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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.

Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake | halfbakedharvest.com #bleberrycake #layercake #summerrecipes #dessert

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?

multi colored buttercream

muti colored buttercream

first cake layer

1st cake layer

1st cake layer with buttercream

1st cake layer with buttercream

2nd cake layer

2nd cake layer

2nd cake layer with buttercream

2nd cake layer with buttercream

front on photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake before frosting

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.

close up front on photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake

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.

overhead close up photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake

front on photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake with slices cut out

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…

side angled photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake with slices cut out

overhead photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake with slices cut

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.

overhead photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake slices

side angled photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake slices with bite taken out

And most importantly?

It’s going to be GOOD…SO GOOD.

overhead photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake slices

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!

overhead close up photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake slices

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.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
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

Blueberry Buttercream

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. 
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horizontal photo of Bursting Blueberry Lemon Layer Cake

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