Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake. Delicious, moist, tender cake pairs fresh lemon juice and fresh lemon zest with fresh blueberries. Layers are topped with vanilla buttercream. Semi-naked outside coat of lemon buttercream. Top piped with vanilla bean buttercream and blueberry puree buttercream.
Don’t forget to toss the blueberries in flour so they “float” in the cake batter, as opposed to dropping to the bottom of the cake pan during baking. For a really good example of this, check out the images below. I had already frosted and piped the cake before I realized my error. Since the cake looked pretty cool, I decided to go ahead and share.
Blueberries and lemon go perfectly together. This cake has fresh blueberries in the cake batter, and blueberry puree in the buttercream frosting. Fresh lemon juice and fresh lemon zest add extra punch to the cake batter and fresh lemon curd adds nice pop to the lemon frosting.
The cake is delightful on its own. Moist, tender with excellent flavor. I frosted it between the layers with vanilla buttercream, and put a light coating of lemon buttercream on the sides and top. I piped little blurbs of vanilla and blueberry frosting on the top.
Why You Should Make This Cake
- the lemon + blueberry pairing is a classic.
- visually stunning.
- the cake batter is also perfect for cupcake creation.
- the vanilla, lemon, and blueberry frostings compliment the cakes flavor profile.
- this moist, tender cake stores quite nicely.
How To Make This Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake
I started by zesting and juicing two lemons. I added the fresh lemon juice to the whole milk and set it aside.
All-purpose flour, baking powder, and sea salt are added to a small bowl, whisked to combine and set aside.
Unsalted butter and granulated sugar are added to a stand mixer and beaten on medium high for several minutes to aerate the mixture. Eggs are added one at a time and beaten on low speed after each addition, for about 30 seconds. Vanilla bean paste and fresh lemon zest are added and beaten on low to incorporate.
The flour mixture and milk mixture are added alternately and beaten on low to combine. I did about half of each at a time.
Blueberries are tossed in flour, if you remember this step, so they will not sink to the bottom of the cake batter during baking.
The blueberries are folded in to the cake batter. The batter is divided equally among the three prepared cake pans. The cake layers are baked in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes.
The cake layers are cooled and removed from the cake pans before frosting. Using a bread knife, I trimmed the tops of each cake layer to get rid of the slight dome on each.
I frosted the top of two cake layers with vanilla bean buttercream. I stacked one on top of the other and the third layer on top of the two. I frosted the outside and top of the cake with lemon buttercream. I decorated the top of the cake with piped vanilla and blueberry buttercream.
Other Cake Recipes You Might Enjoy
Some of our most popular cake recipes include chocolate espresso banana cake, pound cake with strawberries, lemon pound cake, carrot cake, and blueberry coffee cake.
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Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake
Equipment
- 3 (6-inch) round cake pans.
Ingredients
Lemon Blueberry Cake:
- 330 grams cake flour (3 cups)
- 10 grams baking powder (2 teaspoons)
- 3 grams sea salt (1/2 teaspoon)
- 180 grams whole milk (3/4 cup)
- 60 grams fresh lemon juice (1/4 cup)
- 226 grams unsalted butter (8 ounces OR 2 sticks), softened
- 400 grams granulated sugar (2 cups)
- 200 grams egg (4 large), room temperature
- 10 grams vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract (2 teaspoons)
- 6 grams fresh lemon zest (1 tablespoon)
- 320 grams fresh blueberries (2 cups)
- 15 grams cake flour (approx. 2 tablespoons)
Vanilla Buttercream:
- 113 grams unsalted butter (1/2 cup OR 1 stick)
- 250 grams powdered sugar (2 cups)
- 5 grams vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
- 15 grams heavy cream (1 tablespoon)
Lemon Buttercream:
- 113 grams unsalted butter (1/2 cup OR 1 stick)
- 250 grams powdered sugar (2 cups)
- 30 grams lemon curd or fresh lemon juice (2 tablespoons)
- 1 drop yellow food coloring gel
Cake Top Decoration:
- 30 grams blueberry puree (2 tablespoons)
Instructions
Lemon Blueberry Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of three (6-inch) cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with aparchment paper round.
- Add cake flour, baking powder, and sea salt to a small mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- Add fresh lemon juice to milk and set aside for several minutes.
- Add unsalted butter and granulated sugar to stand mixer. Beat on medium high speed for about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating on low after each addition for about 30 seconds, or until incorporated.
- Add vanilla bean paste and fresh lemon zest. Beat on low for about 15 seconds, or until incorporated.
- Add half the flour mixture. Beat on low, just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add half the milk mixture. Beat on low, just until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Repeat process with remaining flour and milk mixtures. Avoid over mixing.
- Add blueberries and cake flour to small bowl. Toss gently to combine.
- Remove bowl from stand mixer. Fold blueberries into cake batter using large spatula.
- Transfer cake batter to prepared cake pans. Bake cakes in preheated oven for 30 minutes or until they are golden along the edges, firm to the touch, and a toothpick interested into the center comes out clean.
- Remove cake pans from oven and cool completely. Invert pans and remove cakes.
Vanilla Buttercream:
- Add unsalted butter to stand mixer. Beat on medium high speed for 5 minutes.
- Add half the powdered sugar and beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat on low for 3 seconds. Increase speed to medium high and beat for 5 minutes.
- Add vanilla extract and heavy cream to buttercream. Beat on low until incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Frost top of two layers using small offset spatula. Stack the two layers. Place the third cake layer on top.
- Reserve remaining vanilla buttercream.
Lemon Buttercream:
- Add unsalted butter to stand mixer. Beat on medium high speed for 5 minutes.
- Add half the powdered sugar and beat on low for 30 seconds. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat on low for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium high and beat for 5 minutes.
- Add lemon curd or lemon juice to buttercream. Beat on low until incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Add 1 drop yellow food coloring gel, if desired.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with lemon buttercream, using small offset spatula.
Cake Top Decoration:
- Pipe shapes with reserved vanilla buttercream. Tint remaining vanilla buttercream with blueberry puree and pipe shapes with blueberry buttercream.
