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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
Hi.
The cake came out lovely, but the buttercream ruined all the taste. As a non experienced baker, I followed recipe but I thinking now that it might be a typo error saying to use salted butter for buttercream? It just ruined the taste cause saltiness were still there after sugar and jam.
Hi Anna! I am sorry this did not turn out well for you. The recipe is correct though. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I made this cake today and it was delicious and gorgeous! I had fun making it! Thank you Tieghan. I love your recipes!
Thank you Fatima!! xTieghan
Hi! This looks amazing and I would like to make it while I am stuck in quarantine for my birthday. Because it is only my dad and myself in our house to eat this cake, is there any way I can freeze the remaining part of the cake? There is no way we will be able to eat it all while it is fresh. Please let me know if you have any ideas of re purposing this cake once in the freezer. Thanks!
Hi Sam! I am so glad you like this cake! You can freeze it for up to 3 months, and to thaw just let it sit in the refrigerator. It will take a few hours to thaw completely! I hope you love this! xTieghan
This cake was very packy as was the lavender one. This one had less flavor, so the packy texture was more noticeable. This recioe needs more lemon. Two packy cakes in a row, two half-days — the cake recipe in the book is much better.
Thank you so much Lauren! I am so glad this turned out so well for you! xTieghan
This was my first time baking a layer cake and it turned out tasty and beautiful! This is an amazing recipe. Thanks so much!
My cake was more dense. Any recommendations on what I can do next time so the texture is more fluffy? Thanks again!
Hi Gina,
I am so glad that you enjoyed the recipe! Next time I would recommend adding more sour cream to make the cake less dense. Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hello Dear,
I would like to know if i bake the whole cake in one mould and for example i divide it into two part is it possible with the following recipe ?
Thank You in advance!!!
Hi Lara! You divid the batter into three different cake pans! And yes, you are able to do it just following the recipe! Please let me know if there are any other questions I can help with! xTieghan
Hi there, I would like to make this cake for a friends wedding, would this cake be able to be tiered? I’m thinking 3 8 inches and 3 6 inches, also, how would you adjust the baking time ? Thank you
HI! Yes, you can tier the cake. For 8 inches, bake 25-30 minutes. For 6 inches, bake 20-25 minutes. The baking times are a guess, so please be sure to check the cakes towards the end of baking for doneness. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I made this last weekend for a dinner party we had for a few friends. I LOVED the cake! Moist, delicious and oh so lemony!
I had to change up the frosting recipe though. I tasted it prior to adding the blueberry jam. I felt like I was eating straight whipped butter. Too much for my palate. I added another 4 ounces of mascarpone and several more cups of powdered sugar and that did the trick! It turned out beautifully!
Hi Shannon! I am really glad this turned out so well for you! Thank you so much! xTieghan
This cake is DELISH. It is so moist and bursts with the flavor of fresh blueberries.The mascarpone and jam lighten up the frosting and give it great flavor. My daughter made it once for my birthday in June and once for her friend’s birthday. I decided to try it because I was having some friends over for a working breakfast/lunch (we were ordering perennials for our garden club plant sale and it’s a HUGE sale so it takes a while), We started with this cake and the HBH Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. Later we had spinach quiche and mixed green salad with grilled lemon chicken. and ended with HBH Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I’m not as knowledgeable about the plants as my friends but I know how to keep people WELL fed. I used 6″ cake pans and make 8 single-layer cakes so everyone could take a little cake home with them. Who doesn’t like a goodie bag?
Aw that is the best! I am so glad this cake turned out so well for you Karen! Thank you so much! I hope you continue to enjoy my recipes! xTieghan
Hi. I absolutely love your cake recipes, they are all so unusual and special. When I need to make a “high-impact” dessert, I come here to see what you’ve come up with. I was invited to a fancy holiday dessert party and I needed to bring a dessert that would be delicious as well as have tremendous eye appeal. When I saw this recipe I knew this would be it. I made it for the party and I have to say it was a huge hit, there was only one slice left and the host wanted to keep it for himself. It got all the oohs and aahs I was hoping for.
That is so amazing to hear! Thank you for trusting my recipes for all of your dessert needs! That is too great! xTieghan
Could orange zest and juice be used in place of lemon? Also how would this go in making this in two 13×9 inch rectangular tins and do you think the cakes could be cut before assembling as I was planning to use this recipe to make my daughter’s fish shaped cake!
Hi Erin! I love the idea of orange. That sounds great! I would use an equal amounts to the lemon.
This will bake nicely in a 9×13 pan, but it doesn’t cut too well due to the berries. So maybe not the best cake to cut a fish shape. I am sorry!!
Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
This is one of my favorite cakes to bake! I made it for one of my best friend’s engagement party and am making it tonight for her secret wedding per her request- I wish I could post the pictures.
Wow that is so amazing!! I hope you all loved this cake and congratulations to her! Thank you so much Liza! xTieghan
Hello
When says 1 cup coconut.oil is that before it is melted?
Hi Laure! I measure after melting the coconut oil, so it is 1 cup of melted coconut oil. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???
Hi!
I was thinking of making this for my boyfriend birthday coming up but he requested a chiffon cake or angel food cake. Do you think this is a fluffy enough/light enough of a cake recipe where it’d be comparable/suitable?
Hi there! This cake isn’t as fluffy as most, so I’d recommend another recipe. This is a little more dense due to all the berries inside. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan ???
Hi Tieghan, I am Australian so I am a bit confused by “sticks” of butter! How much would that be? Love your recipes!
Hi Michelle! One stick of butter is 113 grams! Let me know if this helps! I hope you love this recipe! xTieghan