This lemon blueberry cake is super moist and tender, infused with the bright flavors of lemon and dotted with bursts of juicy blueberries. It’s packed with flavor, has the most velvety crumb and is topped with a tangy cream cheese buttercream frosting – so so sooo good!
Why You’ll Love This Lemon Blueberry Cake
When developing this recipe, there were two things that had to be perfect – taste and texture! Here are a few notable ingredients that really allow this cake to shine:
Lemon zest: This lemon blueberry cake recipe is bursting with lemon flavor as it uses both fresh lemon juice and fresh lemon zest. The zest is creamed together with the butter and sugar which releases even more of the lemon flavor from the zest. Due to the acidic nature of lemons, it also gives the cake the most wonderful velvety texture. For more information on how acidic ingredients contribute to a soft cake, check out this blog post.
Yoghurt: This recipe also uses yoghurt, which adds great moisture and flavor to the cake. As yoghurt has a tart flavor to it, I find that it complements the lemon so so well, and helps that lemon flavor shine even more!
Vegetable oil: This recipe uses unflavored vegetable oil which just adds incredible moisture to the cake. Vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature, so substituting some of the butter for oil, makes for a moister cake.
Cornstarch: For a softer cake, I substitute some of the all purpose flour with cornstarch. For more information on how this helps with a soft cake, check out this blog post.
Blueberries: Ofcourse we can’t forget the blueberries! This recipe uses fresh blueberries that are folded through the cake batter. This adds a wonderful pop of juicy blueberry flavor throughout the cake. If using frozen blueberries, remember not to let them thaw otherwise you’ll end up with a purple batter!
For a more simple version with no frosting, check out my simple blueberry cake recipe.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cake
Begin by preheating your oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional and grease two 8 inch round cake pans (I use my homemade cake release), lining the bottoms with parchment paper as well as this cake tends to stick to the bottom. If using a fan function (also known as convection mode) then you will need to reduce the temperature to 160C (320F).
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together using a whisk and set aside.
In a large bowl add in butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer) on a medium speed, cream together for 3 minutes until light and creamy. If using a stand mixer then use the paddle attachment.
Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well in between addition.
Add in milk, yoghurt and lemon juice. Mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Add your pre-sifted dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and using a spatula, fold together until just combined. Do not overmix.
To finish off, toss the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour (this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake layers) and then add the berries to the batter, discarding any left over flour, and fold them in with a spatula until just combined. Again try not to overmix it.
Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins. Try to distribute the blueberries evenly so that you have some on the top of the cake as well. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool. Frost with the cream cheese buttercream.
How to Decorate Lemon Blueberry Cake
There are so many wonderful ways you could decorate a lemon blueberry cake, but here is how I decorated mine 🙂
Usually I start by trimming off the tops of my cake layers with a serrated knife so that they’re nice and flat (this makes them easier to stack), but these cake layers baked up quite flat so I left them as is.
I then went ahead and placed my first cake layer in the middle of a cake stand and smoothed out some frosting on the top with my offset spatula.
I then placed the next cake layer on top, and again smoothed out some frosting on top and sides of the cake, so that the cake was completely covered. I didn’t bother doing a crumb coat (check out this video for more info on what a crumb coat is), but you can do one if you prefer. I then used my cake scraper to smooth out the sides.
Now when you scrape the sides of a cake, you usually end up with a lip of frosting around the top edges. To get rid of this and get a ‘sharp edge’ on the top, slowly bring your offset spatula into the middle of the cake, catching that lip of frosting as you go.
I then finished off by doing some piping around the top edges using a 1A piping tip.
Commonly Asked Questions
How to store lemon blueberry cake
This cake can be left at room temperature for the day, however overnight it will need to be refrigerated due to the cream cheese in the frosting. The fat and sugar in the frosting will prevent the cream cheese from going off immediately, which is why you can keep it out at room temperature for an extended period of time.
When storing, place it into an airtight container, and into the refrigerator. Allow it to come to room temperature before serving.
Can I use frozen blueberries?
Yes you can – just make sure you don’t let them thaw otherwise it will turn your batter mushy and purple. Your cake will also likely need a little bit of extra cooking time.
How do you prevent blueberries from sinking in a cake?
The best way to prevent blueberries from sinking to the bottom of a cake is to coat them in flour. Toss the blueberries in about 1 to 2 tbsp of all purpose flour before folding them into the cake batter.
Moist Lemon Blueberry Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Lemon Blueberry Cake
- 2⅓ cups (295 g) flour - regular, all purpose
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp (86 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ¾ cup (141 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1⅔ cups (333 g) white granulated sugar
- 2½ tbsp lemon zest - about 2 lemons zested (see note 1)
- 3 large eggs - room temperature
- 2 tbsp (26 g) milk - room temperature
- ¾ cup (185 g) yoghurt - plain, unsweetened, room temperature
- ¼ cup (55 g) fresh lemon juice
- 1½ cups (250 g) fresh blueberries - see note 3 if you want to use frozen blueberries. Coat the blueberries in 1 to 2 tbsp of flour
Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Preheat oven to 180 °C (350°F) conventional (see note 2 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release), lining the bottoms with parchment paper as well as this cake tends to stick to the bottom.
- Sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix together using a whisk and set aside.
- In a large bowl add in butter, vegetable oil, sugar and lemon zest. Using a hand or stand mixer on a medium speed, cream together for 3 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in the eggs one by one, mixing well in between addition.
- Add in milk, yoghurt and lemon juice. Mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Add your pre-sifted dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and using a spatula, fold together until just combined. Do not overmix.
- To finish off, toss the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour (this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake layers) and then add the blueberries to the batter, discarding any left over flour, and fold them in with a spatula until just combined. Again try not to overmix it.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins. Try to distribute the blueberries evenly so that you have some on the top of the cake as well. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 20 minutes and then carefully turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool. The cake layers are soft and delicate, so handle them carefully. Frost with the cream cheese buttercream.
Assembly
- See the end of the blog post above for assembly instructions or watch the recipe video for a visual demonstration 🙂
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
153 Comments
Any recommendations for changes due to high altitude? I’m at 8200 ft.
Thanks
Hi Marianne! 🙂 Unfortunately I am not too familiar with high altitude baking and the necessary adjustments that would need to be made – so sorry about that! Hope to take some time out soon to learn more about this 🙂
I haven’t tried this cake but it looks amazing I really want this cake at my wedding do you make cakes a sell them? If so I’d love to have this cake in tiers! And I would like to know what you would charge to make it and ship it? I’m not sure if it is even possible. Please let me know! Thank you
Hi Mary! 🙂 Thank you so much for your message, I am honored that you would want to order your wedding cake from me 😀
Unfortunately I don’t make cakes to sell, but thank you anyway for enquiring 🙂
Wishing you a wonderful wedding ahead!
Can you bake the cake a day ahead and frost the following day?
Hi Clare! 🙂 Yes you could totally do that. Just be sure to keep the cake layers in an airtight container (and wrap them in cling wrap too if possible – just be careful as the cake layers are soft and require gentle handling) to prevent them from drying out. Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
Yes, you can!
Hello Maryam
I’m about to make this for my partner’s birthday, can I replace the white granulated sugar with golden caster sugar? Thank you ☺️
Hi Sabrina! 🙂 Hmm good question – I’ve never used golden caster sugar before in my cakes so I am not too familiar with how it may affect the final texture/taste and whether any adjustments would need to be made. So sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
I love this recipe! Taste so delicious, just i use less sugar to avoid a very sweet cake.
Thanks for share these recipes.
Awesome! So so happy to hear you loved the recipe and thank you so much for the feedback 😀
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I wanted to know if cake flour can be used as a substitute for the all purpose flour? How would it affect the cake?
Hi Rissy! 🙂 Yes cake flour could be used in replacement of the all purpose flour and cornstarch (the combination of both is used as a cake flour substitute). It should result in a similar texture, but may be slightly lighter with cake flour 🙂
Can you use cake flour instead of adding cornstarch to the recipe?
Hi Curlys! 🙂 Yes cake flour should work fine for this recipe, however don’t completely omit the cornstarch, but instead replace it with cake flour :). Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thank you for this recipe! The cake and the cream cheese frosting came out perfectly! delicious. The ONLY fault I can find with the recipe is that the amount of frosting is enough to frost two cakes, Perhaps you might want to lessen the amount for frosting. However, I have hermetically seal the rest of the frosting and have put it in the freezer, to be used at a future date!
I appreciate the fact that you took the time to carefully detail the recipe, including a very instructive tutorial for the cake. My mother would approve your use of an apron while baking since she always stressed that an apron should be worn while baking, and if the chef doesn’t use one, they might be seen as a filthy cook.
Thank you for the wonderful feedback John! 😀 So so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe and that you found the video and instructions helpful 🙂
And thank you for the feedback re the frosting – it’s very helpful for others who may not want a lot of frosting and may prefer to make half a batch 🙂
I followed this recepie exactly to a T two times. Both times the middle of the cake sank. It did not rise as much as I hoped it would. The batter was not overmixed and I made sure to fold in the dry ingredients without overmixing it into the wet mix. Made sure the oven was at the right temperature and the pans were in the middle of the oven
Hi Vithya! 🙂 Sorry to hear the cakes sank in the middle – that can be frustrating! There could be a few reasons as to why this has occured. The most likely reasons are: 1) too much liquid in the batter (I would recommend using the gram measurements for accuracy if you didn’t already), 2) the oven temp was too low, 3) the cake was checked too early and so the rush of air into the oven causes the cake to sink as the middle hasn’t set, 4) the batter was undermixed, 5) the raising agents are no longer active or 6) egg size is too small. I would recommend checking out this blog post for more trouble shooting tips 🙂 https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/why-did-my-cake-sink-in-the-middle/
Hope that helps for next time!
I made this cake last night. However, the crumb of the cake was almost of a “crumb bread” texture. I don’t think it’s the recipe but maybe I didn’t fold the batter long enough to achieve a smooth batter. The batter was rather clumpy but all the flour had been combined. Any thoughts on what I did wrong? The batter was very airy when I filled (10) mini loaf pans and baked for 15 minutes. Great taste and lemon flavor.
Hi LaQuita! 🙂 So happy to hear you loved the taste of the cake! It sounds like perhaps the cakes may have been overbaked, or there was too much flour added to the batter if it seemed a little dry. If it was dense, then this could be due to too much fat in the batter. I would recommend using the gram measurements for best results (if you didn’t already). Another thing may be the temperature of the butter during the initial creaming stage – you want to make sure it’s not too soft :). For more troubleshooting tips, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRy1KuFMdOo
Hope that helps for next time 🙂
Hi MK…thanks for this recipe I want to try it but I don’t like blueberries…what can I use as a substitute for the blueberries. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks in advance Paulet.
Hi Paulet! 🙂 I haven’t tried any other berries myself, but I think raspberries would work well! Would love to hear how you go if you decide to try it out 🙂