18-20 mins but keep your eye on it!
Making this ahead for Christmas. I just made the compote but not sure if it will thicken more as it cools. After the 5 mins it still looks a bit runny
It should thicken in the fridge.
Planning to make this for my daughter’s b’day party and she loves raspberries. Wondering if anything would change if I were to make it with raspberries.
No issues!
Hi, if you are using store bought ricotta, how much do you use for the filling? Thanks
About 1 cup.
I’m confused. You say to use 1 cup of store bought ricotta, but he recipe clearly states “Fold the whipping cream into 2 cups of the homemade ricotta.” Why would you use only half as much of the store bought variety? Is the consistency different? Also, on November 3, 2020, you told someone to use 2 cusp of store bought ricotta for the filling… This looks like a boo-boo. Please clarify. Thanks.
Not a mistake. I like using store bought for the cake layers because you need a lot of it and because of texture. I prefer making the homemade for the filling, which is what you fold the whipping cream into… the homemade has a smoother texture and a better flavor that stands out in the filling. For the cake, the store bought is more about creating a certain texture, which is why i use it there.
LOVED this cake! I made a few swaps – I used a graham cracker crust and made the no-cook cheesecake filling from the caramel apple cheesecake cake, based on ingredients I had on hand. I also did a thin layer of frosting under the two fillings between each layer. It looked like I would have plenty of frosting and I did, so this was just a nice way to use it.
I made the whole cake about a week in advance and froze it, fully assembled. It thawed wonderfully! Since the cake layers are so moist/dense (in a nice way), it’s a really good one to freeze and thaw.
Next time, I might make a bit more blueberry compote. I had plenty for between the cake layers but would have loved more to serve on the side.
Thank you for another amazing cake, Courtney!
I made this cake for my dad’s birthday. There were lots of extra family in town and we all loved it! My teen boy who loves everything chocolate is still raving about the hint of lemon in the cake weeks later. All of the components went so well together, and although there were many steps, everything worked out perfectly! It was my first time making ricotta and it really couldn’t have been any easier! I’m excited to try other ricotta cakes now!
yay I’m so glad!
Quick question. For the ricotta filling. Are the powdered sugar and whipping cream ratios listed as what they should be? I cannot for the life of me get it to stiffen up. It stays in a glaze form and should be butter by now! Please help!
Yes those ratios are correct. Is the ricotta cheese thickening when you make the cheese part? When you make the whipping cream, try doing it in a chilled stainless steel bowl and get it to stiff peaks before you fold it into the ricotta.