Ingredients
🧈 Ingredients You’ll Need
For the Lemon Blueberry Cake
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- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour, 200 g
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- 1 teaspoon baking powder
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- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
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- ¼ teaspoon salt
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- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature, 100 g
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- ¾ cup granulated sugar, 150 g
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- 2 large eggs
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- ½ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt, 120 ml
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- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
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- 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen, 150 g
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
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- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened, 100 g
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- 7 ounces brick-style cream cheese, 200 g
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- 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted, 200 g
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- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
🍋 A Few Ingredient Notes
Lemon zest:
This is where the best lemon flavor comes from. Lemon juice adds sharpness, but lemon zest gives the cake that fresh, fragrant citrus flavor.
Buttermilk or plain yogurt:
Either one works. Buttermilk gives the cake a tender crumb, while plain yogurt adds a little extra tang and richness.
Blueberries:
Fresh blueberries give the cleanest look, but frozen blueberries work too. If using frozen, add them straight from the freezer and fold gently.
Brick-style cream cheese:
Use block-style cream cheese for the frosting. Tub-style cream cheese is softer and can make the frosting loose.
Room-temperature butter:
The butter should be soft enough to cream with sugar, but not melted or greasy. If the butter is too cold, it will not mix smoothly. If it is too warm, the cake can lose structure.
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square or round baking pan, or line it with parchment paper so the cake is easier to lift out later.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set the dry ingredients aside.
💡 Tip: Whisking the dry ingredients first helps spread the baking powder and baking soda evenly through the flour. That means a better rise and no surprise bitter spots.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until the mixture looks lighter, creamy, and fluffy.
This step helps give the cake a softer texture, so don’t rush it.
💡 Tip: Room-temperature butter should press easily with your finger but should not look oily or melted.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
The batter may look a little uneven for a moment. That is normal. Keep mixing until it comes together.
Mix in the buttermilk or plain yogurt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.
This is where the batter starts to smell fresh and lemony. If you are using yogurt, the batter may look slightly thicker than it would with buttermilk.
💡 Tip: Zest the lemon before cutting it. A whole lemon is much easier to zest than a sad little squeezed lemon half rolling around the counter.
Add the flour mixture gradually to the wet ingredients. Mix just until combined.
Stop as soon as you no longer see dry streaks of flour. Do not overmix.
💡 Tip: Once flour meets liquid, gentle mixing is your friend. Overmixing can make the cake dense instead of soft.
Use a spatula to gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
Try not to crush them. A few purple streaks are fine, but you don’t want to turn the whole bowl blue-gray.
💡 Tip: If your blueberries are frozen or very juicy, toss them with a teaspoon of flour before folding them in. This can help reduce sinking and bleeding.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
The batter will be fairly thick, so use a spatula to spread it evenly into the corners.
Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until the top is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
Let the cake cool completely before frosting. This usually takes about 45–60 minutes, depending on your kitchen.
Do not frost a warm cake. The cream cheese frosting will soften too much and slide around like it has other plans.
In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until creamy.
Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth and fully combined.
Gradually add the powdered sugar and fresh lemon juice. Beat until the frosting is light, smooth, and spreadable.
💡 Tip: If the frosting feels too soft, chill it for 10–15 minutes before spreading it over the cake.
Spread the frosting over the completely cooled cake.
Top with fresh blueberries, lemon zest, or thin lemon slices if you want a pretty finish. Slice into squares and serve.
This cake is soft, bright, and sweet-tangy with little blueberry bursts in every bite.