This blueberry lemon cake is one of my personal favorite cakes! Tender lemon cake layered with a luscious lemon pastry cream, blueberry compote, and whipped blueberry cream cheese frosting. This cake has the perfect balance of sweetness and tart. Each bite is bursting with fresh blueberry and mellow lemon flavor with a silky and delicious filling. An absolute dream of a cake!
Blueberry Lemon Cake Layers
This beautiful cake is stacked with delicious flavors of:
Lemon Cake – Tender and moist cake with fresh lemon zest. Brushed with lemon syrup to enhance the lemon flavor while also keeping the cake moist!
Lemon Pastry Cream – The result of combining pattiserie cream and lemon curd. Perfectly balanced flavors of tart and sweetness.
Blueberry Compote – Quick and easy compote, using frozen wild blueberries. These blueberries have more bright and fresh flavor, which pairs well with the lemon.
Whipped Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting – Whipped cream cheese frosting mixed with freeze dried blueberries. I could eat this on its own or on a sourdough toast, it´s that good! The freeze dried blueberries contain no moisture, while being full of flavor, nutrient and color. In other words, this frosting will have the perfect creamy texture while bursting with fresh and tangy blueberry flavor!
This cake has a few components, but TRUST me when I tell you that this is well worth it!
How to make Lemon Pastry Cream
This is the beautiful lovechild of lemon curd and vanilla pastry cream. It´s not too sweet or too tart! Here are the 6 steps to making the lemon pastry cream:
1. Rub sugar with the lemon zest with your hands. This will release the oils in the zest, which will enhance the lemon flavor in the cream.
2. Whisk the egg yolks with the cornstarch, and zesty sugar until smooth and pale yellow. Add the lemon juice at the end.
3. Heat up the milk to a steaming point in a saucepan. If you accidentally leave it on for longer and it starts to boil, make sure to wait 10 minutes before proceeding.
4. Temper the eggs by slowly adding in the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture as you whisk consisitently. Start with a small amount of milk and add more as you go. Pour the custard back into the saucepan once all the milk is incorporated.
5. Heat up on medium to low heat while continuously stirring. Remove from the heat once the custard has thickened and you see bubbles.
6. Whisk in the vanilla and butter and pour into a heatproof bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, patting the surface of the pastry cream. Chill in the fridge until completely cooled.
Blueberry Lemon Cake FAQs
Is there a substitute for freeze dried blueberries?
Yes, you could use blueberry sauce made from boiling down blueberries with 1 tbsp of cornstarch. But this will make the frosting more runny, as freeze dried blueberries contain no water. I highly recommend trying the freeze dried blueberries in this recipe if you can. I ordered mine from an online pharmacy, but they could be available in well-stocked grocery stores.
How long does the lemon pastry cream last?
This will keep in the refridgerator for about 5 days. This is perfect if you want to make the filling in advance.
How to store Blueberry & Lemon Cake?
Store this in a airtight container in the refridgerator. It will taste even better on the second day! This will keep for 4-5 days in the fridge.
Other recipes you would enjoy:
Blueberry & Lemon Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Pastry Cream
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice (about 1-2 lemons)
- 1 tbsp vanilla powder or fresh vanilla bean
- 2 tbsp butter
Blueberry Compote
- 1 cup (190 g) frozen wild blueberries
- 1/2 cup (95 g) frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp water
Lemon Cake
- 1 1/2 cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
- 1 cup (200 g) butter, room temperatured
- 1/2 cup oil
- 2 1/2 cup flour
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Lemon Syrup
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounce cream cheese, room temperatured
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup freeze dried blueberries
- 1 stick butter, room temperatured
- 2 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Lemon Pastry Cream
- In a medium saucepan, heat up the milk with the vanilla until it starts to steam. If you boil it, you can set it aside for 10-15 minutes before proceeding.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and cornstarch.
- Slowly whisk in the steaming milk into the egg yolk mixture, adding a little milk at the time until completely combined.
- Pour the cream back into the sauce pan over medium heat, whisking non-stop.
- Once thickened and you see a bubble, lower the heat and keep stirring for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour into a heat proof form and whisk in the butter.
- Cover with a plastic wrap, touching the surface of the cream.
- Chill in the fridge until completely cooled.
Blueberry Compote
- In a small saucepan, combine the wild blueberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat for 10 min, stirring ocassionally.
- Add the regular blueberries and simmer for another 8 minutes.
- The compote will thicken up in once cooled but if there is too much liquid, then remove the berries into a bowl and allow the sauce to boil down. Then pour the remaining sauce into the bowl with the berries.
- Cover with a plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until completely cooled.
Lemon Cake
- Set the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Grease and line three 8'' (20 cm) round cake forms with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, whip the egg whites on high speed until stiff and fluffy. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, rub together the lemon zest with the sugar until fragrant.
- Beat the butter with the sugar on high speed for 2-3 minutes or until creamy and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides and mix in the sour cream, oil, and vanilla.
- Alternate adding in the dry ingredients and milk. Sift in the half of the dry ingredients and beat on low speed, add in half of the milk, and repeat until just combined. Use a spatula to ensure the bottom is mixed properly, but careful not to overmix.
- Fold in the whipped egg whites gently with a rubber spatula.
- Divide the batter into three cake form and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (a few crumbs is fine) from the center of the cake. Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling.
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter with the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar, freeze dried blueberries, and vanilla extract. Mix on low speed to incorporate the powders, then high speed until combined and fluffy.
Assembly
- Place the lemon cake on a plate or stand and brush with the lemon syrup. The lemon syrup is made simply by combining the powdered sugar with the lemon juice.
- Fill up half of the frosting in a piping bag with a star tip.
- Pipe the border of the first cake layer with the frosting.
- Fill the inside with half of the blueberry compote. Top off with the lemon pastry cream until leveled with the frosting border.
- Place another cake layer on top. Repeat the process.
- Top off with the last cake layer and cover with the frosting. Pipe optional shapes on top.
- Decorate with lemons and fresh blueberries, and chill for at least 1 hour.
- Slice and enjoy!