This lemon blueberry bundt cake has a delicious lemon flavor with sweet berries throughout. It’s moist, flavorful and drizzled with lemon glaze.
**This recipe was originally published July 2021. It was updated February 2022 with new photos, recipe tips and a slightly updated recipe**
Simple, elegant and bursting with fresh lemon flavor – this lemon blueberry bundt cake is the perfect dessert if you love lemon. The lemon flavor is tart without being sour and complements the berries perfectly. What you’ll especially love about this bundt cake is the moist and tender cake crumb. It’s not an overly sweet cake, but it’s extremely flavorful thanks to lemon zest, fresh lemon juice and sweet blueberries.
What Makes this Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake Delicious
This recipe is adapted from my favorite lemon blueberry cake that’s made in a 9×13 inch pan or as a layer. The recipe is changed slightly to ensure that the cake can easily slide out of a bundt pan and keep the integrity of its shape. It’s made with simple, everyday ingredients. However, I do want to point out a few key ingredients:
- Butter. We’re using real butter for maximum flavor. Be sure that it’s room temperature before getting started for easier mixing.
- Oil. Note that we’re just using a little oil in this recipe. It’s nowhere near enough for the cake to taste oily, but just a little to help keep the cake moist for a few extra days.
- Sour cream. It makes cakes incredibly moist with a tight crumb. Make sure you’re using sour cream from a tub. I use one that’s 18% MF (typically, what’s labelled full-fat in North America).
- Lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Together, they provide the best lemon flavor. It’s bright, tart and perfectly lemony without being sour.
- Sweet, juicy blueberries. Fresh or frozen berries will work perfectly in this recipe. It can be tempting to add extra berries – but I don’t recommend it because it makes the cake much more difficult to slide out of the pan.
A Note About Frozen Berries
If using frozen berries, do not thaw them first. Toss frozen berries in 1 tablespoons of all-purpose flour. This minimizes the chance of the berries bleeding color throughout the cake batter so that you don’t have streaks of blue throughout the batter.
Baking Tips
- When making bundt cakes, use a light-colored, non-stick pan. A light-colored pan minimizes over browning of the cake.
- Make sure to grease and flour the pan very well (even if you’re using a non-stick pan), and get into all the ridges. I use pan release for the best results. You can buy pan release from specialty baking shops or craft stores (I know Wilton makes one), or make your own. To make your own pan release:
- Whisk together ¼ cup shortening, ¼ cup flour and ¼ cup vegetable oil (or canola oil) until smooth. Use a pastry brush to spread the the mixture onto the pan in an even layer. Keep the rest of the pan release in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 2 months for further use.
- Make sure the butter, eggs, sour cream and milk are room temperature before getting started for even mixing.
- Always zest the lemons first, then squeeze out the juice. This makes the process much easier.
- Do not overmix the batter. Otherwise, the cake can end up dry and tough.
- The recipe below includes a lemon glaze on top of the cake. If you’d prefer, you can also frost the cake with cream cheese frosting. This is my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe.
More Bundt Cakes to Love
Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (312 grams) AKA plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (168 grams) room temperature
- 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar (350 grams)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (30 ml) or canola
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream (180 ml)
- ¼ cup milk (60 ml) 2% or whole milk preferred
- ¼ cup lemon juice (60 ml) freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups blueberries (about 190 grams) fresh or frozen
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar (110 grams)
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice (15-30 ml) freshly squeezed
Instructions
Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325 F (160 C) degrees.
- Grease and flour a non-stick large bundt pan or brush with pan release. Make sure to get into all the cavities of the bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy. Beat in the oil and vanilla extract.
- With the mixer on a low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time.
- With the mixer still on a low speed, beat ⅓ of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Then mix in the sour cream sour cream. Mix in about ⅓ more of the flour mixture. Beat in the milk, followed by the rest of the milk. Stop mixing as soon as the ingredients are combined.
- Stir in the lemon juice with a large rubber spatula.
- In a small to medium bowl, toss the blueberries with the 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Gently fold the berries into the batter using a rubber spatula.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan and gently smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few crumbs clingy to it.
- Cool the cake in the bundt pan on a wire rack for about 30 minutes, then invert the cake onto the wire rack and continue cooling.
Lemon Glaze
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. If the glaze is too thick, whisk in a little more lemon juice. If it's too thin, whisk in a little more powdered glaze.
- Drizzle the glaze onto the cooled cake.
Notes
- Measuring Flour: Make sure to measure the flour very carefully - otherwise the cake can end up dry. Whisk it first, then spoon into a dry measuring cup and level off the top. Or use a scale for the most accurate measurement 2 ½ cups weighs 312.5 grams.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: The butter, eggs and sour cream should be room temperature before getting started. Take them out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior to baking.
- Lemons: You will need about 2 large lemons for both the cake and glaze, or 3-4 smaller lemons.
- Fresh vs Frozen Berries: If using frozen berries, do not thaw them first.
- Storage: Store the cake covered at room temperature for up to 2-3 days, or in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Nutrition Information: Nutrition details are an estimate only and based on 1 slice with glaze, assuming that the cake is sliced into 12 equal pieces. You may be able to get up to 15 smaller pieces of cake.
I made this cake it was absolutely delicious