Blueberry Lemon Cake
There are few things better than fresh lemon, plump blueberries, and cream cheese frosting. This cake has them all.
This Blueberry Lemon Cake is springtime’s best friend. It has two layers of lemon cake, fresh blueberries, blueberry preserve filling, and all covered in cream cheese icing. The blueberry and lemon flavorings pair together perfectly, resembling a little something like sunshine.
Equipment and Ingredients Needed
This cake can be made in a stand or handheld electric mixer.
As far as ingredients, the cake is made from mostly pantry staples: butter, sugar, neutral oil, eggs, flour, leavening, etc.
There are a few ingredients that will require a trip to the grocery store, so plan accordingly. These include: fresh lemon zest and juice, fresh blueberries, Lifeway Whole Milk Organic Kefir, and cake flour.
A lot of my cake recipes call for both cake flour and all-purpose flour. This makes for the most exceptional crumb. Similarly, kefir is often my secret ingredient in cakes. It is easier to find full fat kefir than it is to find full fat buttermilk, and the taste is just as delicious, if not better.
Tips and Tricks to Make Blueberry Lemon Cake
1.) Line the cake pans with parchment paper to ensure the cakes won’t stick.
2.) Follow the mixing times as indicated.
3.) When adding the blueberries, fold them in gently, making sure to not overwork the gluten. Overworked gluten makes a rubbery cake.
4.) Fresh lemon juice and zest is far superior to store bought.
5.) Bon Maman makes a less sweet blueberry preserve, which I absolutely love for this cake. If that isn’t available, any blueberry preserve will do.
Substitutions and Variations
For a lemon forward cake, fresh lemon curd can be used instead of blueberry preserves. Further, other fresh berries like blackberry or raspberry can be substituted.
For other berry desserts, try my Raspberries and Champagne Cake, Triple Berry Swirl Cake, Strawberry Cupcakes or my Fresh Lemon Cake.
Final Tip
Cream Cheese Icing is the primary frosting for this cake. To give it extra appeal, I dehydrated lemons and made a small batch of American Buttercream for the decorative swirls. Cream Cheese Icing is delicious, but not stable; for those extra crisp swirls, American Buttercream is best. This is optional.
If making the cake ahead, it should be stored in the refrigerator until two hours before enjoying. Avoid direct sunlight, as it will melt. Store any leftovers back into the refrigerator.
Blueberry Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 1 stick salted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Whole Milk Lifeway Kefir
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon zest, to taste
- 2-4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste
- 1 1/2 cup blueberries, washed and dried
- 1/4 cup blueberry preserves (for the cake filling)
- 1 stick salted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounce block cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar, to taste
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Pinch of lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Generously butter and flour two 9" cake pans. To guarantee the cake won't stick, line the bottom of the greased cake pans with parchment paper rounds. Set aside.
- In a mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes. Drizzle the oil into the bowl on medium-low speed. Once incorporated, turn the mixer back to medium speed for another 2 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, briefly mixing batter on medium speed until smooth, scraping the bowl after each egg addition.
- In a separate bowl, using a fine mesh sieve, sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Spoon and level the flours for an accurate measurement.
- Alternating in thirds, rotate between the flour and kefir, starting and ending with the flour mixture. The mixer should be kept on low speed. Add lemon juice and zest into the batter and mix until just incorporated. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans. Start assessing your cakes at 20 minutes, but they could take up to 25 minutes or longer to bake, depending on the oven's temperature. When a toothpick inserted comes out clean, the cake is done. Cool pans for 10 minutes, before running a knife around the edge of the pan, and turning out the cake. Place cake on wire rack to finish cooling. Once cake is cooled, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. This step is optional, but makes icing the cake easier.
- With an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until there are no lumps, and the consistency is smooth. Add vanilla and mix briefly.
- Add sifted powdered sugar to the bowl, 1 cup at a time, mixing first on low speed to prevent splashing, then turning the mixer to medium-low until it's incorporated. Repeat process with remaining 3 cups of powdered sugar. Add the lemon juice and zest into the bowl and briefly mix one more time to complete the icing.
- Place one layer of cake on a clean turn table or cake board with a small dollop of icing underneath. This works as a glue, helping prevent the cake layers from sliding. Place a dollop of icing on top of the first cake layer, and spread evenly with a small offset spatula or knife. Using a pastry bag, create a ring of cream cheese frosting around the edge of the first cake layer. Carefully place a few spoonfuls of chilled blueberry preserves into the center of the well, and gently spread to the edge of the cream cheese ring. The cream cheese ring acts as a guard to keep the filling from oozing out of the cake. Once the final layer has been set, place another dollop of icing onto the top of the cake, smoothing evenly, letting excess icing drop to the side of the cake.
- With the rest of the icing, using an offset spatula, put a even layer of icing around the entire cake, with a back and forth motion.
- Using a bench scraper (also known as cake smoother) with your dominant hand, hold it steady against the cake, but slightly angled toward the cake, to aid in smoothing, and slowly move the turn table with the other hand, while not moving the scraper, and keeping it as straight and steady as possible. As excess icing builds on the scraper, place it back into the mixing bowl, and continue smoothing the cake with a clean scraper. This cake is intended to be semi-naked, so as you scrape the excess icing off the cake, bits of the cake underneath will be exposed. See blog pictures for reference.
- While smoothing the sides, a lip of icing will form around the top of the cake. Using an offset spatula, gently sweep away the lip with a motion toward the center of the cake. Rotate the cake, and sweep until the lip has been removed, and top of the cake is smooth. Any leftover icing can be used to decorate the cake with a beaded boarder, or another decoration of choice. Store cake in the refrigerator until 2 hours before serving.
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