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!
This cake has become one of my favorite spring dessert recipes and Easter dessert recipes—and for good reason. Let’s dive headfirst into this sunshine-sweet springtime layer cake… no matter the time of year!
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!
Need cupcakes instead? Use my recipe for lemon blueberry cupcakes. Or perhaps breakfast? Try my lemon blueberry muffins.
Video Tutorial
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
Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 23 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: serves 10-12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
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 (16 Tbsp; 226g) 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 (354g) sifted all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)*
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk*
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest*
- 1/2 cup (120ml) lemon juice (3 medium lemons)*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (210g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw)
- 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature*
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) 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 round cake pans or 8-inch round cake pans (8-inch pans produce thicker cakes), line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- 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 prepared cake pans. Bake for about 21-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (8 inch cakes take closer to 25 minutes.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan before assembling and 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. Turn mixer 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.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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. Bring frosting to room temperature before spreading as it will be quite stiff after refrigerating. (Add a splash of cream or milk to thin, if needed.) 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.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | 9-Inch Round Cake Pans or 8-Inch Round Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cake Turntable or Cake Stand | Straight Icing Spatula | Offset Icing Spatula | Cake Carrier (to store cake)
- 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 cake 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 over-measure your flour. This will result in a heavy cake.
- 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.
- 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 creamiest texture. Milk works in a pinch!
Keywords: lemon blueberry cake
Here’s my recipe for lemon cupcakes with blackberry cream cheese frosting – a reader favorite!
What an amazing recipe – made it in a heart-shaped form and sprinkled lemon curd over the top, decorating with blueberries – everyone loved it!
★★★★★
I’ve made this cake multiple times and it’s always a hit.
★★★★★
Hi Sally, I loved the recipe but I have a question: the cake layers are thin? I live 5700 ft above sea level. Could be this the problem? Thank you for your help 🙂
★★★★
Hi Carolina! The higher altitude could be the culprit here. Unfortunately, I have zero experience baking at high altitude, but here is a wonderful chart that many readers have found helpful for my recipes: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi Sally! Do you think the cake is stable enough to use it in a 3-Tier-Wedding cake? Will it hold the pressure?
Hi Steffi! It should, yes. If you’re concerned, use cake dowels for added support. They’re always helpful as extra “insurance.”
I actually made this for a 3 tier wedding cake and it worked out perfectly. Decorated with blueberries and yellow roses. Their wedding colors were yellow and blue. Came out beautiful and everyone LOVED the cake.
Hi Sally! Can I make this cake with blackberries instead? 🙂
Yes, definitely!
Hi Sally, wondering if I can bake this as 3 x 8 inch circle pans? What would baking time be? It is Eid in a couple of days and wanted this as the main dessert after the feast!
Thank youuu
Hi Zulekha! You can use 8 inch pans for these cake layers. The bake time will be a little longer since the cakes will be thicker.
Made this cake last week. It was very good even though the layers were a little dense(from over mixing). I did use bake even strips which made nice flat layers. The next time it will be perfect!
Made this cake for my boss’s birthday! So much pressure! The whole office loved it. As always your recipes are amazing! thanks!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for this lovely recipe! Our church held a ladies banquet, with a daisy theme (Upsy-Daisy – Ps. 30:1a). It was a rather formal luncheon with white and yellow daisies everywhere. The cake was cut and placed in plastic cups with w/ a little whipped creme. I did put some lemon pie filling in between one layer. I received many compliments and requests for the recipe! It was the perfect cake for the event and it’s definitely now one of my “go to” cakes!!
★★★★★
This is always our favorite cake! I’ve lost count how many times we’ve made it. Don’t change . a thing with the recipe. it’s perfect!
★★★★★
I made the sheet cake version and decorated with blueberries and raspberries to make an American flag for Memorial Day. Everyone really liked it. Sheet cake was not done after the recommended 20 minutes. I cooked at 325 (because it’s a convection oven) and it was done after 26 minutes.
For the blue Union field, I tried to leave gaps for the frosting to represent stars, but it was kind of random. Next time I will either make a solid field of blueberries, or try for a more regular pattern after sorting the blueberries for size, alternating a row of large blueberries with a row of small one with gaps.
★★★★★
I made this cake for my mother’s birthday. It is the first from scratch cake I’ve ever made, and also the first layer cake. It was delicious; my whole family loved it. Easy to follow instructions, nothing complicated about it, but it turns out amazingly. I did add the zest of 1 lemon to the frosting as several other reviewers had suggested.
★★★★★
I made this as a birthday cake for a friend. She loved it so much she asked me to make it as her wedding cake. I made a three tiered cake decorated with blueberries and yellow roses. I have to admit it turned out beautiful and everyone raved about the cake. It was a lot of work but well worth every minute. Thank you for your wonderful recipes.
My Dearest Sally,I have made this cake for a few years now & it NEVER fails, I ALWAYS hear mmm…this is sooo good! I use cake flour as you suggested & it’s JUST as you say. I KNEW when I made your version of oatmeal cream pies that as long as I liked whatever you posted , I’d be able to make, you make it so easy. Because of you, I don’t even buy that tub yucky whipped topping stuff. Speaking of that yucky stuff… .I made the blueberry lemon ice box cake & wow! HOW ARE YOU NOT a thousand pounds? Goodness you have great restraint! I made 2, well after tasting the first bite…the cake was gone!
★★★★★
I have made this cake twice now.It’s a favorite!! Such a beautiful cake! Friends who claimed not to like Lemon Blueberry love this cake and request it!!
★★★★★
Hi I just made this cake and found that mine came out a little dense? I was wondering what are was too avoid that? Was it because I mixed too much? I tried to keep the mixing to a minimum after the flour was added, but the cake still came out a bit dense or is that normal bc of the moisture content?
Hi Stacy, It could certainly be from over-mixing or over measuring the flour. See recipe note #4 about using cake flour instead for a lighter crumb!
Hi! I need an alternate icing for this recipe… I was thinking Lemon or Vanilla Buttercream…or something else perhaps? So you have any suggestions on a flavor of buttercream that might pair best with this cake? Thanks!
The lemon cream cheese frosting from this cake would be delicious: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-cake/
Or my regular lemon buttercream: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/lemon-buttercream-frosting/
I made this cake for my mom’s birthday and it was a hit! Everyone went back for seconds, I’ve never seen a cake go so fast! After seeing the pictures, the next week someone requested a lemon cake for their birthday so I used your lemon cake recipe and it turned out amazing too! I love your blog and all the recipes you post!
★★★★★
Just made this. Used the sifted cake flour suggestion cause lighter sounded good. Added lemon curd between layers as well as buttercream and was this ever delicious! I don’t know what took me so long to make this but it won’t take me so long next time.
★★★★★
Hi Sally, I was looking at your site and noticed this cake and thought it would be just perfect for Mothers Day. Can I ask why some of your cake recipes call for baking soda, and this one does not? Just curious. Also how come we always have to slice the top of the cakes to make them flat, is there anyway to avoid this?
Hi Fran, the leavener used in a particular recipe depends on the rest of the ingredients. You can read about the chemistry here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baking-powder-vs-baking-soda/
When you bake layers of a cake that are not level and then stack them they can slide off of each other and the cake will be crooked. So I will cut off the tops to level them to create a straight cake.
Some readers use cake strips, also known as magic strips, to help the cake bake more flat so that you don’t have to slice off much of the top!
Hi Sally, make several times and it’s been a great hit. Can I turn it into cupcakes??
Yes, definitely! The bake time will be a little shorter. See my recipe note about cupcakes.
Hello Sally! I’m about to make this cake for a friend’s birthday and am tempted to add some lemon zest in the cream cheese frosting. Do you think it could work out? Thanks a lot for that super detailed recipe (and for putting the measurements in grams!).
Absolutely! The zest from 1 lemon should be great.
Can you use powder buttermilk in this recipe?
★★★★★
I haven’t personally used the powdered buttermilk but I have heard from other readers who use it successfully!
Btw, this cake recipe is amazing. Thank you for baking made easy. I have made 2 cakes, and neither has been able to stay upright yet, but people still eat the heck out of them. Cake baking is new to me and I am getting better each time. But the flavor is there!
★★★★★
Question: could this made into a bundt cake? What adjustments would I need to make and why size bundt pan would I need? Asking for my sister who is looking for a lemon blueberry bundt cake.
I haven’t tested this as a Bundt cake but I would guess it might be more dense than the original cake since it’s all being baked as one layer and would take significantly longer to bake. Let me know if you try it!
I also have have this lemon Bundt cake recipe that you can certainly leave out the poppy seeds and add blueberries! https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/glazed-lemon-poppy-seed-bundt-cake/
I’m the family cake baker, so for every birthday I ask what flavors they’d like, and when my brother-in-law said blueberry, it stumped me for a minute. I always love Sally’s cakes, so this is the first place I turned to, and I’m so lucky I found this cake! My sister and brother-in-law both said that this was the best cake they’ve ever had. I used frozen blueberries, and followed the recipe exactly. I was really careful not to over mix, and the cake turned out moist and soft. This is a huge cake mind you. I barely got it to fit into my cake taker, and it was heavy too! Be really careful of your blueberries. You need great, in season, flavorful blueberries to stand a chance against the lemon in this recipe. I made this again and used Trader Joe’s frozen Boreal blueberries, and they did the trick! I’m making this again this year for my sister’s birthday. It’s now a family favorite!
★★★★★
OMG This was sooooo good! I usually don’t like lemon things so much but a coworker loves lemon and I made this for her birthday. It is just the right amount of lemon and the blueberries give it a lighter feel. Everyone couldn’t stop raving! Thanks for such a great recipe.
★★★★★
Do you have any gluten free recipes?
It’s certainly not my focus but I do have a few! https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/category/gluten-free/
What did I do wrong? I made this cake using sifted all-purpose flour but cake turned out too dense. I was very disappointed. I read in your notes where cake flour could be used but decided to stick with all-purpose flour since that is what your recipe called for. It seems to me whenever I use cake flour, the cakes turn out soft and fluffy. I followed all ingredient measurements and am very sure I didn’t over beat. Do you think the flour was the culprit? What else could have gone wrong?
★★★
Do I mix the dry ingredients for five seconds or should that be five minutes?
Hi Cindy– add the dry ingredients, mix for around 5 seconds (won’t be completely mixed in), then add the milk, lemon zest, and juice.
Absolutely lovely! I am the main dessert baker at my brother’s cafe and I wanted to do something different tonight so I picked this recipe and ran with it. I made a lemon curd (your recipe too, it was perfect!) and I did some of the cream cheese frosting and some of the curd in both layers. I discovered there was not really enough frosting, and I didn’t love the consistency of the frosting for this, so I made a whipped cream cheese frosting (8oz cream cheese, whipped cream, powdered sugar, vanilla) and used that to finish off the outside of the cake. It’s gorgeous inside and out and I actually bought myself a piece because why not? I used those little blueberries (forget what they’re called) and I think it would have been better to use the larger ones or more of the smaller ones. I also wish there was a tiny bit more of a kick of lemon – perhaps a little lemon extract in the frosting or something. But I mean, I’m really splitting hairs here. One thing I love is that it’s not too sweet. I am sure that our customers will love it as much as I do!
★★★★★
Hello made this cake last week and loved it. I made it again tonight for my sister babyshower on Saturday. How would you recommend that I store it and when should I frost it? Should I leave it out all night and then tomorrow refrigerate them and then frost on Saturday morning?
You can leave it tightly covered for one day at room temperature. If you need it to sit longer you can store it in the refrigerator (either frosted or unfrosted is ok!).