Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Published: April 27, 2022
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This moist and easy blueberry cake is simple, yet SO delicious and makes the perfect Spring, Mother’s Day, or anytime dessert! Top it off with a beautifully swirled frosting to take it to the next level (it’s so much easier than you think!).
Here’s How You Make It
Before you get started on any of the other steps, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then grease and flour an 8- or 9-inch cake pan (it should be at least 2 inches tall).
Prepare the Blueberries
- In a small bowl, combine the blueberries and the lemon juice and stir them together to coat. Then, sprinkle flour over the blueberries, and stir gently again to coat the blueberries in the flour. Set the blueberries aside.
Prepare the Cake
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
- Then, in a large bowl, combine the butter and the sugar and mix this together for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Then, mix in the eggs and vanilla. Then, add in the lemon zest and mix that in (if using).
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix it all together until just combined (do not over-mix), then gently stir in the floured blueberries.
- Transfer the cake batter (it is supposed to be thick) to your prepared cake pan, then use a greased rubber spatula to gently smooth out the batter evenly.
- Transfer the pan to a preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for 10-15 minutes before turning the blueberry cake out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.
Make the Frosting
- In a blender or a food processor (or you can use an immersion blender), puree the blueberries and then run the pureed blueberries through a fine mesh strainer to strain out the blueberry skins. Throw away the skins and set aside the blueberry puree.
- Then, in a large bowl, cream the butter for 3 minutes (don’t skimp on the time here!).
- To the creamed butter, add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until completely incorporated and all creamed together.
- Mix in the vanilla, salt, and lemon zest (if using).
- Now, take out half of the frosting and put it into a separate bowl. To the first bowl add your blueberry puree and mix until it’s combined. (If desired, you can add some food coloring to enhance the purple color. I used a combination of blue and red to achieve the color in my photos. You can also use purple if you have it on hand.)
- To the second bowl of frosting, add the heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting is fluffy.
Frost the Cake
- Drop dollops of each of the frosting types onto the top of the cooled cake (Important: Make sure it is completely cooled before frosting.) Gently swirl the frostings together as you spread it evenly across and down the sides of the entire cake.
- Slice and serve the cake right away or you can store in airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge up to 5 days.
Why This Recipe Works
Blueberries – I mean, of course it wouldn’t be blueberry cake without the blueberries, but also the blueberries make for such a delicious cake! A little out of the ordinary and so delicious, you’ll want to make this cake for every occasion!
Lemon zest and juice – Mmmmm there’s just something about the combination of blueberries and lemon that makes this the best, most easy lemon blueberry cake you ever did eat.
Two kinds of frosting – I’m not satisfied with just one kind of frosting here, no way. You need the thinner buttercream with the pureed blueberries in it and then also the fluffier buttercream with the heavy cream in it. Swirled together these are just heavenly!
Simple ingredients – This blueberry cake might seem complicated but I promise it’s not! You probably already have all the ingredients you need on hand right now and if not, just a quick trip to nearly any grocery store can take care of that.
Expert Tips & Tricks
- There are two steps you don’t want to skip with the blueberries, and that’s mixing them with lemon juice and then rolling them in flour. This helps keep them from sinking right down to the bottom of the cake. The other step is removing the blueberry skins from the frosting puree. You want a nice, smooth frosting, not one littered with little skins you’ll be picking out of your teeth all night.
- If you have any leftover buttercream frosting, it will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. You might need to give it a stir before using.
- If you want to skip the zest that’s totally fine. Don’t make up for it by using more juice. Keep the lemon juice for mixing with the berries and the zest for the inside of the blueberry cake with lemon and the frosting.
More Recipes Like This
Do you love cake as much as I do? Then you should check out my recipes for Zucchini Sheet Cake, Cream Cheese Lemon Crumb Cake, or one of these amazing recipes:
If you make this cake, please come back and let me know what you think by leaving a comment and rating the recipe! And be sure to snap a photo and email it or tag me on social media, I love connecting with you and seeing your CDLC creations!
Blueberry Cake Recipe
This moist and easy blueberry cake is simple, yet SO delicious and makes the perfect Spring, Mother’s Day, or anytime dessert! Top it off with a beautifully swirled frosting to take it to the next level (it’s so much easier than you think!).
Servings: 8 servings
Instructions
Prepare the Cake
In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar and mix 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Mix in the lemon zest now, if using.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined (do not over-mix). Gently stir in blueberries.
Transfer cake batter (it is thick) to your prepared cake pan using a greased rubber spatula to gently smooth out evenly.
Transfer pan to preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (no wet batter).
Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before turning cake out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the frosting.
Make the Frosting
In a blender or food processor (I used an immersion blender) puree the blueberries. Use a fine mesh strainer to strain the blueberry skins. Discard the skins and set aside the blueberry puree.
In a large bowl cream the butter for 3 minutes (don’t skimp on the time here!).
Cream in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until completely incorporated.
Mix in the vanilla, salt, and lemon zest (if using).
Portion out half of the frosting into a separate bowl. To the first bowl add your blueberry puree and mix until combined. If desired you can add some food coloring to enhance the purple color. (I used a combination of blue and red to achieve the color in my photos. You can also use purple if you have it on hand).
To the second bowl of frosting, add the heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until frosting is fluffy.
Frost the Cake
Drop dollops of each frosting onto the top of the cooled cake (*make sure it is completely cooled before frosting*). Gently swirl and the frostings together as you spread it evenly across and down the sides of the entire cake.
Slice and serve OR store in airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the fridge up to 5 days.
Notes
- There are two steps you don’t want to skip with the blueberries, and that’s mixing them with lemon juice and then rolling them in flour. This helps keep them from sinking right down to the bottom of the cake. The other step is removing the blueberry skins from the frosting puree. You want a nice, smooth frosting, not one littered with little skins you’ll be picking out of your teeth all night.
- If you have any leftover buttercream frosting, it will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. You might need to give it a stir before using.
- If you want to skip the zest that’s totally fine. Don’t make up for it by using more juice. Keep the lemon juice for mixing with the berries and the zest for the inside of the blueberry cake with lemon and the frosting.
Nutrition
Calories: 388 kcal, Carbohydrates: 84 g, Protein: 5 g, Fat: 4 g, Saturated Fat: 2 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1 g, Trans Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 50 mg, Sodium: 337 mg, Potassium: 128 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 69 g, Vitamin A: 207 IU, Vitamin C: 4 mg, Calcium: 97 mg, Iron: 1 mg
