This Blueberry Lemon Cake is loaded with 1 pound of blueberries, and every bite has sweet pops of juicy blueberry and fresh lemon flavor. It’s not too sweet or too tangy, but just right. This is my favorite tea or coffee blueberry cake, and it’s easy, easy, easy!
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Why You’ll Love This Easy Blueberry Cake
Blueberries become juicy and jammy when baked into desserts and sweet breads. We sure love our blueberry desserts, from Blueberry Crumble to Blueberry Pie, and this easy Blueberry Cake does not disappoint.
You will love having easy and dependable recipes like this, or our easy Strawberry Cake and simple Peach Cake – they come together quickly and are perfect for unplanned company and my evening sweet-tooth cravings. Bite into this while it’s still a little warm and you’ll have no words, only sound effects… mmm.
It is moist and fluffy and tastes like a decadent Blueberry Muffin from a fancy bakery. Seriously though, it’s really good. Watch the blueberry lemon cake video tutorial to see just how easy it is.
Lemon Blueberry Cake Video
This cake is fluffy, moist, and bursting with sweet blueberry flavor. I hope you love every bite of this lemon blueberry cake. This is one of those cakes you will make on repeat.
Blueberry Cake Recipe
This lemon blueberry cake is so quick and easy to make. It is our go-to for unexpected company and it always disappears fast! You can use fresh or frozen blueberries (see my note on substituting frozen blueberries below).
Tips for Success
- Measuring Ingredients – Click here for an easy video tutorial on how to measure dry and wet ingredients correctly.
- Room-Temperature Ingredients – Ensure your liquid ingredients and even your blueberries are at room temperature for an even bake time and smoother batter.
- Don’t overload blueberries – adding more than 16 oz of blueberries can weigh down the cake and prevent it from rising properly.
- Do Not Overmix – overmixing the batter can make the cake dense.
Can I Substitute Sour Cream?
Several of our readers have reported great results using whole milk yogurt and whole milk Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
Can I Substitute Frozen Blueberries?
If using frozen blueberries, you can add them frozen, but as I learned from King Arthur Baking, it is recommended to rinse them to help prevent your batter from discoloring and turning an ugly purple-green tint. Here’s how:
- Rinse your frozen blueberries a couple of times in cold water before you use them.
- Drain well and gently pat dry with several layers of paper towels.
- Gently toss with a full 1 Tbsp of starch, and do not add lemon juice to blueberries.
How To Make Lemon Blueberry Cake
Prep: This cake is easiest to remove when using a springform pan. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. This ensures an easy release after baking. Preheat the Oven to 375˚F.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or using an electric hand mixer, beat 2 eggs and 1 cup sugar with the whisk attachment on high speed for 5 minutes or until lightened in color and thick.
- Add 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt, and whisk on low speed until well combined.
- Whisk together the 2 cups flour with 2 tsp baking powder then add to batter 1/3 at a time, whisking to incorporate between each addition (DO NOT OVERMIX, or the cake will be dense). Finally, use a lemon zester to add the lemon zest then squeeze in the fresh lemon juice.
How to Assemble and Bake
- Rinse blueberries and drain well. Transfer to a medium bowl add 1/2 Tbsp corn starch and 1 tsp lemon juice. Stir until well combined and no dry white cornstarch remains. If using frozen blueberries, see the substitution note above.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared springform pan and even out the top with a spatula. Top with half of the blueberries. Spread with the remaining batter then sprinkle the rest of the blueberries evenly over the top, pushing them about halfway into the batter.
- Bake at 375˚F for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (mine was perfect at 55 minutes). Let cake rest in the pan for 15-20 minutes then remove the springform ring and cool until room temperature or just warm.
How to Serve Blueberry Cake
This blueberry lemon cake is perfectly satisfying on its own without any kind of frosting. A generous dusting of powdered sugar is all you need. It does pair well with vanilla ice cream.
If you really want things to get excited, you can also make a Blueberry Sauce for a topping.
Can I turn this into Muffins?
Because so many of you have asked, we (finally!) have a recipe for blueberry muffins.
Also, if you’d like to bake this in a loaf pan, I highly recommend following our Blueberry Loaf Recipe.
Can I Bake this in a Bundt Pan?
Reader Kelly, writes: “I did this in a tube pan and upped all the ingredients by half. I was feeding 2 families :). I used the “Baking Happy” Pam nonstick spray with flour and it popped out beautifully. It baked for 55 mins, and was perfect! Since the pan is larger, upping the ingredients by half was a perfect fit for the pan- once baked, the cake right to the top. I sprinkled with powdered sugar. Delicious recipe…everyone loved it! Thanks so much!”
More Blueberry Desserts
There’s something about cooking with blueberries, which makes them so juicy and brings out their best flavor. If you haven’t tried making Blueberry Pierogi, you should put them on your list. Here are our favorite blueberry desserts:
- No-Bake Strawberry Blueberry Trifle
- Pavlova Recipe
- Fruit Tart
- Blueberry Ricotta Cake
- Blueberry Scones
- Berry Cake
Go ahead and print a few extra copies of the recipe since you will likely receive some requests for this blueberry cake.
Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup sour cream, (8oz), preferably at room temperature for 1 hour
- 1/2 cup light olive oil , or vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, *
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 medium lemon, zest and juice, divided
- 1/2 Tbsp corn starch
- 16 oz fresh blueberries, **
- Powdered sugar to dust the top, optional
Instructions
Prep:
- Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment. Preheat Oven to 375˚F.
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Cake:
- Beat 2 eggs and 1 cup sugar with whisk attachment on high speed 5 min, or until light in color and thick.
- Add 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt and whisk on low speed until well combined.
- Whisk together the 2 cups flour with 2 tsp baking powder then add to batter 1/3 at a time, whisking to incorporate with each addition (DO NOT OVERMIX). Finally, add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/2 Tbsp zest.
- Rinse blueberries and drain well. In a medium bowl, toss blueberries with 1/2 Tbsp corn starch and 1 tsp lemon juice, stirring until well combined and no dry white cornstarch remains.
- Pour half of batter into prepared springform pan and spread evenly. Top with half of the blueberries. Spread with remaining batter then sprinkle the rest of the blueberries evenly over the top, pushing them slightly into the batter (about halfway). Bake at 375˚F for 45 to 55 min (mine was perfect at 55 min), or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cake rest in the pan 15-20 min then remove ring and cool until room temp or just warm. Serve dusted with powdered sugar.
Notes
or they weigh down the cake.
*Measure flour by spooning it into measuring cup then scraping off the top.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Could canola oil be used instead of vegetable oil
Hi Mary Lou, I think that should work fine to substitute with canola.
Hi, I would like to make this recipe today for a family gathering but I don’t have a mixer with whisk attachment. Is this absolutely necessary?
Hi Alex, An electric hand mixer would be the next best thing, but I think you could make it work even using a hand whisk – beat vigorously with the whisk until the mixture is lightened in color and thick as shown in the photo.
I made this cake today and it’s absolutely delicious, wouldn’t change a thing. I always follow recipe exactly the first time and then change things the second time if necessary. This recipe was perfect to me, wouldn’t change a thing.
That’s wonderful Barbara! I’m so happy to hear you love the recipe!
Good for you. I get annoyed when people leave reviews for a cake they altered, it’s not the same cake if you add and subtract things. Besides we really don’t care how it was if you changed things.
Hi there! I made this today, but made it as muffins because I wanted to take it to share with friends and muffins are more portable 🙂
They came out very nicely as muffins, there was enough batter for 14 muffins and they took exactly 30 mins to cook in my convection oven. I then cooled in the pans on top of wire racks for another 10 mins before removing to wire racks to completely cool.
However, the blueberries did sort of ooze all over the pan whilst cooking which made them a little more challenging to remove (even though I had baked them in paper cup liners). They rose very well, are lovely and light and fluffy and the blueberries on top have a bright zingy flavour from the lemon juice. I love that they are not super sweet, although I would have liked just a little more lemon flavour in the cake, that could be due to not quite having enough zest though. Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe! I’m going to make it again as a full-size cake for Easter lunch dessert next weekend!
Thank you for sharing your detailed review about turning these into muffins. I’ve been wanting to try that!! I bet it would help to push the blueberries mostly down into the batter so just the very tops are showing. Without having that wall holding them in like in the cake platter, I can totally see how the could travel and go rogue. Thank you for sharing your results!! 🙂
Made it today, the consistency was outstanding but it was so tart with almost no sweetness, any suggestions?
Hi Sam, the only thing that would make it really tart is the berries – did you use blueberries or another kind of berry – were your berries underripe or tart? This cake is definitely not overly sweet but it’s also not supposed to be tart at all.
Could this be made with almond flour? If yes, how would you compare the amount necessary and would that affect any of the fluids?
Hi Jackie, without testing that myself, I really have no idea. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.. maybe someone else has tested this??
I would use 1 cup of almond flour and 1 cup of coconut flour to keep it a bit lighter.
Could this be made with gluten-free flour?
Deb, unfortunately I haven’t tested this as gluten free so I can’t really give any advice on that. There have been a couple other readers that asked about making it gluten free. I do think it’s worth an experiment. If you try it out, let me now how it goes! 🙂
I made with GF 1:1 flour and it was delicious and moist. Definitely will make again
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing that with us!!! 🙂
It is yummy, but sooo moist and dense that there is no “fluff”. I wonder what I did wrong? The blueberries were pretty large, but not huge. Maybe they had a lot of moisture that they added? I’d like to make it again, but want it more cake-like.
Hi Cheryl, did you use 16 oz blueberries and not more? Also, did you make sure to measure the flour as directed above – spooning it into the measuring cup and then scraping off the top for an exact measure? I hope that helps!
I weighed the blueberries, so yes. For the flour I scooped it, but didn’t pack it in. Usually I weigh flour too. Would a little extra flour do that? I would think the opposite.
Hi Cheryl, I’ve tested flour by scooping the measuring cup into the flour and then spooning it in and then weighing them and the difference was substantial. Besides the flour, in my testing, I did find that using more than 16 oz of blueberries will weigh down the cake. My packages come in 18 oz sizes and I was so tempted to do it with more but found it was more dense when I added too much blueberries. The normal consistency is similar to a soft blueberry muffin if that helps 🙂
Can frozen blueberries be used?
Hi Nancy, yes I have a note above for modifications using frozen blueberries. Enjoy!
Can you make this recipe into muffins/cupcakes?
Hi Wendy, I haven’t tested it that way but I think this cake batter would make the most amazing blueberry muffins!! It’s on my to-do list 😉
I am wondering how this might work with canned peaches diced up in place of the blueberries…mmmmmmmm has me thinking
Hi MZ, I bet you could make that work with well drained peaches. Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Why not just buy a moist lemon cake & add the blueberries , with a little lemon ( zest ) wouldn’t that work . Also instead of using parchment paper , just take some butter and line the pan ( lightly ) w/ flour , wouldn’t that work ??
I haven’t tested those shortcuts because this cake works so well per the recipe. I can’t really guess without testing it myself…
This is a very moist and tasty cake. It’s a little short onsweet which could be because I used tart frozen berries. However, the next time I make it, I’ll add a brown sugar crumble topping instead of a dusting of icing sugar. Then it’ll be perfection!
I’m so glad you liked it! I love your idea of a crumble topping. Let me know how that goes if you try it! 🙂
Natasha, you’re recipes never disappoint me. My mom brags to all of her friends how I get all the recipes from your website and don’t have to ask her for recipes anymore:) I am so thankful for your blog!! Your and your husband do such an amazing job!! Keep it up please!!! This cake looks so delicious!! Do you think this would work with cherries? I’m looking for a good recipe that would work with cherries.
Hi Dina, I haven’t tried it with cherries but I do think it would work! Let me know if you try it. Thank you for the wonderful compliment! It sure means a lot to both of us 🙂
Could I use a bundt pan?
Hi Amanda, I haven’t tried it in a bundt pan, but a couple of readers reported great results in a bundt – they did mention they baked it on the lower end of the time range (45-47 minutes). Enjoy!
Being a diabetic,could be made with splenda or other sweetner?
Hi Karen, I haven’t experimented using any other kind of sweetener so I can’t really advise on that. I searched the comments and no one has reported using a different sweetener. I personally don’t have any experience with artificial sweeteners so you might do some research on how much to substitute. If you test it out, let me know what you you think!
Delighted that you also put grams on your measurements for us over in England. Will be trying this soon.
My pleasure June! Please let me know what you think of the recipe!
Has anyone tried this in a 9 by 13 glass baking dish? If so, any recommended adjustments?
I would like to know this as well. Thank you.
My question, too! I donated my spring form pan whilst downsizing 🙁
Is this cake more like a breakfast cake or dessert cake?
Hi Nancy, it could be both honestly. It’s sweet enough to be enjoyable as a dessert cake and you could really plow on the powdered sugar if you want it sweeter but it’s sweetened lightly enough to be a wonderful breakfast cake – it’s similar to a blueberry muffin.
how do you think it would work at 5600 ft??
Hi Lanetta, I really have no idea since I don’t do any high altitude baking. Has anyone else tried baking at higher altitudes? Did you have to make any changes?