Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake – This moist and fluffy cake is filled to the brim with bright flavors you’ll love. It comes out perfectly sweet and tangy every time, with minimal effort. Ideal for breakfast or dessert, this recipe is ultra-satisfying. 💛
Lemons are one ingredient that is abundant in LA year-round, and I’m here for it. Bright, lemony flavors are my jam, y’all! This is a sure favorite, and not just because I’m in love with the flavor combo. It is ridiculously easy to make – I’m talking the lazy baker’s dream! 😆
One of the biggest complaints about pound cakes, bless their hearts, is that they’re too dense. Well, not this one. I’ve experimented a ton with this recipe, and I can finally say I’ve developed the perfect set of ingredients and techniques to keep things light, fluffy, and flavorful. And I’m so excited to share my lemon blueberry pound cake recipe with you! 🤩
Frozen Blueberries for Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake?
Absolutely! If you’re like me, you buy about 10 pounds of blueberries when they’re at peak season and go on sale. Obvs, most of those hit the freezer. I’ve used frozen blueberries in this recipe multiple times, and it comes out just as good as the fresh berry version. You don’t even need to defrost them. You just break up the clumps, measure out what you need, and pop them back in the freezer until you’re ready to stir them in. So easy! 😅
Recipe Ingredients
- Cake Ingredients – You’ll notice a lot of traditional cake ingredients in this recipe. All-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract all make an appearance.
- Lemons – It actually doesn’t take much lemon power to get a bright lemony flavor into this cake. The juice and zest are all you need.
- Blueberries – You’ll need about 100-150 grams of blueberries here. That works out to about 1-1½ cups.
- Yogurt – The key to a decadent and moist lemon blueberry poundcake? The yogurt! I like to use 2% Greek yogurt myself.
- Cornstarch – This is the secret ingredient that keeps the blueberries afloat. Nobody likes to find all the blueberries on the bottom of their cake. Dust them, fresh or frozen, in cornstarch before folding them in, and they will spread out evenly. Works like magic every time! 🪄
How to Make Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Make the Cake
- Prep the Blueberries – Dust the blueberries with cornstarch. (Photo 1)
- Grease a 10-inch springform pan generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Dry Ingredients – Mix flour, baking powder, and lemon zest in a small bowl. (Photo 2)
- Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer at high speed for 2-3 minutes.
- Eggs – Add the egg yolks a little at a time and continue mixing for 2 more minutes. Next, add yogurt and continue mixing. (Photos 3-4)
- Combine – Then, add the flour mixture into the batter by sifting, and follow it with the vanilla extract and lemon juice. (Photos 5-6)
- Beat Egg Whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form. Gently fold them into the batter with a spatula. (Photos 7-8)
- Final Mix – Finally, give everything a good but gentle stir until everything is thoroughly combined, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl. (Photo 9)
Assemble and Bake
- Pour half of the batter into the greased cake pan and spread evenly. Top with half of the blueberries. (Photos 10-11)
- Finish Pouring – Next, pour in the remaining batter. Gently top the batter with the rest of the blueberries. Then, tap the pans on your work surface to eliminate large air bubbles. (Photo 12)
- Bake at 350℉/177℃ until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. It will take 50-55 minutes.
- Cool – Transfer the baked cake to a wire rack to cool. Cool your cake in the pan for about 20 minutes, remove the ring, and let it finish cooling.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve!
Recipe Variations
- Glaze it! This pound cake is perfect lightly dusted with powdered sugar, but you may want to glaze it. If you do, I’d go with either a lemon or vanilla glaze. A little powdered sugar, with or without lemon juice, some vanilla extract, and heavy cream are all you need to make a fantastic glaze. Just let your cake cool completely before you apply it!
- Shapeshift if you please. You could just as easily bake this pound cake in a bread tin or a bundt cake pan. Just make sure you grease and flour them carefully. This cake tends to stick. 😬
- Swap out the berries. Try it with raspberries or blackberries if you’re a fan. Just know that textures and bake times vary ever so slightly, so watch your bake.
Tips and Tricks
- I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, measure your flour correctly. This is critical if you want a light, fluffy cake. Instead of scooping your flour out of the bag with a measuring cup, which can pack it down and give you more flour than you need, fluff the flour with a fork, then scoop it into your measuring cup. Level the top off with the flat side of a knife before adding it to your mixing bowl.
- Be gentle. You’ll need a gentle touch when folding in the egg whites so you don’t mix that lovely whipped-up air right out of the batter. You should also handle your blueberries with care. If they get cut, bruised, or otherwise damaged while mixing, they’ll bleed into the cake batter, and the final product won’t look as nice when you cut into the cake. (It’s just a question of aesthetics, but still. 🙃)
Make-Ahead Instructions
This cake is perfect for making ahead. You can make it a day or two before, keep it at room temperature, or pop it in the freezer for fast comfort food. To freeze it, keep it in a freezer-safe container for up to two months. Thaw the cake at room temperature on your kitchen counter or fridge before dusting it with powdered sugar and serving.
Serving and Storage Instructions
Let this cake cool completely before you cut it with a serrated knife and serve it. You can store it at room temperature for two days or fridge for a week.
As noted above in the Make-Ahead section, you can freeze entire cakes or individual slices.
FAQs
I wouldn’t recommend it unless you feel the yogurt flavor will jive with lemon and blueberries. Sour cream is a nice alternative to yogurt, though. It gives you a final result that’s very close in texture and taste to the original recipe.
It could be you’ve overbaked it. Do the toothpick test as soon as it’s looking close to done to prevent overbaking. Or, it could be you’ve put too much flour in the batter. See the notes on correctly measuring flour in the Tips & Tricks section. 🤓
You may have overmixed. Follow the mixing instructions carefully, and when everything comes together, stop mixing. If you keep going, your cake can get tough and gummy. 😪
Keeping the blueberries afloat is a two-step process in this recipe. First, remember to coat them with cornstarch. Second, don’t just mix them in the batter. Layer them with the cake batter as indicated in the recipe. That way, they won’t all sink to the bottom and mess up the overall texture of the pound cake.
What Goes With Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
If you really want to lemon out, serve this pound cake alongside some lemon curd and homemade whipped cream. The combination is out of this world. 💫
It also goes well with warm drinks as an afternoon pick-me-up. Try it with a hot chai tea latte, ginger tea, or a cup of strongly brewed coffee. So good. 😋
More Lovely Pound Cake Recipes to Try
- Buttermilk Pound Cake
- Strawberry Pound Cake
- 7UP Pound Cake
- Lemon Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Peach Cobbler Pound Cake
Conclusion
Afternoon tea, anyone? This pound cake will have you looking for any excuse to eat a slice (or two). 😉 Want more tasty dessert recipes like this one? Then follow me on Facebook and Instagram. There’s plenty more where this recipe came from! 🙌
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”9whopInc” upload-date=”2020-10-08T10:11:12.000Z” name=”Blueberry Lemon Cake” description=”Blueberry Lemon Cake – super easy, moist and fluffy cake loaded with fresh blueberries and a kissed of bright lemon flavors. Not too sweet and not too tangy. Perfectly satisfying on its own without any frosting!” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]
This blog post was originally published in January 2018 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1-1½ cups (100-150g) blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ tablespoon (5g) cornstarch
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
- 1 tablespoon (6g) lemon zest
- 8 ounces (227g) unsalted butter
- 1½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup (245g) yogurt (I used 2% Greek yogurt)
- 1 teaspoon (4g) vanilla extract
- ½ lemon, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
Instructions
- Dust the blueberries with cornstarch.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/160°C. Grease a 10-inch springform pan generously with cooking spray and set aside.
- Mix flour, baking powder, and lemon zest in a small bowl.
- Cream the butter and sugar at high speed in a stand mixer (2-3 minutes). Add egg yolks one at a time and continue mixing for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add yogurt and continue mixing. Sift the flour mixture into the batter, then add vanilla extract and lemon juice. Mix gently but thoroughly.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
- Using a spatula, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
- Stir well until everything is fully combined. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.
- Pour half of the batter into the greased cake pan and spread evenly. Top with half of the blueberries. Spread with the remaining batter, then evenly place the remaining blueberries over the top.
- Tap pans on the work surface to eliminate any large air bubbles.
- Bake at 350℉/177℃ until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean – about 50-55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.
- Let the cake rest in the pan for about 20 minutes, then remove the ring and let it cool. Don’t be tempted to remove it before then.
- Dust with optional powdered sugar.
Tips & Notes:
- Measure your flour correctly. This is critical if you want a light, fluffy cake. Instead of scooping your flour out of the bag with a measuring cup, which can pack it down and give you more flour than you need, fluff the flour with a fork, then scoop it into your measuring cup. Level the top off with the flat side of a knife before adding it to your mixing bowl.
- Be gentle. You’ll need a gentle touch when folding in the egg whites so you don’t mix that lovely whipped-up air right out of the batter. You should also handle your blueberries with care. If they get cut, bruised, or otherwise damaged while mixing, they’ll bleed into the cake batter, and the final product won’t look as nice when you cut into the cake. (It’s just a question of aesthetics.)
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
I just made this recipe Lemon
Blueberry pound followed the recipe to a T . It raised beautifully
and it caved IN EVEN BEFORE I removed the cake ring trying to figure out what I did wrong. its a delicious tasty cake but a bit on the pasty side .
But it is still very good. Will try again . merci
I am so sorry that happened but I’m happy you love the taste. There are at least three reasons I can think of for a cake falling.
First, too much moisture. Second, to little moisture. Third, too much leavening agent,
Since it fell before you took it out of the oven, it may be too much or too little moisture. And since it’s on the pasty side, I’m thinking it was too much.
What was the consistency of your batter? Do you live in a humid climate?
If your batter was a bit runny, just add flour a spoonful at a time until it gets the right thickness, If your batter was too dry, just add a spoonful of milk or water at a time until it’s the right consistency.
Please let me know if that helped, and thanks for your feedback.:heart_eyes:
I have tried making this cake twice now and, though the taste is exemplary, I have not been able to get it to bake thoroughly. The inside has come out extremely doughy on two different ovens despite a toothpick inserted in the center coming out clean. Lots of effort just to be disappointed
So sorry that happened to you. Altitude, humidity, and even oven temperature can affect the final results. It sounds to me like there’s too much moisture. If you have the courage to try it again, an extra ¼-½ cup of flour might help.
Looking forward to trying this one out! One question…have you ever made this as cupcakes? I’m looking for an easy to handle treat for a faculty meeting and cupcakes or mini muffins would be so much easier for them all to grab.
I haven’t tried it yet, but it should work fine. Just fill the muffin wells about 4/5 full. Bake at 325℉/163℃ in a preheated oven if you want flat-topped cupcakes and 350-375℉/177-190℃ if you want dome-topped cupcakes.
The baking time will depend on the size of your cupcakes. I would start checking them for doneness at around 25 minutes. Please let me know how it goes.
This is a very elegant cake for a tea party! I loved it! I used gluten free flour and it turned out very moist and delicious. I served it with whipped cream.
Great to hear that, thanks for your feedback 🙂
I don’t do much baking but this cake caught my eye as I love lemon & blueberries and it’s such a pretty cake. It was a big hit. I’ll definitely make this again. It froze beautifully.
Glad to know that, Jan! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Recipe looks very interesting. Just one query. Can oil be added instead of butter and how much oil should be use. Thanks in advance for your time and advice. Rgds. Priya.
Great recipe. Cake came out great, not too sweet. I didn’t have yogurt so used sourcream instead. Will definitely make again.
Thanks for the feedback.
DELISH!! Hubby will have a nice surprise when he gets home from work. I like to cut into individual portions and freeze so he can pull one out each morning for breakfast. Thank you!
Can you use gluten free flour instead and if so how much? Thanks
Hi Lynne. I’m sorry, I can’t exactly answer your questions as I haven’t tried making one with gluten free flour.
Hi there love your recipes, just wondering do you still sprinkle the cornstarch over the berries if your using frozen in place of fresh, I’ve bought yellow maise flour which I was told it’s same as cornstarch do you agree? Thanks in advance
I don’t have stand mix, can I use hand mixer?
Yes, you may.
Have this in the oven now!! Used sour cream instead of yogurt because I was going to make a different one but then came across yours and wanted to make it instead. I didn’t have full fat Greek yogurt on hand (only fat free). Can’t wait to try it!
So happy you are going with this one. Can’t wait to hear how it turned out for you, Jana. Happy cooking!
I am so excited to see your lovely food pictures! I will be trying some for sure. First Will be the Lemon Blueberry cake…sounds delicious!!
Thanks for sharing!
Great ! Do let me know how it works out for you. Thanks!
Hi Joyce,
The cornstarch was mentioned in the instruction. It’s actually the first in the pictures.
I printed the recipe and noticed that cornstarch was included in the ingredients but there was no mention in the instructions about when and where to use it. I remembered reading about using it on the blueberries in your comments. Had I not read the entire article and not been slightly experienced as a cook, I would have been stumped. I am sure it is just an oversight. By the way the cake was delicious.
Same thing happened to me, Joyce, therefore the corn starch was not used. After it was in the oven, I took a look to see why it wasn’t used, well to my surprise I saw the blueberries with the cornstarch on it. It was in the pictures but not in the instructions.
Just tasting my cake…..delicious and moist!! I used vanilla Greek yogurt because I did not have plain. Will definitely make it again!!
Thanks for such terrific recipes!!!
You’re welcome! Thanks for the feedback.
So sorry to hear that. Recipe has been updated to make it clearer.
i tried the above recipe and it was so moist and yummy, the cake got eaten and finished on the same day.
Wonderful! Same thing happened in my household – the next I made it I had to quickly freeze some of it , that’s the only way I could prevent my two guys from eating the whole thing! Thanks for sharing this with us Vincent .
I said can you use a bundt pan
You sure can .
Can you use a bunny pan I just Love a bunny cake
Hi, I just love all your recipes! Thank you for sharing all those wonderful flavors with all of us. I use your creole and other seasonings all the time.
This looks delicious.
Could one use other berries instead? I have tons of raspberries and also strawberries frozen. Strawbs may be too big.
Love blueberries but here in South Africa they are very expensive.
Thanks Marita! So happy you are giving the recipes a try – the creole seasoning is one of my favorite ! Yes , you can use other berries – if using strawberries cut in half or quarters. Do let me know how it works out for you. Thanks again.
Any particular flavor of yogurt? Or just plain? Would a lemon yogurt work. I used 2 % greek yogurt
Plain yogurt or lemon yogurt would work just fine.