Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
A moist lemon bundt cake filled with fresh blueberries and topped with a sweet lemon glaze. This Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake is a perfect dessert for lemon lovers!
When it comes to cakes, I absolutely love baking bundt cakes. Not only do they always turn out perfect, but you hardly need any decorating skills when it comes to making them. You can usually just top them with a simple glaze and they always look so beautiful.
Today’s bundt cake recipe is one of my favorite flavor combinations (and I think it’s safe to say, a lot of you love it too!) lemons + blueberries. This cake is so incredibly moist, lemony, and packed with a ton of beautiful fresh blueberries. It’s like summer in the form of a bundt cake.
To get started, I suggest tossing your blueberries in a little bit of flour until they’re well coated. The flour helps to keep the blueberries suspended in the batter so they don’t end up sinking straight to the bottom of the pan. Instead, your blueberries will be nicely distributed throughout the cake.
Then, you’ll whisk together some flour (make sure to measure it correctly), baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
For the wet ingredients, you’ll start by creaming together some butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This usually takes about 4-5 minutes to get to this stage, the butter will be light/pale in color and the mixture will look “fluffy”. Then, you’ll mix in the some eggs and pure vanilla extract.
Next, mix in some lemon juice, lemon zest, and oil. I find that bundt cakes made with just butter tend to dry out a little on day two. To combat this problem, I like to use a combination of butter and oil. The cake will still have that rich buttery flavor and the oil will help to keep the cake moist, even on day two and three. Trust me on this one!
One important thing, there is a lot of batter for this bundt cake. Make sure to alternate mixing your sour cream with the dry ingredients to avoid over mixing the batter. Then, gently fold in your blueberries that you tossed in some flour just until they’re evenly distributed into the batter.
You’ll pour the batter into your bundt pan, spread it around, and bake it for about 50-65 minutes. I suggest checking the cake around the 50 minute mark just to be safe.
To really add some more lemon flavor to this lemon blueberry bundt cake, I love to use lemon juice in the glaze. You can use milk if you prefer or even leave the glaze off and enjoy it plain!
Baking Tips
- Make sure to toss your blueberries in 1 tablespoon of flour before adding them to the batter. This will help to keep the blueberries from sinking straight to the bottom of the pan.
- Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before getting starting (even the sour cream!).
- Avoid over mixing your batter by alternating mixing the dry ingredients with the sour cream.
- If the top of the bundt cake starts too brown too much before the cake is fully finished, cover it loosely with some foil.
More Lemon Blueberry Desserts You’ll Love!
- Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Lemon Berry Cheesecake Sugar Cookie Cups
- Mini Lemon Blueberry Cheesecakes
- Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes
- Baked Lemon Blueberry Donuts
Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups (300 grams fresh) blueberries + 1 tablespoon (8 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 and ¾ cups (345 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned & leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (80ml) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon zest
- ¼ cup (60 ml) canola or vegetable oil
- 1 cup (230 grams) full fat sour cream, room temperature
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 cup (120 grams) confectioners sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) fresh lemon juice, use as needed
Instructions
To make the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Add the blueberries and 1 tablespoon of flour to a mixing bowl and toss together until all of the blueberries are coated with the flour. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar for about 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs one a time until well combined, then mix in the vanilla. Slowly mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and oil.
- Add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients on low speed. Mix in each addition until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter. There will be quite a bit of batter, so I suggest using a rubber spatula to turn the batter a few times to make sure everything is well combined. Then add the blueberries and gently fold them into the batter until just combined.
- Spray a 10-inch bundt pan well with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and evenly spread it around.
- Bake at 350°F for 50-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil if needed for the last 5-10 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes, then invert the cake onto the wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the glaze:
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until well combined and no lumps remain. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more lemon juice. If the glaze is too thin, add a little more powdered sugar to thicken it up.
- Pour the glaze on top of the bundt cake and allow to sit for about 10-15 minutes so the glaze can harden.
Adapted from my Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake
If I want to use this recipe to create a bread loaf sized instead of a bundt what happens to the measurements of the ingredients? Same? Less?
You could probably just make two loaves with this recipe. I also have a blueberry lemon bread recipe here: https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/blueberry-lemon-bread-with-lemon-glaze/.
This has got to be the BEST Blueberry Lemon Cake I’ve ever had. Having weekend guest so will be making it again tomorrow. I hope I’ll be able to control myself a little better this time and not embarrass myself by eating most of it.
Awhile back Americas Test Kitchen did a test on bottled lemon juice apposed to fresh and in baking found no difference between the two.
So happy to hear that you loved the cake, Carol! So interesting about the bottled lemon juice too. I do sometimes use bottled key lime juice (they just take forever to juice!) and don’t notice too much of a difference. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
second time making this recipe in two weeks! made it in an 11×15 pan for work -about 35 minutes at 350— a huge hit!! people who weren’t on that day heard about it and complained that they didn’t get any so making it again.
thanks so much for the recipe! 🙂
So happy to hear that, Jean! Thanks for sharing about the baking time for the 11×15 pan, that will be helpful for others who may want to bake it in a pan as well 🙂
This cake was delicious and I would highly recommend it. I didn’t have enough sour cream so had to add some mascarpone cheese. I probably used extra lemon zest and fresh juice because I like the taste of lemons. We ate this as a dessert after grilled chicken and vegetables, but I could also see it served in the morning with coffee or as a dessert at a luncheon.
If you haven’t baked with a bundt pan or fresh blueberries, make sure your read Danielle’s tips for success. Tossing the blueberries in flour, having ingredients at room temperature, alternating wet and dry ingredients, and covering loosely with foil to prevent over-browning are EXCELLENT tips for ensuring the cake turns out perfectly every time.
So glad you enjoyed the cake, Barbara! Using the mascarpone cheese was a fantastic idea too, I need to try that!
Danielle,
I just took this cake from the greased and floured Bundy pan. It didn’t come out easily and the golden outer crust stuck inside the pan. The cake doesn’t look appealing. I hope it can be repaired with the glaze as this is for a church picnic. I left it in the pan for 30 minutes like you suggested. Do you know why this would happen? This isn’t my first Bundy cake.
Thanks!
Beth
Hi, Beth! I’m not quite sure, I’ve never had any issues with this cake sticking to the pan. I typically use a non-stick bundt pan and spray it really well with non-stick cooking spray. If you make it again, you might try doing that instead of greasing and flouring the pan. You can increase the glaze recipe so you have more to cover the top and hopefully that will help!
I made this cake yesterday to take it to a friends party. Everybody loved the cake , it was moist & had just the right tartness from lemon. I cutdown the butter by half & substituted oil for half the butter. I am saving this recepie for future use.
So glad to hear that everyone enjoyed the cake, Sam!
Tried this recipe and it was delicious! So light and flavorful. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.
Thank you, Jean! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the cake 🙂
We went Blueberry picking today and made this for my husband’s birthday. It’s sitting on the counter, cooling as I type this. It looks great and smells amazing. From the batter I sampled before it went in the oven, I’m sure it’s going to taste even better. 🙂
How fun, Andrea! Hope you enjoyed the cake, it’s one of my favorites 🙂
I only have self-rising flour. Can it be substituted for the all-purpose flour and the baking powder/soda? How would I measure to do that? I am so excited to try this!!
Hi, Brenda! I haven’t tried using self-rising flour in this recipe, so I’m not quite sure. Self-rising flour is made with baking powder and salt. Since this recipe also uses baking soda I would suggest sticking with all-purpose flour if you can, otherwise, it may not rise properly.
Looking to make a red white and blue recipe. Do you think it would taste good to add raspberries into the cake as well as blueberries?
Yes, I think that would be fine! I would use 1 cup of each and just make sure to toss them in some flour before you add them to the batter.
Is the lemon flavor in this cake light and subtle? Or does it have a little bit of a kick? I don’t want the lemon to be overpowering, but I definitely don’t want people to wonder if it’s there.
The lemon flavor in the cake isn’t super strong, but it’s a lot stronger in the glaze. You can leave off the glaze if you prefer though!
Will this recipe work in a 12 cup Bundt pan?
Yes, my pan is the same size so that should work!
Hi can you make this in a regular cake pan as well? I want to make a 6” cake? Thank you x
I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure you could bake it in another pan. This recipe does make quite a bit of batter though, so you would likely need 2-3 cake pans.
Hi, how would you incorporate high altitude(above 8000 ft) to your recipes?
Hi, Debbie! I don’t have any experience with high altitude baking, but some readers have found this guide helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html.
I made this cake for my CEO’s birthday because he is a gourmet cook and I wanted something different. He loved it and so did everyone else in the office. I will definitely be making it again! Delicious!
So nice of you to make this for him, Diana! I’m glad to hear everyone enjoyed it, this is one of my favorite cake recipes 🙂
Can i use frozen blueberries instead of fresh
That should be fine, Rosalie. I wouldn’t thaw them and just make sure to gently stir them into the batter as well.
This cake is absolutely superb – thank you for sharing the recipe. I was intrigued though that the batter does not seem to rise much in the pan (I was worried that it was going to overflow as my pan was quite full) … but yet the cake tastes very light. Does anyone know why/how?
Also I had a bit of batter left and popped it in some muffin cases – it also makes amazing muffins!
I’m glad you liked the cake, Tilly! When you cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes (like in this recipe) it incorporates air into it, which helps to give the cake a lighter texture. And of course, the baking soda/powder help with that some as well 🙂
Hello, wondering if I could make this the night before, leave it in the bundt pan (refrigerated) overnight & bake in the am. Thanks!
Hi, Tasa! I wouldn’t suggest doing that because the cake won’t rise well if the batter sits overnight. You can combine the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another, then mix everything together the next morning to make it easier. Just make sure to refrigerate the wet ingredients and whisk them together again before combining everything.
This was heavenly! So glad I found your website!
Thank you, Alexandra! So glad you found my site too! 🙂
Can I use frozen blueberries?
Yes, that should be fine. I wouldn’t thaw them first, just carefully stir them in at the end.
Hi Daniella, do you have video how to make Lemon Blueberry
bandt cake?
Thank you for sharing your recipe.????
Hi, Rose! I don’t have a video at this time, but I do plan to start incorporating videos into some of my posts in the near future.
Hi Danielle, we have family coming in a week and I was wanting to have a nice muffin baked up and I thought a lemon blueberry bundt would be great as well. So when I checked on google, your site came up along with a recipe that just sounds yummy. The lemon blueberry donuts sounds scrumptious as well I just don’t have the pan at this time. I am working on my shopping list right away so I can bake up your recipe. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful recipes and instructions. 🙂
So glad you found my site, Tonia! Hope you and your family enjoy the bundt cake 🙂
Despite the fact that I altered the ingredients somewhat to fit what I had, it turned out great!
I used thawed berries (Not fresh)
Light sour cream (Not full fat)
Bottled lemon juice (Not fresh)
I want to make this again using more of what is recommended. I can’t imagine an even MORE flavorful cake!
Thank you
I’m so glad to hear that the cake turned out great, Cathy! 🙂
Was thinking of substituting plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream. Any reason not to?
That should be fine, Angela! I’ve never had any problems subbing plain Greek yogurt for sour cream in recipes. Hope you enjoy the bundt cake!
How many fresh lemons would you Suggest?
You can usually get about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of zest from 1 medium lemon. I typically use about 4 medium lemons for this recipe, if they’re larger you may be able to just use 2-3.
Do I have to refrigerate the cake or can I leave it in a cake holder?
I think it should be fine in a cake holder for 2-3 days.
Does this cake freeze well if I want to make ahead?
Yes it does freeze well! You can thaw it at room temperature.
Great recipe, I just made it, and it is delicious. I did not have sour cream so I used Heavy Cream instead and turned out great, thank you!!!
So glad you enjoyed the bundt cake, Karen! And I’m glad to hear the heavy cream worked as a good substitute as well!
Great recipe! I made it for a church breakfast social. It was perfect.
Thank you, Mimi! So glad you liked the cake!
In the lemon blueberry bundt can I use lemon juice from a container (store bought) or must it be fresh? Please and thank you!!
Hi, Bonnie! I think bottled lemon juice would work fine in this recipe.
Hi! Can I substitute canola or veg oil for coconut oil?
Yes, that’s fine! Just make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature so when you add the coconut oil it doesn’t solidify.
I should probably add that I do think that fresh is best in terms of flavor though. Since the recipe calls for lemon zest too, I would try to use fresh lemon juice if you can.
Hello Danelle. Thank you for the lovely recipes you post to me. I do enjoy receiving them. I love to try your recipes and add them to my recipe book. I can’t wait to try your Lemon and Blueberry Bundt Cake. Take care. Vicky
I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipes, Vicky! Hope you enjoy the bundt cake! 🙂