The Perfect Summer Cake: Lemon Blueberry Cake
Lemon Blueberry Cake – Lemon cake layers with fresh blueberries, lemon curd and lemon buttercream.
Happy Monday, friends! Excited to share with you my new Lemon Blueberry Cake on this beautiful, summer day. The combination of lemon and blueberry is such a classic duo and is good in so many forms: pancakes, muffins, baked french toast, and of course, cake!
Lemon Blueberry Cake
This popular flavor combination has been done by many before, but I love how each cake or muffin or pancake recipe is a little different. One of my favorite versions of a Lemon Blueberry Cake is from Sweetapolita. Rosie’s recipe is one of the first cakes I ever made and I’ve always loved her flavor combinations and sprinkles!
Cake Layers
My version of a Lemon Blueberry Cake is inspired by Rosie’s cake. I’ve altered my lemon cake layers from my Lemon Bar Cake. The one difference you’ll see between the Lemon Bar Cake and this Lemon Blueberry Cake is that I’m not using lemon pudding mix. Instead, I’ve subbed some of my buttermilk with fresh lemon juice. The texture and flavor are just as awesome as the Lemon Bar Cake. I just decided to give you another option for a lemon cake in case you can’t get your hands on lemon pudding.
When you’re making the cake layers, make sure you allow for plenty of time (a couple hours, usually) for the wet ingredients to get to room temperature. Room temperature ingredients are better absorbed by dry ingredients, and that helps your cake to rise better.
Size Matters
Also try to find the smallest blueberries possible. The smaller the blueberries, the better they’ll stay in place as they bake in the cake batter. You’ll also want to make sure you dust your blueberries in flour to help prevent them from sinking, as well.
You can see some of my blueberries held great in their spot and some of the bigger ones definitely fell to the bottom.
Buttercream
The buttercream for this cake is the same buttercream I use in my Lemon Bar Cake. To get a bright yellow color, you’ll want to add some yellow food coloring. I like using Americolor food gels. For the cake layers and buttercream, I added a few drops of “lemon yellow.”
Assembly
Don’t forget to:
- Chill your cake layers before assembly
- Pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of your cake layers
- Not to overfill your cake layers with too much lemon curd. Save leftover curd to serve with each slice of cake (or to use on toast in the morning!)
- Apply a crumb coat before your final coat of frosting
Video Tutorial
Tools
You can find the spatulas and scrapers I used over on SHOP.CAKEBYCOURTNEY.COM.
Lemon Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp (9 g) lemon zest one large lemon
- 1/2 tsp (2.8 g) salt
- 3 tsp (12 g) baking powder
- 3 cups (345 g) cake flour
- 6 large egg white at room temperature
- 1/2 cup lemon juice about three large lemons
- 3/4 cup (194 g) buttermilk at room temperature
- 1 cup (140 g) blueberries try to find the smallest ones
- 3 drops yellow food coloring optional (I used Americolor Lemon Yellow)
FOR THE CURD
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp (9 g) grated lemon zest one large lemon
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice about 3 large lemons
- 3 large eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 4 tbsp (56.5 g) unsalted butter cold
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 2 cups (446 g) unsalted butter slightly cold
- 6 cups (750 g) powdered sugar measured and then sifted
- 2 tsp (8.4 g) lemon extract
- 1/4 cup (57.5 g) heavy whipping cream
- pinch of salt
- 4 drops yellow food coloring optional (I used Americolor Lemon Yellow)
- *This buttercream recipe makes enough to fill and cover your cake, as decorated above. If you want additional piping, you'll want to make an extra ½ batch.
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch round cake pans or four 6-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray, line the bottoms with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and zest together on medium speed, until light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg whites, one at a time, scraping down the sides and the bottom of the bowl and mixing well between each addition. Mix on medium-high speed until no grains of sugar remain, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Be sure not to over mix. Over mixing your cake batter will cause it to sink. ***As you add the last of the buttermilk mixture, this is a good time to start coloring your batter if you'd like it a brighter yellow.
- Coat your blueberries in a tablespoon of flour and then gently fold them into the cake batter.
- Divide the batter evenly between the three pans, about 18 ounces in each 8-inch pan or about 13 ounces in each 6-inch pan. Bake the cake layers for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out with a few moist crumbs on it. Allow the cake layers to cool in the pans on wire racks for about 10 to 15 minutes. Invert cake layers onto a wire rack to cool completely. TIP: spray your wire rack with nonstick spray to prevent the cake layers from sticking.
- Allow to cool completely before wrapping in plastic wrap and storing in the freezer until ready to decorate.
FOR THE CURD
- This element is best done a day or two ahead of stacking and decorating your cake.
- Whisk the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the whole eggs and yolks in a small bowl and then whisk them into the lemon mixture.
- Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it's thick like pudding, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, a few pieces at a time until incorporated.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl, pushing it through with a rubber spatula. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until completely set, at least 4 hours and up to 5 days.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low and gradually add the powdered sugar, followed by the cream, salt and lemon extract. Mix until combined. Add yellow food coloring, if using. Mix until incorporated completely. Turn the mixer to medium-high and beat the frosting for about 5 minutes.
- Before applying the buttercream to your cake, use wooden spoon to beat the frosting by hand for about 2 minutes to push out any air pockets.
ASSEMBLY
- Spread a small dollop of frosting onto a cake board. Place the first cake layer, top side up, on the board.
- Spread about a half cup of frosting over the cake layer and pipe a rim of frosting around the edge of the cake to create a barrier to the filling.
- Spread about ¼ cup of the curd in the center of the cake, carefully spreading it to the edge of the piping.
- Place a second cake layer on top of the piped frosting and filling and repeat step 2 and 3. Place the final cake layer, top side up, on the second layer of filling.
- Lightly coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting to lock in the crumbs. Freeze the cake for about 10 to 15 minutes to set the frosting.
- Finish frosting and decorating the cake with the remaining frosting. Serve a spoonful of the remaining lemon curd with each slice of cake.
Hi, thanks for the recipe, I would like to know if there is something else that can be substituted for the blueberry? Cause I don’t get access to good blueberries in the place I stay…
Whatever you want.
I just made this recipe and the cake was delicious. The lemon flavor really came through in the cake and the texture was soft and “pillowy.” I didn’t make the curd because I didn’t have time, but the cake paired well with the lemon frosting. My family loved this cake!
Hey there, going to try these as wedding cupcakes, (blueberries) what step do I add the lemon zest? I have read through a couple of times but don’t see it
Thanks!
It’s with the butter and sugar. I added it!
I made this twice and both times the cake layers turned out super dense and like hockey pucks. I was so bummed! I was super careful not to over mix and only baked about 20 minutes. Any ideas what could have happened? I never ended up assembling because of that so I’m enjoying the curd on everything I eat! #silverlining
Was your oven too hot?
When do we add the zest for the cake?
It’s with the butter and sugar. I added it!
Sooo good! Going to make this one for my friends birthday and she is going to love it! Question- have you ever used the powdered buttermilk? My mom gave me some but I’ve never used it. I wanted to see your thoughts on that or if you always recommend the liquid buttermilk.
I recommend liquid!
This turned out wonderfully as pictured. Individually the icing, the lemon curd and the cake were so delicious. The only reason I rated it 3 stars is because when you put all the ingredients together it was so lemony it made my mouth pucker! Some of my guests loved that, but for me I would have loved a different filling to tone it down a little. Ice cream helps too! I will make it again, but with a different filling. Thanks Courtney! I love your recipes!
Hey Courtney,
Can I make the cake layers without the blueberries, keeping the rest of the ingredients same?
Yes!
Can I add blueberry compote instead of fresh blueberries
Why not!
Can I use lemon juice in the buttercream? Or does it make it too wet?
You can try. But you will have to use quite a bit more and that will change the consistency.
Lovely recipe with helpful tips throughout! This cake was delicious and fun to make. My only problem was that the cake turned out very dense, almost like a pound cake texture. It still tasted great, but it was not the texture I expected from pictures. I am trying to figure out what I did wrong. The oven was set at the right temp, but maybe the oven runs hotter than it says? Would a dense cake be a sign of overmixing? Or maybe my wet ingredients hadn’t fully come to room temperature enough? I would appreciate your thoughts on why a cake might turn out super sense.
It could be a combo of all those things! Next time try it at 325 degrees.
Can lemon juice be used in place of lemon extract in the buttercream?
No it won’t be a strong enough flavor.
I am trying to better myself at cake baking and I have been enjoying reading your recipes. I have a whole list of your cakes I want to try making. On this Lemon Blueberry cake, could blueberry jam be substituted for lemon curd, or used in some way in this cake? Thanks.
I wanted to bake my birthday cake and decided on this one. I’m relatively new to baking from scratch and I’ve learned so much from you. Cakes are hard! Your recipes are easy to follow and AMAZING. I couldn’t have done it without you. This cake is so fresh and lemony. The lemon curd was super easy and just perfect. It held up well between the layers. My cake was 4-6 inch layers. I will absolutely make this again!
I love hearing that! This is one of my favs!
I had all my wet ingredients at room temp. I really was careful not to over mix and baked at 325. The layers didn’t seem to rise. They smell amazing. I’m not sure what I did wrong? Did I need to whisk my egg whites so they were frothy before adding?
It’s important to use room temperature ingredients and to make sure at the beginning, when you’re mixing the butter, sugar and eggs, you beat them on medium-high until they are light and fluffy and almost double in volume.