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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.
Hi! Would it be okay to use low-fat greek yogurt in this cake? And I could only get my hands on blueberry preserves, would it still turn out the same or would I have to make modifications? Thanks !
Hey Christina,
Both of those will work just fine for you! Please let me know how the recipe turns out, I hope you love it! xTieghan
It turned out great!! Thanks so much for the quick response:)
Awesome!!
I made this today! Fun to make and spend pretty – and delicious- everyone loved it.
Hey Kristy,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
If you want a quick cake that still tastes homemade, grab vanilla box cake and make 2 layers and use the icing recipe here. No. One. Will. Know. ? they’ll love the fruity homemade flavor of the icing and you’ll love not spending time on a cake(if you don’t want to!).
Hey Jess,
Wonderful!! Thanks a bunch for trying this recipe out, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! Thanks for sharing about the box cake:) ?xxT
Hello,
If I am not interested in including jam in my buttercream, do I need to alter any of the other ingredients?
Thanks!
Hey Ashley,
You can simply just omit the jam:) Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
I live at 7000 feet any modifications that I should make?
Hey Kelli,
You can follow the recipe as is, no adjustments needed:) Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
How does this cake taste with the blackberry buttercream? I’m making this Friday for a Saturday family dessert.
Hey there,
My family loves both the blueberry and blackberry jam used in the buttercream. It’s really a personal preference. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Everyone, loved this cake. I think I over cooked a little bit but it turned out great otherwise. I tried the blackberry for the buttercream I didn’t really taste it but it was still great.
Hey there,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for making the recipe, I am so glad to hear that it was enjoyed!! Have the best week:) xxT
Hi Tieghan,
Help! I made this tonight for tomorrow and all I had was white whole wheat flour. Is it going to turn out too much like bread? Wondering if I should just go buy a cake for tomorrow instead of attempting to serve this. What do you think? I’m just not much of a baker so I don’t know what the difference in the two flours will yield in a cake. Thank you!
Hey Lindsey,
The cake should be just fine!! Let me know how it turns out and thanks for trying the recipe:) xT
The flavors of the cake and frosting was really good. However, my cake was dense instead of light and fluffy? What did I do wrong? And is this cake good to freeze? Thank you!
Hey there,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try, so glad to hear it was enjoyed!! Sorry to hear it was dense. Is it possible that your baking powder and baking soda were not fresh? Yes, you can freeze! Let me know how I can help! xTieghan
That could be the case. Definitely both have been opened for months but not expired. Anyway, I’m writing you back to let you know it froze well and I actually enjoyed and loved the cake after having another slice. Hahaha! Will definitely make it again!
Thank you:)
How do you think this would turn out with strawberries instead? Would it be too tart?
Hey Lindsey,
I think strawberries would be great! I would just dice them small similar to the size of a blueberry! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
Thank you! I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Made this for our Easter dinner and it was a hit! I topped it with pansies from our yard and it was beautiful. I’m not sure why I didn’t have enough frosting but I just added some more powdered sugar to one of the bowls and it turned out fine. Will definitely be making it again.
Hey Deborah,
Perfect!! Thanks so much for giving this recipe a go, I am thrilled to hear that it was a winner! Have the best week!? xT
I’ve made this before and I absolutely loved it! I wanted to ask if I could make this into a 3 layer, 6 inch cake instead of the 8 inch? Would I just 1/2 the recipe?
Hey Christina,
Sure, that should work well for you! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
So disappointed in this cake!! Made for my daughters birthday and had to order a cake from a bakery! The cake was so dense, not fluffy at all and the frosting was like eating butter straight from a container. Followed the recipe exactly and had a feeling that it was not going to be edible. Not sure what happened…. Must say that any other recipes we have made from the 3 cookbooks are awesome!
Hi Nancy,
So sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed, please let me know if I can help in anyway! xTieghan
Can I freeze half of completed cake?
Hey Linda,
Sure, that will work well for you. I hope this recipe turns out amazing, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Is there any way to half this recipe?
Would 2 8” pans work?
I don’t need 24 servings.
Hey Kathleen,
Sure, you could cut the recipe in half, just adjust the serving size and the ingredients will manually adjust for you. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Could you sub sour cream for yogurt?
Hi Monisha,
Yes, that will work well for you! I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan