Oh lemons, we meet again. This time, we are meeting lemons in this iconic combo, a Lemon Blueberry Cake. I don’t think I could name a better duo, except for chocolate and peanut butter, but that’s beside the point! I think of this cake strictly as a fridge cake. Sure, you can eat it at room temperature, but you are missing out. Eating this cake cold enhances the freshness and crispness that you desire from it. The fruit flavors instantly bring about a lightness that is only further enhanced by the whipped cream cheese frosting. For these hot summer days and these hot summer nights, the only way I want to cool off is by eating this cake.
For this lemon blueberry cake, you want to use fresh ingredients. Fresh lemon zest, fresh lemon juice, and arguably, fresh blueberries. Sure, you don’t need fresh blueberries, frozen would work just fine, but if its the summer time, I cannot see any reason why you wouldn’t go fresh. I also have a bit of an issue with frozen blueberries because in my own opinion I think they sort of affect the way my cake bakes. Because frozen blueberries are added un-thawed, the cake batter gets very cold and thickens, and I just am not about that. But, feel free to use fresh or frozen, it is up to your heart’s desire! For the lemon aspect though, you really do need to use real, fresh, lemons. There is no comparison between fresh and bottled lemon juice; fresh is always better, hands down.
Do I have to alternate adding my wet and dry ingredients?
Often times, cake recipes, such as this one. Will include directions to alternate the addition of your wet and dry ingredients. This may seem tedious but it is actually done with good reason. If you were to add all of the dry ingredients at once, your batter may become too thick, making it easier to over mix, resulting in a tough cake. On the other hand, the addition of all the liquid at one time can cause the batter to separate. To avoid this, the method of alternating wet and dry ingredients was created. The most important thing to note about the alternating method is that you only want to stir each addition until barely combined before adding the next addition. This will keep you from over-mixing your batter and leave you with a perfect cake.
Lemon Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar
- 3 tablespoons Lemon Zest
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 2 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- ½ cup Lemon Juice (about 3 lemons worth)
- 2 cups Blueberries
- 3 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
For the Frosting:
- 12 ounces Cream Cheese (room temperature)
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
- 2-3 cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 tablespoons Lemon Zest
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- ¼ cup Smashed Blueberries
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease three 8-inch round pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
- With a hand mixer in a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugars and lemon zest on medium high speed until fluffy and light . This step is important to get a good rise and texture for your cake! Let it mix for at least 4-5 minutes!
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating to make sure the first is incorporated before adding the next. Once all of the eggs are added, add in the vanilla and let it all mix for 1-2 minutes, until totally combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if you need to.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Whisk together until homogeneous.
- Alternating wet and dry, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the batter until just a few flour streaks remain, then add in 1/2 of the buttermilk and lemon juice. Repeat until you run out of ingredients to add. You should have done three additions of dry and two additions of wet, starting and ending on the dry ingredients.
- In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the three tablespoons of flour. Add the blueberries to the batter and fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed.
- Evenly distribute the batter between your three cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing the cakes from their pans.
For the Frosting:
- In a clean, large bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese and butter. Whip together on medium-high speed until completely mixed together and smooth and creamy. This will take about 2 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and crushed blueberries and mix together on a low speed until smooth and homogeneous.
- With everything combined, turn up your mixer and whip for 2-3 minutes on medium-high or high until the batter is very light and fluffy.
- When the cake is cooled, frost it with the frosting as desired. I added fresh blueberries and lemon wedges to my cake for decoration, but you can do anything! This cake will last up to a week in the fridge if it is covered. Enjoy!
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