This was the birthday cake that I made myself for my birthday earlier this month. It’s a lemon blueberry cake with a soft and fluffy lemon cream cheese frosting.
I don’t know about you all, but I feel like we skipped fall and went straight from summer to winter. It’s been FREEZING here. I’m constantly sitting on my hands at work, and my light sweater during the day isn’t quite enough. At some point, I am going to need to cover my legs with a blanket. Totally not kidding.
Despite my body temperature dropping, my birthday was actually really nice. It was in the 70s, and there was relatively low humidity. I took the day off and drove 2ish hours to another rink to take a lesson with a skating coach up there. My best skating friend came with me, so we got to enjoy the lesson together. I had a great time learning from the coach and hope to apply the concepts at home.
When I got back from my trip, I sliced into this gorgeous birthday cake that I had made the previous day. I didn’t think it was worthwhile to come home and have to go back into the kitchen and bake a cake. So, I baked it in advance and kept in the refrigerator. This year, I chose this lemon blueberry cake with lemon cream cheese frosting. It was a beautiful, summer-like dessert for a gorgeous fall-like day.
My husband commented that the cake tasted very similar to a lemon blueberry muffin that he liked. The cake was dense and packed with lemon but still felt very light. The lemon cream cheese frosting was out of this world. I could have just eaten that and called it a day. I ended up slicing up a few slices for my friends at the rink and they also loved the cake as well.
Hope you are able to enjoy the fall, wherever you are, and try out this cake!
Husband’s rating: 4 out of 5
Addie’s rating: 4 out of 5
My rating: 4 out of 5
Lemon blueberry cake with lemon cream cheese frosting
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 and ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk I made my own by adding 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to 1 cup of 1% milk
- ½ cup lemon juice from about 3-4 lemons
- 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen if frozen, do not thaw
- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
Frosting
- 12 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 and ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice I substituted with 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
Other
- blueberries or lemons for garnish optional
Instructions
Bake the cake
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease and line two 8" or 9" pans and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes (do not decrease this mixing time).
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the eggs and vanilla until well blended.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer still on low, slowly add this into the bowl and mix until a few dry streaks remain.
- Turn the mixer off and gently stir in the buttermilk and lemon juice by hand (using a wooden spoon or spatula).
- In a medium sized bowl, toss the blueberries with he 2 Tablespoons of flour. Gently fold this and any remnant flour into your batter until everything just comes together. Do not over mix the batter.
- Evenly distribute the batter between your two prepared pans. Bake in your preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until the center is no longer jiggly and the sides start to pull away from the pan.
- Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting
- In the clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Then add the lemon zest, lemon juice (or extract) and heavy cream and turn the mixer back to medium speed. Keep whipping for another 2-3 minutes.
Assemble the cake
- Place one cake down on a cake plate or platter. Top with about 1 cup of the frosting. Then top with the remaining cake layer (flat side UP).
- Spread frosting on the top and sides of the cake. Place in the refrigerator to firm up slightly. Garnish with additional blueberries or lemon if desired.