My family loves this lemon blueberry cake recipe! It reminds me of a pound cake with a rich and buttery crumb, and has a ton of blueberries baked in.
I am always so happy when we bake this lemon blueberry cake. It’s perfect as an everyday snack cake and doubles as something you can serve on special occasions. It’s delicious topped with whipped cream, served plain, or with a scoop of ice cream on top!
I use a similar batter to make this cinnamon coffee cake!
Key Ingredients
- Blueberries: Fresh blueberries work best, but frozen are fine. Add them straight from the freezer (frozen berries bleed less and won’t turn the batter purple the way thawed berries do).
- Butter: This cake recipe uses melted butter instead of creamed butter. When melted butter coats the flour, it limits gluten formation, which helps the cake stay moist and tender. Both regular and plant-based butter work well.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is perfect here. A gluten-free 1:1 all-purpose blend should also work.
- Baking Powder: This gives the cake its lift. Stick with baking powder (baking soda won’t behave the same way). I also use baking powder in our lemon blueberry muffins for their light, tender crumb.
- Flavored Sugar: We start with plain granulated sugar, then rub it with lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Using your fingers to work the zest and extracts into the sugar adds so much flavor to the cake batter. You can skip the almond extract, but I love how the vanilla + almond combination makes the cake taste like it came from a bakery. We use the same trick when making lemon blueberry bread.
- Eggs: Three large eggs add structure, richness, and moisture. They’re key to the cake’s tight, tender crumb, so I don’t recommend substitutions.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream gives the cake a pound-cake-like texture. It turns out rich, moist, and tender. The extra fat is what makes the crumb so tender (similar to our rum pound cake).
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cake
Tip 1: No special equipment needed. You only need a couple of bowls, a whisk, and a spatula. We bake this in an 8×8-inch pan, but a tall 8- or 9-inch round cake pan also works.
Tip 2: Make the batter. Whisk the dry ingredients together in one bowl. In another bowl, make the wet mixture by rubbing the sugar with the lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla, and almond extract. Use your fingers to rub the oils from the zest into the sugar. This flavored sugar is what makes our blueberry cake so incredibly delicious! Then whisk in the eggs and cream.
Tip 3: Add the melted butter last. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until the cake batter is smooth, then fold in the melted butter. I do the same when making our butter rum pound cake.
Tip 4: Get blueberries in the middle. For that blueberry ribbon, spread some plain batter (without blueberries) into the pan first. Stir the blueberries into the remaining batter and spoon it over the top. Just before baking, scatter a handful of extra berries over the surface.
Tip 5: Finish with whipped cream or frosting (optional). Let the cake cool to room temperature before serving. It’s wonderful topped with whipped cream or coconut whipped cream and extra blueberries, plain with ice cream, or even finished with cream cheese frosting (the frosting from our carrot cake is perfect).
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Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Our lemon blueberry cake has a texture very similar to pound cake. Thanks to melted butter, eggs, and cream, the texture is tight-knit, moist, and very tender. We make this in a square baking pan, but a tall (at least 2 inches) round 8-inch or 9-inch cake pan will also work.
To minimize all the blueberries sinking to the bottom of the cake (some will, anyway), we first add plain batter without any blueberries added to the bottom of the baking pan. Then, we combine the blueberries with the remaining batter and spread it on top of the first blueberry-free layer.
You Will Need
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (115g)
1 ⅓ cups all-purpose flour (170g)
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar (240g)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
3 large eggs at room temperature
⅓ cup heavy cream (80ml)
2 cups fresh blueberries, about 1 pint blueberries (280g)
2 cups homemade whipped cream, optional
Directions
1Prep: Center a rack in the oven and heat to 350°F (177°C). Butter and flour an 8- or 9-inch square pan.
2Mix dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
3Make flavored sugar: In a separate bowl, rub the sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, vanilla, and almond extract together until the sugar is moist and fragrant. (Use your fingers to rub the aromatics into the sugar.)
4Mix wet ingredients: Whisk the eggs into the flavored sugar until blended, then whisk in the cream.
5Make batter: Switch to a large rubber spatula. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, stirring gently until just incorporated and the batter is smooth. Fold in the melted butter in two additions. The batter will be thick.
6Layer the batter: Spread about one-third of the plain batter into the bottom of the prepared pan (without any berries).
7Then, fold all but a handful of the blueberries into the remaining batter. Spoon this blueberry batter over the first layer and smooth the top. Scatter the reserved berries over the surface.
8Bake: Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan, place it right-side up on the rack, and let it cool completely. Serve with whipped cream.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Bake the cake as directed and cool completely. Wrap the unfrosted cake tightly with plastic wrap or place it into a resealable plastic bag. Keep at room temperature for up to 5 days. If you have added whipped cream to the cake, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a day or two.
- Freezing: Bake the cake as directed and cool completely. Add to a baking sheet and freeze (uncovered) until hard, about 4 hours. When frozen, wrap it tightly with plastic wrap, then wrap it again with foil. Freeze for up to 1 month.
- Using frozen blueberries: Use frozen blueberries; do not thaw them.
- Tip for even baking: Place your baking pan on an insulated baking sheet or two regular baking sheets stacked on the other before baking in the oven (this helps even baking).
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We did not include additional whipped cream in the calculations. For reference, 2 tablespoons of whipped cream is about 50 calories.
This quickly became one of my favorite Gluten-free-sugar-free-low-carb recipes for my diabetic-celiac hubby for whom I love to cook.
Recipes that stick to basics,like this convert more easily than most to other types of recipes, like gluten free, sugar free, low carb, vegan, etc. To accomplish the end I used almond flour for all purpose. Stevia works nicely to replace half the sugar and coconut sugar for the other half. You avoid any bitter aftertaste that way.
Hi Joanne… I would love to make this but wonder about increasing the recipe for a 9×13″ pan…or even a Bundt pan. What do you think? Love your recipes. I’ve tried and shared many. Thank you!
Becky
Hi Becky, You should be able to double and bake in a 9×13 pan. I am not as confident with a bundt pan, though.
This is a DELICIOUS moist cake.
Easy to make and tastes lovely.
The recipe is definitely a keeper !
I want to make this blueberry cake but I’m having a problem understanding folding in the rest of the items on top of the base batter without scraping the base batter up when you fold it in. I couldn’t see a video with this recipe as there usually is. Could you help me understand this please. Sound delicious!
So I made the lemon blueberry cake today. Delicious. I didn’t have an 8 x 8 pan, so baked in 9 x 13!!!. The mixture was spread pretty thin, but still worked and just wasn’t as high as yours. The crust edges were a little crunchy (due to using a propane oven, which is a challenge in itself!!). I didn’t care that the blueberries sunk to the bottom (they were frozen) as there wasn’t a lot of cake on the bottom to hold them. Thanks!!!
I have never had a recipe I did not like from inspired taste and I thank you very much.
I will be making this. I always have fresh blueberries. But I’m curious. How do you sub in bananas for butter? Your site is one I like when I need (and that’s often) new ideas whether cooking or baking. You make it simple and delicious.
Love your recipe
I don’t have (or use) heavy cream, can I substitute either Greek yogurt or half and half? BTW – every one of your recipes that I’ve tried has been excellent. Thank you!
We are so glad you love the recipes you have tried. Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream should work nicely 🙂
Nice and detailed recipe of blueberry cake. well done!
Thank you for share this recipe. I love your site. Can I make cupcakes using this recipe?
Hi Mara, We have not made cupcakes with this batter before, but it should work fine. The bake time will be shorter, though, so keep an eye on them as they bake.
I want to double the recipe and make a larger cake as this disappears quickly! If I double it, can I just put into a 9×13 sheet pan and bake for the same amount of time as in the original recipe?
Hi Toni, the bake time should be pretty similar. I’d just stay close by the oven and check on doneness every once in a while.
It was so easy and quick to make this delicious cake. We ate it with the whipped cream. My family love it. The blueberry did not sink at all. I mixed a table of flour mixture with blueberries.
I made this today and its a gorgeous looking cake and a big hit! Can you please share the recipe for the cream cheese frosting you have mentioned? I cant imagine it tasting any better but would love it try it!
Hi Nina, If you take a look at our carrot cake recipe, you will see our go-to cream cheese frosting.
To keep the blueberries from sinking, cut it half and make sure they are dry. That’s what I do. Hope that helps
Yes, I have seen a very popular chef toss the blueberries with a dusting of flour so they do not fall to the bottom. Give it a try!
Hi, can i use canned blueberries in syrup instead of fresh blueberries?
Hi there, we have not done this ourselves, but we recommend removing the blueberries from the syrup before adding to the cake.
Hi to you both! I recently followed your recipe for trout. It was freshly caught in the lake where we live and I stuffed it as you suggested. It was absolutely fabulous. Looking forward to trying the blueberry cake as we have taken to fattening up our friends and ourselves for afternoon tea in the garden while the sun shines. I’ll look forward to trying more of your recipes. Many thanks, Sylvia Kennedy (I live in Brittany, France)
I really like the combination of flavor so for this cake. Please help with some substitutions to make it less fat. I usually use bananas instead of the butter and how about the heavy cream could I use Greek yogurt. Thank you for any other suggestions. Eileen
Using bananas in place of butter is a great idea – how many would you use and would it be a medium? Thanks
Marilyn, Hi. When using bananas to replace butter, it’s usually 1 to 1 ratio. When using them in recipe, just mash the banana, with a little canola, or coconut oil, and that will help in the mashing process, and make it more smooth. Also it might alter the taste of whatever your baking just a little.
Hi Eileen, We’re glad you love the flavor combinations. As for the substitutions, you may need to do some testing in your own kitchen since we have not tried them in ours. Greek yogurt should be a nice substitution for the cream and adding a banana for some of the butter should work well, too.