Sunshine-sweet lemon blueberry layer cake dotted with juicy berries and topped with lush cream cheese frosting. One of the most popular cake recipes on this website!
What on earth is a lusciously fruit-filled recipe like this doing on my kitchen table in February? I love the snow, but someone pass me a fork. I’m diving headfirst into this sunshine-sweet, springtime layer cake and not coming out until it’s April.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Fresh lemons. Use fresh lemon juice and lemon zest in the cake batter. None of that lemon extract stuff! How to choose lemons at the store? Make sure the lemons you choose are smooth-skinned and heavy for their size. That way you know they are extra juicy.
- Buttermilk. Known for providing exceptional moisture to baked goods, buttermilk leaves each bite tender and lush. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use whole milk instead.
- Brown sugar & 4 eggs: I’ve found that lemon cakes can easily be dry and gritty, so add some moist-making ingredients like brown sugar, eggs, and buttermilk. Buttermilk, a little brown sugar, and 4 eggs assure the final product is as moist as it could possibly be without being wet.
- Fresh or frozen blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries are OK. If using frozen, do not thaw.
I love this lemon blueberry cake because the blueberries DO NOT sink to the bottom of the cake. Why not? The batter is thick. When you have a thin batter, heavy fruit or add-ins will sink to the bottom. I also recommend tossing the blueberries in a little flour too– this is extra insurance they don’t sink!
Cream Cheese Frosting
This cake is moist and soft, somewhere between a vanilla layer cake and pound cake. Silky cream cheese frosting is the perfect finishing touch– it literally tastes like spreadable cheesecake. The cream cheese frosting goes onto the cake so easily, so it’s a really simple cake to decorate. Doesn’t need to be neat– its haphazardness adds to its charm, don’t you think?
Decorate with blueberries, lemon zest, lemon slices, whatever you like!
More Lemon Recipes For You
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Blueberry Lemon Icebox Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Scones
- Homemade Lemon Cupcakes
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Sunshine-sweet lemon layer cake dotted with juicy blueberries and topped with lush cream cheese frosting. You can use either fresh or frozen blueberries in this cake. If using frozen, no need to thaw.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature*
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups (345g) sifted all-purpose flour, (spoon & leveled)*
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk*
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest*
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (3 medium lemons)*
- 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh (258g) or frozen (do not thaw– 275g)
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces (224g) full-fat brick style cream cheese, softened to room temperature*
- 1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 – 2 Tablespoons (15-30ml) heavy cream*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans.
- Make the cake: Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until creamy – about 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until everything is completely combined, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed for 5 seconds, then beat in the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice *just* until combined. Toss the blueberries with 1 Tablespoon of flour and gently fold into the batter. Batter is extremely thick. Do not over-mix. Over-mixing will lead to a tough, dense textured crumb.
- Spoon batter evenly into 3 prepared cake pans. If only using 2 cake pans, your bake time will be longer. Bake the three layers for about 21-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until no lumps remain, about 3 full minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, 1 Tablespoon cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add 1 more Tablespoon of cream to thin out, if desired.
- Assemble and frost: First, using a large serrated knife, trim the tops off the cake layers to create a flat surface. Place 1 layer on your cake stand. Evenly cover the top with cream cheese frosting. Top with 2nd layer, more frosting, then the third layer. Top with frosting and spread around the sides. The recipe doesn’t make a ton of frosting, just enough for a light frost. Top with blueberries or lemon garnish if desired. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before cutting or else the cake may fall apart as you cut.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cakes and frosting 1 day in advance. Keep cakes at room temperature, covered tightly. Refrigerate prepared frosting in an airtight container until ready to use. Frosted or unfrosted cakes may be frozen up to 2 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature if desired before serving.
- Sheet Cake: The batter makes a perfect sheet cake! Simply spread into a 12×17 inch half sheet/jelly roll pan and bake for about 20 minutes or until cooked through. It also fits nicely into a 9×13 inch cake pan. Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until cooked through.
- Bundt Cake: I haven’t tested this as a bundt cake but it will likely be a bit denser than the original layer version since it’s one tall layer. It will take significantly longer to bake. I also have a lemon poppy seed bundt cake recipe. You can leave out the poppy seeds and add 1 and 1/2 cups blueberries. I also have a lemon berry yogurt cake recipe. You can use all blueberries.
- Cupcakes: Here is my lemon cupcakes recipe. You can add 1 cup of blueberries to the batter and top with cream cheese frosting.
- 6 Inch Cake: Use these lemon blueberry cupcakes batter and follow my 6 inch cakes baking instructions. You can use regular lemons instead of meyer lemons (like the cupcakes call for) if needed.
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs are recommended because they mix easily and quickly into the cake batter, reducing the risk of over-mixing (and an overly dense cake!). Place eggs into a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes before using or set the eggs out when you set out your cream cheese/butter for the recipe.
- Flour: Be careful not to overmeasure your flour. This will result in a heavy cake. For a lighter crumb, you can use the same amount of sifted cake flour instead.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk helps produce a supremely moist cake. If you don’t have buttermilk, use whole milk instead. You can use lower fat or nondairy milks in a pinch, but the cake won’t taste nearly as rich and moist.
- Lemons: You need about 2 Tablespoons of lemon zest and 1/2 cup lemon juice.
- Cream Cheese: Use brick-style cream cheese. Not cream cheese spread.
- Cream: Heavy cream with 30% or more milk fat preferred in frosting for the most delicious and creamiest texture. Milk works in a pinch!
Keywords: lemon blueberry cake, lemon cake, cake, lemon
Here’s my recipe for lemon cupcakes with blackberry cream cheese frosting – a reader favorite!
Thank you so much! My family and I loved this cake! Made for my mother-in-law’s birthday today and it was perfect! She even loved it so much ( which is rare). I honestly thought it wouldn’t turn out so well being I only had frozen blueberries but I was wrong!
★★★★★
I’m planning to make this for my daughter’s birthday. From past experience, cream cheese frosting doesn’t pipe very well. I was thinking of using the cream cheese frosting as a filling between the cake layers, and possibly the outside of the cake? And pipe with lemon butter cream? Would that work? Or should I use just vanilla buttercream for piping flowers. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Hi Jenn, you’re right that cream cheese frosting doesn’t hold a piped shape as nicely as buttercream. You can use cream cheese frosting as the filling in the cake and lemon buttercream or vanilla buttercream on the outside. However, if you chill cream cheese frosting in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes, it pipes much better.
I’m making this right now! Mine is in the oven. I only had 3 eggs, so hopefully that doesn’t have too much of an impact. I also only have 2 9 inch round pans, so once cooled, I plan on cutting each one in half to have 4 layers. I only have tub of cream cheese (not the brick) so it’s going to have to do. If it isn’t stiff enough, I’ll compensate with extra butter and/or sugar. I have also been doing an insane amount of quarantine baking, so I’ve had to increase my home workouts to compensate lol. Luckily I had 2 bags of frozen blueberries to use for the cake and I think for decorating, I’m going to put blueberries on top and lemon slices on the sides. If I’m feeling really feisty, maybe I’ll try to candy some lemon peel for an additional garnish on top.
Love your recipes!!
Update:
Cake came out great with the 3 eggs instead of 4 and the frosting came out good using the tub of cream cheese instead of the brick. I did end up making candied lemon slices for the outside of the cake. I was worried about not having enough frosting, so I had an extra bag of frozen blueberries. I boiled them down with some sugar and lemon juice to make a blueberry filling and used that between each layer of my cake and used the cream cheese frosting for the outside of the cake…I sliced my 2 cake rounds in half to make a 4 layered cake. Super good!!
★★★★★
If I only have one lemon would you recommend increasing the amount of lemon juice (not fresh), or just roll with the amount of zest I’m able to get from one lemon?
Hi! I love your recipes! I’m planning to make this for my fathers birthday and I was wondering how I can make the cake fluffier and lighter? He hates dense and dry cakes, so I want to make sure I am doing the best I can to stay away from that. Would adding sour cream or using cake flour instead work?
Hi Rachel, Be careful not to overmeasure your flour. This will result in a heavy cake. For a lighter crumb, you can use the same amount of sifted cake flour instead.
I made this for my Mom’s birthday and wow, was it delicious. It came out a little more dense than expected, almost like a pound cake, but it was amazing. Will definitely be making again.
★★★★★
Made this for Mother’s Day for my wife and mom. It turned out more dense than I expected also. I was hoping for a light and fluffy cake but not sure how to get this texture. Mom and wife were happy.
Hi Ted, For a lighter texture you can use cake flour, see recipe notes. You can also visit my post on How to Prevent a Dry or Dense Cakes for more tips.
This cake turned out great I loved it! Well worth the effort. Mine came out a little dense also, but I’m chalking that up to a leaning curve and 10 years of making only box cakes. No matter the reason, this cake was 100x better than any box cake, and I made it all by myself . I’m so proud of myself. It was an accomplishment. I love your website and all of the help you offer. I can’t wait to make something new next week after I run off all of these calories. Thanks again. Happy baking!
★★★★★
Can I use the egg whites instead of the whole egg yolks?
I want to make this today but I only have 2 mine inch pans. How long should I bake them? Thanks for your help.
Hi Marcia, You can bake two layers and leave the batter for the third layer covered at room temperature to bake when the first two are finished.
This is my favorite of all your cake recipes. I made this for Easter a year ago, and my in-laws are still talking about how moist and delicious it was.
★★★★★
I made this today and the cake came out super thin. It should have been divided into three 8” pans or two 9” pans. Really disappointed
★★★
This is probably an odd question but…Is it possible to make this with square 9 inch cake pans?
Hi Sally,
I love your site. I am a novice baker, been baking for a 1 year – started after I retired.
Seeking some help and troubleshooting on what I could be doing wrong. I have found this cake to be a challenge and not sure why. I have made it twice. The first time the cake was undercooked even though it had a clean toothpick when tested in each layer. When I cut it open it was solid and dense – almost undercooked. I checked my oven with three different thermometers. It checked out fine. My second attempt – the cake was done but very thin. Nice crumb but it was only 3/4 inch high. (I am using it but disappointed it was not taller). I love tall cakes. I just baked a 6 layer cake on Monday and everything worked out fine for that one. I replaced the baking powder even though it was less than 3 months old. I should tell you I live in the California desert and we have had temps of over 100 degrees for two weeks. Do you have any suggestions, please?
Hi Tomas, thank you so much for your feedback and I’m happy to help. Are you using frozen berries by chance? Sometimes I find that they weigh down the cake’s crumb and add a significant amount of moisture, so that could be why the cake didn’t rise as much as you’d like and seemed under-cooked. The cake should have a little more rise than just 3/4 inch. Could you try fresh berries by chance? If you want even more height, try reducing the baking powder down to 2 and 1/2 teaspoons and adding 1/2 teaspoon baking soda.
Absolutely loved this recipe! Didn’t have the patience to make multiple layers, not when I only had one 9 inch pan available, so I chose to use my bundt pan instead! Had it in the oven for 50 minutes and it turned out great, though a little dense. I forgoed the icing, my family has a couple of diabetics, and this cake was perfect! Not too sweet, perfect lemony flavour, and it’s definitely one I’ll make again!
★★★★★
I just made this cake for my mama today! (Mother’s Day) and she LOVED it!
THANK YOU!
★★★★★
I made this for Mother’s Day today n it came out fantastic! I made a few easy subs to make it vegan, n made it a “naked cake” by just frosting the layers and not the sides. Garnished with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, n dandelions n it came out sooo beautiful
★★★★★
This recipe was sooo good! The buttercream had the perfect amount of cream-cheesiness to complement the cake and wasn’t too sweet like some other buttercreams I’ve made. The cake was a little dense (more of a pound cake texture) but was perfectly moist and tasted AMAZING! (like my mom took the first bite and was completely shocked amazing). I made this for my birthday with a drip and lemon slices, blueberries, and meringues on top. It was probably the best cake I’ve ever had, to be honest.
★★★★★
This is the fourth (or fifth) time I’m going to be baking this cake, so I figured I should finally give it the 5 star review it deserves.
I’m going to mix it up a little this time and substitute raspberries for blueberries and maybe sprinkle some white chocolate shavings in there.
This is a fantastic recipe and really my holy grail layer cake
★★★★★
Can this be made in 8 inch round pans? If yes, how does the cooking time change?
Hi Carrie, You can make this is three 8-inch round cake pans. Your layers will be slightly thicker and may take an extra couple of minutes bake time.
Thank you Sally.
This cake is DELICIOUS!!! My daughter prefers it slightly frozen.
I have been making this cake in a 9×13 pan but it seems to take an extra 10-15 minutes to cook in the center (at least in mine – my moms pan cooked in your suggested time). So going to try round pans this time. I am also going to use cake flour this time too.
Hello,
I’m a total novice baker who is a total shambles at making cakes, so I don’t tend to make them. I succeeded with a box mix yesterday and so I’m now more confident to make your lovely cake in the morning for my mum’s 60th birthday on this Sunday with my 3yo son, since we were suppose to be in the UK to celebrate it as we live in Australia now and from Scotland originally.
What I was hoping to find out was, would the cream cheese frosting hold well for the duration of an hour’s drive in the car? It’s getting quite cold here in Australia now, and I tend to keep the cooler on low anyway, or should I go a more buttercream type of frosting? I don’t want it to slide off at all. I mean I could possibly hold out until I get to my parent’s house but I would prefer to frost it the night before as I’m always running late to their house as it is haha!
Thanks so much for your very detailed recipes!! I tend to find recipes miss out all the little fine details, all the important steps and so I give up immediately. But yours looks so easy to follow! I am actually very excited to try your recipe and also use raspberries instead of blueberries.
Lesley.
Hi Lesley, If you refrigerate the cake before you leave and then are in a cool car for an hour it should be just fine. Enjoy!
Hi Sally,
Thanks so much for your reply!!
Oh that’s good to know! Plus it will be a cold day also which will help.
Thanks again!
Lesley
No wonder this has been a top recipe for years!
So easy to follow and such amazing results! Definitely a favorite of mine and one that has now become a regular.
★★★★★
Hi
I’ve been making this cake for a couple of years for my birthday, but have recently been diagnosed as allergic to wheat, rice, corn, sorghum, oats, potatoes, milk and eggs whites. So, I was wondering if anybody had any good ideas for subs? Has anybody had success with flax eggs? I’m going to try einkorn flour as I’ve been told that with less chromosomes than modern wheat I might be able to tolerate it.
★★★★★
Hi Sarah, I have not tested this cake with any of those alternatives. I hope you find a recipe that works for you!
Thanks for your time! I’m hoping I can find a way, birthdays won’t be the same without it!
Oh love it! Sunday I made this from another recipe, but definitely going to try yours too!
Can I make the frosting with less confectioners sugar? I just find 420g so much… it seems so sweet..
Hi Freya, I hope you love the cake when you make it! Keep in mind for the frosting the less sugar you add the thinner your frosting will be. You can add more salt to help cut the sweetness or for a different type of frosting that isn’t as sweet you can try Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
Hi, Made this wonderful Blueberry, Lemon cake this afternoon and just finished eating a slice of it after dinner. It is moist and very light which surprised me. The note of lemon is just right along with the blueberries which were frozen after picking during the summer. It was a good idea to dust with flour and incorporate them into the batter rather than thaw them. They did not fall to the bottom of the batter as advised. The cake makes a delightful presentation and hope to make it again in the near future for company. My sister would like me to mail her a slice. Will see how that will work. Thanks for the great recipe.
★★★★★
I made this cake for a camping trip ! The flavor was amazing , however, I felt it was a little dry , almost like a pound cake texture. Everyone ate it and loved it , what can I do next time for a moister cake ?
★★★★★
Hi Kristen, For a lighter texture you can use cake flour, see recipe notes. You can also visit my post on How to Prevent a Dry or Dense Cakes for more tips.
If I didn’t want to use lemon in this can the lemon juice just be substituted for another liquid? And if so what would you suggest- milk, water etc?
Omg this recipe is amazing. I baked it in 2 9 inch cake pans for about 35 minutes and they came out great. I also added a teaspoon of lemon extract which really brought out the flavor. Otherwise followed the recipe exactly. It’s perfect!
★★★★★
Hi Sally! Great recipe. Since I am only making the cake for 4 people, I was wondering, can I half the recipe but still make a layered cake? If yes, what size pans and how many layers would you suggest? Thanks!!
Hi Arushi, My Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes are the cupcake version of this exact cake. It is the perfect amount of batter to make a 6 inch cake!
I only have two 7 “ pans, what changes do I need to make to the recipe and cooking times? Two sponges and cut them in half and have four layers? I’d like to make it for my husbands birthday, Thanks
Hi M, If you wish to change the size of the cake pans my post on Cake Pan Sizes and Conversions can help you figure out how much batter to use. Remember not to fill each cake pan more than 2/3 full!