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Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Custard Cake…the prettiest simple spring cake! Easier than you’d think to make…and most importantly, so delicious! The sweet lemony poppyseed cake acts as a boat that holds a light creamy vanilla custard and sweet blueberries that burst in the oven. If you love lemon poppyseed cake and you love a crème brûlée, this combination is just for you! Finish this simple, fresh, and exciting cake off with a dusting of powdered sugar. Every last crumb is SO GOOD. Enjoy for brunch, as an afternoon snack, or for dessert – truly delicious. Bonus? It’s so pretty…with very little effort.
Oh, this cake! You guys, I do know I say this very often, but I am really so excited about this one. When I set out to make this, I was not sure it would really work. I was very worried it could require multiple rounds of testing, and even then, not end up working.
But to my surprise, everything worked almost perfectly the first time around. That almost never happens with baking recipes, but I was so happy it did! The funny thing about this cake is that it was inspired by two very different recipes, an old school blueberry cake I found on Pillsbury and my recent crème brûlée.
Not exactly sure how I put two and two together, but it worked! With Easter coming up, followed by Mother’s Day, this feels like the perfect cake for both!
The idea
As I mentioned above, the cake itself was inspired by a brunch-style cake created by Pillsbury way back in the day. As you guys know, I’ve been into retro recipes lately. I’ve been doing more and more research on vintage recipes and it’s taking me in all directions.
What I love about the retro Pillsbury cake is the center. It was filled simply with blueberries. It sounds delicious as is, but something about the center of the cake inspired me. Then I thought about doing a crème center with blueberries on top. And when I say crème, I mean the creamy custard you’ll experience in crème brûlée. So delicious brûlée…plus lots of blueberries!
It sounded too delicious to not at least test it out. So even though I was pressed for time, I tested the idea.
And now here we are! It just goes to show you that you shouldn’t knock something until you try it, you know!?
The details
Start with the cake. It’s simple but made special with fresh lemon zest and poppy seeds. Mix your wet ingredients with the dry, then beat in a little sour cream to keep the cake very moist.
Now, the key to this cake is to create a bit of a “bowl” for the custard and berries to bake up in…or actually, it’s kind of like a “nest”. You’ll
spread the batter out into a springform pan, then push it up the sides to create room for the custard and berries.
It’s simple, and honestly kind of fun to do!
Now make the crème center
Mix the eggs with a bit of sugar, then pour the steaming cream into the eggs. The key here is to be constantly whisking the yolks with the hot cream. You don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs!
Add the custard to the “nest” you created, then sprinkle on the berries.
Bake it up and about forty-five or so minutes later your cake is done! The longer you bake the cake, the more set the custard becomes. And on the same note, the longer you chill the cake, the more set the custard will become. I love mine on the creamy, but runny side, so I like to chill for an hour or so.
And that’s it…simple, pretty, perfectly sweet, so creamy inside, but with just the right amount of sweet, lemony, poppy seed cake surrounding all that creaminess…SO GOOD!
Perfection beyond belief. Hope you guys all enjoy this fun spring/summer cake!
Looking for other spring cakes, try these:
Strawberry Chamomile Olive Oil Cake with Honeyed Ricotta
Hydrangea Flower Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Strawberry Chamomile Naked Cake
Lastly, if you make this Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Crème 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!
Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Custard Cake
Servings: 10
Calories Per Serving: 594 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, use Meyer if you can
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 4 large egg yolks
Blueberries
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries thawed and drained
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9 or 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper, butter the parchment paper.2. To make the cake. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and 1 tablespoon vanilla until combined. Add the flour, poppyseeds, baking soda, and salt, and beat to combine. Beat in the sour cream until just combined. Spread the batter over the bottom and 1 1/4 inch up sides of the prepared pan, creating a boat for the custard. Making sure batter on sides is 1/4 inch thick and you have an even layer of batter on the bottom (see above photos).3. To make the custard. Whisk together the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons sugar in a medium bowl until combined.4. Place the cream over medium heat and gently warm until steaming. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. In a slow stream, whisk about 1/2 cup of the cream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so they don’t scramble. Whisk in the remaining cream. Pour 3/4 of custard into the center of the cake, reserving the remaining 1/3 cup. 5. In a bowl, combine the blueberries, sugar, and flour. Sprinkle 1 1/2 cups of berries over the custard. It's going to be jiggly. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently pour over the remaining custard, then sprinkle on the remaining berries. Bake another 20 - 25 minutes until the sides of the cake are deep golden. The custard should be pretty jiggly in the center. If you want a looser custard, bake a total of 45-48 minutes.6. Let cool, then release the cake from the mold. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until ready to serve. The colder your cake is, the more set your custard will be. When ready to eat, generously dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar and enjoy!!
Hi, I was wondering if I can substitute vanilla bean for the vanilla extract in the custard? And if so how much would you recommend?
Hey Sol,
I’m sure that would work just fine, I would use 1 vanilla bean. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
This looks wonderful. I live in Colorado. Do I need to adjust any of the ingredients for the high altitude or should I follow the recipe as is? Thank you so much!
Hey Elise,
You can follow the recipe as is, no adjustments needed! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
When I poured the remaining custard it spilled over onto the whole cake! I hope that’s ok!!
Hey Julie,
Let me know how the cake turns out! xTieghan
I have made this twice now and it is by far my favourite cake! The blueberry, Lebanon and poppy seed combination is so delicate and beautiful! Everyone absolutely loves it! Thank you x
Hey Emma,
Fantastic! Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am it was enjoyed! xTieghan
This was delicious. I didn’t have poppy seeds so I omitted. I added a little almond extract in addition to the vanilla and a little extra lemon zest. It was so so good. I served left overs a little warmed up and I preferred that to chilled. Definitely something I will make again. Thanks for a delicious spring recipe that was a bit different from the same old lemon blueberry cake!
Hey Pam,
Awesome!! I am thrilled that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a go! xTieghan
Hey! My custard was liquid; I’ve gone back over the recipe a few times and I did follow it exactly. I saw you wrote that it would be “jiggily” but mine was straight up liquid. Any thoughts as to why this would happen?
Hey Linsey,
The custard should be liquid, you can view my photos for examples of what to look for:) I hope this helps! xTieghan
Halved the recipe using 1 tablespoon of zest and one egg white instead of a whole egg in the batter and baked it in a 7” cheesecake pan. It was very thick and hard to spread, so the custard overflowed the nest quite a bit, and I also failed to read the recipe through and started the nest without any custard for five or ten minutes while I made the custard, and then I baked all the berries and custard at once instead of in two stages and went for about 45 minutes total so it was a bit firmer in the middle (creamy instead of liquid which is really how I wanted it). Was delicious and would make it again!
Hey Anne,
So great to hear! Love that this recipe was enjoyed and thanks so much for making it! Have a great week? xTieghan
I made this with no substitutions and I was really embarrassed when everyone thought it was undercooked and that I was just a bad cook 🙁 I tried to explain that it was custard but unfortunately it’s a hard sell when the center is goo. I give it a couple stars because I do think it turned out the way Tieghan’s did and it looked exactly the same. But I don’t recommend for anxious cooks!
Hey Mandy,
So sorry this recipe was not enjoyed, please let me know if I can help in anyway! xTieghan
Hey Teighan, Bobbi here again. The page would not let me reply directly to your comment below. I have both of your cookbooks and love many of the recipes in them, but I really do not like dense, heavy cakes. I had misgivings about this recipe before I started on it, but the picture hooked me so it is partially my fault for going ahead with it. A friend also made another one of your cakes the same weekend and hers was the same….very dense. Some people like them that way but we did not. No worries….I still love your website, your instagram pages and will continue to try your recipes….just not cakes.
Thanks!
I made this cake for Easter and it was a BIG disappointment. The cake is very dense and heavy and the custard has little flavor. I am a seasoned cook ( 68 years old) and followed the recipe but I will not be fixing this one again. This is the third cake I have made with a recipe from Half Baked and all of them were very dense. Everyone at my house likes light fluffy cakes so I guess I should stick to entrees from this site since they have been good so far..
fluffy cakes
Hey Bobbi,
So sorry you did not enjoy this recipe, please let me know if there is anything that I can help with! xTieghan
I made this for Easter yesterday and it was so good and such a pretty cake. My custard never really set in the middle which I wasn’t sure about but it was delicious and the cake was so moist. We had leftovers for breakfast this morning!
Hey Caitlin,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! xTieghan
I made this for Easter and our family loved it! In my book, it hits all the right notes for a perfect spring dessert. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hey Keri,
Happy Monday! It’s so great that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xTieghan
This recipe is great! I found it easy to follow along with and the end results were delicious. I made it for my family for Easter and they loved it, even the small children in attendance. I love these kind recipes, they make me so excited about baking and cooking. Thanks Tieghan so glad to have found your page. 🙂
Hey Nina,
Happy Monday! It’s so great that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xTieghan
Really enjoyed this spring cake, but next time I would add more lemon zest (maybe double) and consider adding some lemon to the custard as well. I enjoyed that it wasn’t too sweet. The crisp edges were a nice contrast to the creamy center!
Hey Roshel,
Happy Monday! It’s so great that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xTieghan
I just spent the last two hours alone in my kitchen making this and the vintage peanut butter chocolate pie with a glass of wine and a girly movie. I haven’t tasted them yet but the time alone for this working momma of three was glorious! Thank you for helping me find such a fun hobby!
Hey Brooke,
I am delighted that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! Happy Easter ?Tieghan