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Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake…to celebrate the weekend. Three layers of light and fluffy lemon cake swirled with a mix of fresh blueberries and blueberry jam. Each cake layer is frosted generously with whipped blueberry mascarpone buttercream. This cake is mouthwatering and oh so delicious. Every bite is layered with fresh berries, hints of lemon, sweet vanilla, and filled with creamy buttercream. This is the perfect berry-filled cake for any and all occasions. Bonus? It’s simpler to make than you’d think, and so very pretty…with barely any added effort.
And here I am, back with another layer cake, simply because they make me happy and I needed a happy cake in my life this week. You do too. Trust me on that.
Just like flowers, pretty (and delicious) food has a way of being able to completely turn my day around. It’s maybe kind of cheesy to admit, but I have a love of beautiful things. And when they happen to be incredibly delicious beautiful things? Well, that’s just an added bonus that makes food like cake the BEST.
And I don’t think many of you will argue that, because who doesn’t love cake, you know?
muti colored buttercream
1st cake layer
1st cake layer with buttercream
2nd cake layer
2nd cake layer with buttercream
cake before covering in buttercream
The story of how this cake came to be is really pretty simple. In an effort to surround myself with more color and “pretty” things, I picked up a whole bunch of fresh berries and ordered way too many edible flowers. When purchasing the berries and flowers, I really didn’t have an idea as to what I would make with them. I just knew something good would follow.
Almost as soon as the flowers arrived at my doorstep, I began baking this cake. Something about the purple-toned dahlias and faded white elderflowers screamed blueberry cake to me. Instead of thinking twice about it, I just started cooking. Less than 2 hours later I was putting the finishing touches on what is now one of my favorites cakes… Yes, I kind of have a lot of favorites.
Here are all the details.
Start with the cake. It’s a combination of a fluffy vanilla cake, lemon cake, and blueberry cake. It’s so moist, just perfectly sweet, and has a hint of lemon flavor throughout. To get a really incredible and intense blueberry flavor, I used a mix of both fresh blueberries and blueberry jam. So yes, that’s double the blueberry action, and yes, this cake is very heavy on blueberry flavor. Every bite literally bursts with berries and it’s maybe one of the best things you will eat.
Kind of dramatic, but also kind of true.
For the buttercream, I had a lot of over the top ideas. But in the end, I actually stuck with something a bit simpler and did a blueberry-mascarpone buttercream. Since I really wanted this cake to be heavy on the blueberry flavor, I didn’t want the buttercream to compete with the cake, I wanted it to compliment.
Enter this mascarpone buttercream swirled with a small amount of blueberry jam to give the cake a very pretty color. Not going to lie, I did attempt an ombre frosted cake. But it didn’t really work out just as I envisioned in my head. Oddly, I’m OK with that, and even odder? I love the imperfect look.
It’s effortlessly pretty…
Which brings me to the best part about this cake. It’s actually fairly easy to make, and pretty too.
No special ingredients, nothing fancy, just pantry staples, and a whole love of blueberries. If you have access to edible flowers, those are of course welcome, but not needed.
I know a lot of people, myself included, can stress to create a cake that’s frosted perfectly. But what’s great about this blueberry cake is that it should look like a swirly, messy, unperfect cake. Just have fun swirling on the buttercream and don’t worry too much about how it looks. Promise, in the end, the cake will be beautiful no matter what.
And most importantly?
It’s going to be GOOD…SO GOOD.
There are not enough words to describe how good this cake is, but just know that every forkful is filled with fresh berries and sweet jam. Each layer is moist, hinted with lemon, and layered with sweet buttercream.
It’s exactly what you should bake this weekend. And with that, let’s take a summer Friday and happily make our way to the kitchen. It’s time for cake.
Thank God!
If you make this bursting blueberry lemon layer cake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake.
Servings: 24
Calories Per Serving: 1583 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 cup melted coconut oil (can use melted butter or canola oil)
- 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3 3/4 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup high-quality blueberry jam
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw using frozen)
Blueberry Buttercream
- 3 sticks salted butter, at room temperature
- 4 ounces mascarpone or cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons high-quality blueberry or blackberry jam
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 3 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter/spray with cooking spray.2. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand-held mixer) beat together the coconut oil, yogurt, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, buttermilk, lemon juice, and zest. Add 3 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined. 3. Toss the blueberries with the remaining 1 tablespoon flour and fold them into the batter. Swirl in the blueberry jam, leaving a few streaks of jam throughout the batter, it shouldn't be fully incorporated.4. Pour the batter among the 3 cake pans and bake 30-35 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool five minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Cover and let the cakes cool completely before assembling.5. To make the buttercream. Add the butter, mascarpone, and powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat the butter and powdered sugar together until the butter is light and fluffy. Divide the buttercream between 3 bowls. Mix 1-2 tablespoon jam into 1st bowl, then 2-3 tablespoons jam to the 2nd bowl. Leave the 3rd bowl plain. 6. To assemble, place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread the darkest colored buttercream over the cake. Add the 2nd cake layer and spread with the lighter colored buttercream. Add the final cake layer and spread with the white buttercream. Lightly frost the outside of the cake, swirling the different shades together. It's shouldn't look "perfect". Chill 30 minutes. Serve, or store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
This post was originally published on June 7, 2019
I need to bake this cake on Thursday for my mother’s 80th birthday on Saturday, traveling with it from Boston to New York on Friday. I also have to use GF flour for my daughter. Do you think it will hold up? Any suggestions?
Hey Julie!! I think the cake should hold up just fine for traveling, just be sure to cover the cake well and keep it in a secure place!
I have not tested the cake with GF flour so I am not sure how it will turn out, but I do think it should work just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
If I use butter instead of coconut oil, do I use salted or unsalted and would it change the flavor of the cake?
HI! Yes, the flavor will be a little different, but still great. I recommend unsalted butter since the cake already has salt in it. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I am by no means a baker but I actually was able to pull off this spectacular cake. My family was so impressed …and it tastes absolutely amazing !!
Thank you so much Beth! xTieghan
Would this work in a Bundt pan or would it be too much batter?
Hi Tracey! I think this is too much batter for a bundt pan. If you cut the batter in half it might fit nicely, but I have never tested this, so I can’t really say what the outcome will be. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I’ll take the two pieces on the right if you need some help eating this gorgeous cake. ?
Haha I wish I could give you some! Thank you so much Rosa! xTieghan
Question…is the recipe already adjusted for high altitude baking, or should I make adjustments? I live at around 6000 ft. It looks so lovely. I plan to make for dinner party.
Hi Jane! This recipe should work great for you! Let me know if you have more questions! xTieghan
I love a layer cake recipe that says, “It shouldn’t look perfect.” My kind of recipe!
Haha yes! Thank you Beverly! xTieghan
This looks & sounds fabulous! Thank you for posting 🙂
I have a question: how do I get 24 servings from it? It looks like a normal sized cake which would probably give 12 ….or maybe 16 at the max. How thinly are you cutting? The picture of the sliced cake looks like a decent size to me. How many servings did you get from that cut? Would love to know your answers!
I’m trying to bake it for a big party and want to make sure there’s enough for everyone. Thank you!
Hi there! So sorry, that is a typo. This will cut into 16 thin slices, but 10-12 normal slices. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
How far in advance would you say this can be made? 1 day?
Hey Kate! You can make 1-2 days ahead of time, but keep the cake in the fridge and then bring to room temp before serving. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Looks beautiful and sounds delicious. Planning to try soon for my mother’s birthday. The recipe frosting calls for mascarpone but I didn’t see when to add it in… I’m assuming just mix with butter and sugar? And is last tbsp of jam swirled on top?
Thanks for sharing a wonderful recipe!
Hi Julie! So sorry about the typos. I have fixed the recipe to read correctly. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
This is so good, unique and delicious. Yummy cake! Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe. 🙂
I am happy you enjoyed this, Paul! Thank you! xTieghan
WOW! This looks yummy!! I love lemon and I am sure with the blueberries it is great. In your directions you say add 1 T jam to the first bowl and 2 T to the second. What do you do with the other T of jam? It says 4 T in the ingredients.
Thank you so much Charlotte! So glad you like this cake! xTieghan
Hi Charlotte! so sorry about the typo. I have fixed the recipe to read correctly. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
this cake is all kinds of gorgeous!!!
Thank you Ruth! xTieghan
I loved this recipe
Thank you so much! xTieghan
I loved this recipe
Thanks! xTieghan