This Lemon Blueberry Cake is not only gorgeous, it’s delicious: It has the perfect tender crumb and blueberries, fresh or frozen, baked into the cake like sweet little polka dots.
But what is so fabulous—and it’s a trick that restaurants and bakeries use every day—is that this lemon blueberry bundt cake is made with… mix. I love to make everything from scratch, but lemon cake mixes are one of my favorite exceptions.
Add a powdered sugar glaze for a picture-perfect finishing touch on Easter Sunday, Mother’s Day, or any day at all.
What size bundt pan do I need for Lemon Blueberry Cake?
Any large (12 cup) bundt pan will do. I use this one, but if you have a favorite one, by all means, use it.
Where do I find lemon blueberry cake mix?
There's no need to find a lemon blueberry mix; you'll be adding fresh or frozen blueberries later on. Just look for any brand of store-bought lemon cake mix and dried lemon pudding mix. Every grocery store has several brands to choose from.
How to make Lemon Blueberry Cake
It's so easy! (This is a guide for visual learners! The full recipe is below.)
- Gather your ingredients: lemon cake mix, lemon pudding mix, eggs, vegetable oil, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water. And blueberries! Make sure everything, even the eggs, are at room temperature.
- Next, in a large bowl, whisk together cake mix and dry pudding in a large bowl. Add water, oil, lemon juice, eggs, and lemon zest and stir to combine.
- Fold in blueberries and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes.
- Cool the cake 15 minutes in pan. Invert on to cooling rack set over a baking sheet and let cool completely.
- To make the powdered sugar glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, water, and vanilla. Drizzle over cooled cake and let glaze harden for at least 10 minutes.
How do you make Lemon Blueberry Cake with cream cheese frosting?
If cream cheese frosting is your thing, then I recommend baking the cake as a sheet cake or layer cake--it will make it easier to spread on the frosting. I also like to add a little lemon zest to the cream cheese frosting, but that's entirely up to you.
The Best Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- In a large bowl using a mixer or by hand, beat together cream cheese, lemon zest, lemon extract, and powdered sugar. Set aside.
- Pour heavy cream into a separate clean, large bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on high until it holds shape and peaks form, about 3-4 minutes.
- Fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until no streaks remain.
- Spread frosting on top of cooled cake.
Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake and Sheet Cake tips:
Sheet cake, bundt cake, or layer cake, here's how to make Lemon Blueberry Cake delish.
- To make a lemon blueberry layer cake: Divide batter between two 9 inch cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Spread the whipped lemon cream cheese frosting in between cooled layers, along with some fresh blueberries.
- To make a lemon blueberry sheet cake: Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes clean. If using glaze, poke holes in the cake with a wooden skewer so the glaze can run into the holes and flavor the cake. If using cream cheese frosting, allow the cake to cool before frosting.
- To make lemon blueberry cupcakes: Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cupcakes are cool, frost and decorate.
How do you keep the blueberries from sinking into the bottom of the cake?
Tossing fresh or frozen blueberries in 1 tablespoon of flour before baking helps the blueberries stay dispersed throughout the cake and not sink to the bottom. Oh, and there's no need to thaw the frozen berries before adding to the batter--just throw them in!
Can I add extra blueberries?
Please use the recommended amount of blueberries as listed in the recipe. Adding too many might overwhelm your cake during the baking process; it might weigh the cake down and cause it to cook unevenly.
Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Glaze
In case you are a lemon fanatic and want all the lemons, all the time, you can make the powdered sugar glaze with lemon juice in place of the water and vanilla and it will give the glaze a super tart taste. I sort out all the different and fun ways to flavor a basic powdered sugar glaze in my recent how-to, in case you're interested. Have fun!
Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 package lemon cake mix
- 1 3.4 ounce package instant lemon pudding
- 2/3 cup water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 6 ounces fresh blueberries (please don't use more than this)
For the glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons water or lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat large Bundt pan with shortening or nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cake mix and dry pudding in a large bowl. Add water, oil, lemon juice, eggs, and lemon zest and stir to combine. Carefully fold in blueberries.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few crumbs attached.
- Cool 15 minutes in pan. Invert on to cooling rack set over a baking sheet and cool completely.
To make the glaze:
- Whisk together powdered sugar, water, and vanilla. Drizzle over cooled cake and let glaze harden for at least 10 minutes.
LOVED the cake….but it needed more than 40 minutes to bake. Only after adding extra time (Twice), which in turn caused the cake to fall and sink slightly did I see in the pre-amble that cook time was 1 hour.
Please correct!!!!
Hi Susan, I’m sorry about that! Mine has always been done in 40 minutes, but I know oven times vary so I really need to put that in the recipe (a range for the time). Thank you for the feedback! Sorry again. -Meggan
Yeah, so I completely missed the part about not adding too many blueberries. My cake was a total failure. It looked good in the oven, and it seemed done, but as soon as I took it out, it fell severely and looked awful. The blueberries had all sunk to the bottom and stuck to the pan and the cake around them was still moist and gooey. I was so heartbroken. I hate wasting ingredients. And making stupid mistakes.
In this case, more was absolutely NOT better.
So the glaze is a very simple recipe that would be very hard to mess up I would think. So I’m not sure why making the glaze based on your recipe came out extremely thick and paste like. There was no possible way to drizzle something that only had 3 tablespoons of water and half a teaspoon of vanilla. Not with 2 cups of sugar added. Luckily I had a tub of cream cheese frosting in the pantry. I haven’t officially eaten the cake yet, but I know it will be good because I licked the bowl after I poured the batter out. LOL
Hi Kati, the recipe says to add 1 or 2 more teaspoons of liquid if you need it, to get your desired consistency. That’s really all it takes – 3 tablespoons of water and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla IS just about the amount of liquid you need for the glaze. But, after making it 8 times last weekend with different liquids and substitutions, I ended up changing it to 1/4 cup of water and 1 teaspoon vanilla for the 2 cups of powdered sugar. It’s super runny at that consistency, but I think that’s probably what most people will want. So thank you for helping me fix it up! I am glad I took the time to try a bunch of variations and stuff. I haven’t tried it with cream cheese but I definitely need to. Thank you Kati! -Meggan