The ultimate Lemon Blueberry Cake. Two layers of buttery lemon cake filled with fresh blueberries and covered in a luscious lemon cream cheese frosting.
Introducing your new favourite thing 🍋
A luscious Lemon Blueberry Cake made from scratch. This light and soft lemon cake is filled with juicy lemons and fresh blueberries and is covered in a melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese frosting.
One bite and you’ll be whisked away to a zesty, lemon wonderland.
While I love my easy Lemon Loaf and my tender Blueberry Bread, I realised I needed a good go-to lemon layer cake that can be used on just about any occasion. And I FOUND IT.
This buttery lemon cake is seriously tender, seriously moist and seriously GOOD. It has fresh lemon juice in the cake and plenty of lemon zest for flavour. Fresh blueberries add a pop of colour and are a nice contrast to the zesty lemon.
Instead of the regular method of making a cake – creaming the butter and sugar first, before adding the remaining ingredients – this method starts with the dry ingredients first.
It’s commonly referred to as the reverse creaming method. The small difference is the order in which you add the ingredients and it guarantees a light, fluffy and moist cake. I’m converted.
And what takes this cake over-the-top and makes it an all-time favourite, is that cream cheese frosting. It’s creamy, tangy and literally the perfect pairing to this Lemon Blueberry Cake. Throw on a few extra fresh blueberries, and you have a total showstopper that’s surprisingly easy to make.
HOW TO MAKE LEMON BLUEBERRY CAKE
- This cake uses the reverse creaming method. It’s really easy to make but you need to follow the method and add each ingredient in the order specified.
- Start with the dry ingredients. I recommend measuring all your ingredients using a kitchen scale to ensure accuracy.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar and baking powder. Mix together briefly. Next, add your butter that has been roughly chopped. Make sure your butter is at room temperature.
- As you start mixing on low speed, the butter will start to break apart into small pea-sized pieces.
- Next, you can add all the eggs, fresh lemon zest, milk and vanilla. Start mixing on low speed and slowly turn the mixer up to a medium speed. The cake batter will come together and be thick and creamy.
- Finally, add the fresh lemon juice and blueberries. I recommend using fresh lemon juice for this recipe for maximum flavour.
- Divide the cake batter into two 8-inch cake pans and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes. The cake will be golden brown when it’s ready and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake should come out clean.
- Leave the cakes to cool completely before frosting and decorating.
HOW TO MAKE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- You will need a hand mixer or stand mixer to make this frosting. Make sure you use a full fat block of cream cheese – not a light version or the spreadable kind.
- For seriously creamy frosting, make sure both your butter and your cream cheese is at room temperature.
- Once you beat together the butter and cream cheese, you need to add 2 cups of icing sugar, along with 1 tablespoon of milk.
- Next, add a tablespoon of lemon juice – freshly squeezed lemon juice is best – and then the final cup of icing sugar.
- The frosting should be smooth, creamy and taste creamy and lemony.
Watch how to make it
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Let’s Bake
Lemon Blueberry Cake
Two layers of lemon blueberry cake covered in cream cheese frosting
Ingredients
Lemon blueberry cake
- 315 grams (2 and 1/4 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cups) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 230 grams (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, roughly chopped
- Zest of two lemons
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 240 ml (1 cup) full fat or whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 155 grams (1 and 1/4 cups) fresh blueberries
Cream cheese frosting
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) butter, softened
- 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) full fat cream cheese, softened, roughly chopped
- 375 grams (3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- Extra blueberries, to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk briefly. Add butter and beat with an electric mixer on low speed, until butter is broken into small pieces.
- Next, add lemon zest, eggs, milk and vanilla. Start to beat on low speed and then turn up to medium speed. Add lemon juice and continue to beat. Mixture should be creamy and smooth. Lastly, stir through the blueberries.
- Divide cake batter between your two prepared pans. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Carefully transfer cakes to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, add butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Add 2 cups of sugar, and continue to beat. Add remaining cup of sugar and lemon juice and beat briefly until smooth.
- Spread frosting on one cake layer, add the remaining cake layer on top. Cover top and sides with frosting. Decorate with fresh blueberries.
Nutrition Information
Rachael says
Hi, I am loving your recipes! I live in the U.K and it is impossible to get a block of cream cheese. I am finding using the tubs, just make my frosting too runny. What can I do to stiffen it up a bit?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Rachael, oh yes I’ve heard this from other UK readers – what a shame! I would definitely omit any liquid included in the frosting (in this cake the lemon juice, in others, usually milk). And then the fridge is your friend! Hope that helps a little.
Rachael says
Thank you. Even with my slightly runny frosting the cake was delicious. Trying the big batch brownies today. X
Jessica Holmes says
Love that! Hope you enjoy the brownies too!
Amanda says
Hi!! I’ve made this cake twice and it’s come out a little dense and firm (still delicious!). What could I possibly be doing incorrectly?
Jessica Holmes says
Hello! Thanks for your feedback. Did you make any changes to the ingredients or the method? Did you measure your ingredients using a baking scale? Is it possible you over-mixed the cake batter and/or over-baked the cakes?
Amanda says
Thank you for your prompt response Jess! I weighed the ingredients out and followed the method. I mixed until it was smooth and creamy. I was worried that I was overmixing. However if I stop mixing earlier, I still had very tiny lumps of butter in the batter, therefore it’s not smooth and creamy…?
Jessica Holmes says
I would perhaps ensure your butter is nice and soft to start with, if it’s too cold, you will have lumps that will be impossible to get out without over-mixing. I wouldn’t worry too much about any small lumps, just focus on mixing until the cake batter is combined. Hopefully the video can offer some visual clues too! Alternatively, you can follow the exact same recipe (ingredients) but use the traditional creaming method if you prefer.
Jackie says
I made this cake for a friends birthday and the flavors were amazing. The texture was a bit closed and crumbly though. I followed the recipe exactly, but I cooked the cake in a 9×13 pan rather than in rounds. Any idea what could have caused my issue?
★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jackie, I’m not sure why it would be crumbly, it should be lovely and soft. Baking it in a sheet pan should be ok unless you over-baked it. Do you have a photo you could send me of the cake texture? My email is jessica@sweetestmenu.com
Jeana says
Can you make this gluten free
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jeana, I’m sorry I haven’t tried this cake with gluten free flour so I can’t say.
Jeana says
Ok thank you for getting back to me.
I’ll give it a go and I shall let you know how I get on. X
Neriza says
Hi. Can I make this using 2 6-inch round cake pans?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Neriza, this recipe will make three 6-inch cakes or two 8-inch cakes.
Ivana says
Hi, can I freeze the cakes before assembling them? Thanks so much!😊
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely!
Khyati says
Hi, I was wondering if I could use other berries or strawberries instead?
Jessica Holmes says
Absolutely!
Eve says
This cake didnt work as i hoped 😩 though i followed the recipe as is, and the pick got out clean, yet it is not as i hoped for; its very much pressed and looked un cooked, hence its in a way tasteless 😞
Not sure what i did wrong! Could it be bcuz i used a loaf?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Eve, I’m sorry to hear that. The cake should be lovely and light. If you made it in a loaf pan, it would need much longer to cook as the batter would be much deeper.
Ini says
Dear Jess,
Do you think I could make this cake with the conventional creaming method instead of reverse method?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Ini, yes it’s likely you could. However, I haven’t tested it so I can’t guarantee the results.
Karen says
Hi Jess, another friend and I both tried this recipe and we had problems with the frosting as we reside hot humid Singapore! For me, within 1 min, the ready frosting turned into watery liquid and I had issues frosting the sides as frosting became too thin to hold up, and my kitchen aircon was on. So i chucked the entire cake and remaining frosting into the fridge 2x till i got it to stay. Then within 45s, it starts to melt again. This cake is for my little boy’s bday cake and I hope it holds up during the celebration later. Perhaps should add more cream cheese you reckon?
★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Karen, sorry to hear that. Baking in a very humid climate can be tricky! Did you use a full fat brick/block of cream cheese? I find they’re more stable then the spreadable kind. Perhaps you could try omitting the lemon juice next time?
Sharon says
Hi Jessica, I’d like to make this for my son’s Birthday – the motto is Sonic the Hedgehog so we are planning to cover it with blue fondant. Can this cake carry the weight of the fondant? Or better use a cake batter that is stiffer? Thank you! Sharon
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sharon, that cake sounds amazing! I do think this cake will be ok, but if you want a more hearty cake, I’d recommend my White Chocolate Mud Cake. Good luck!
Ana says
Easy and delicious!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it!
Silvina Bossi says
Can i make this recipe with frozen blueberries?
Jessica Holmes says
Yes! Just fold them into the batter frozen (don’t thaw them).
Joanne says
Hi Jess, I’m planning to bake this tomorrow but only have one cake tin, could I bake the whole lot in one go and cut in half? Seems like there might be too much batter to do this! Or if I baked twice separately using the one tin, would the remaining half of the batter be okay sitting at RT? Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Joanne, excited you are going to make this one. You could bake it as one cake in a quarter sheet pan. If you wanted to bake it all in a round 8 or 9 inch pan, it would need to have high sides as the batter would be quite deep. You’d also have to be careful about making sure the middle is cooked before the outside is overdone. Leaving cake batter out might be ok but it’s not ideal, check out this article for a detailed explanation.