Blueberry Lemon Olive Oil Cake
This two-layer cake is packed with fresh blueberries and lemon flavor (complete with lemon zest!). It’s topped with a light and fluffy blueberry cream cheese frosting and is so ridiculously moist thanks to the buttermilk, egg whites, and extra-virgin olive oil.
I love all things lemon and blueberry as evidenced in these Buttermilk Lemon Blueberry Scones and Blueberry Lemon Cookies (these things melt in your mouth–so good!). I created this recipe back in the winter, when I was longing for warmer days and bright flavors.
This blueberry lemon cake is light and fluffy thanks to the egg whites and buttermilk. I love everything about this cake and it brought me so much joy to make! I think you’re going to love it too.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- granulated sugar
- extra-virgin olive oil – it’s important to use extra-virgin olive oil because it has a mild flavor. Don’t have any olive oil? Melted butter would work great too.
- vanilla extract
- lemon juice
- lemon zest
- egg whites – we’re just using the egg whites in this recipe.
- ice water – set some ice water aside (make sure to not include the actual ice cubes! we know this, right?)
- buttermilk – don’t have buttermilk on hand? make your own.
- salt
- baking powder
- cake flour – instructions listed below on how to make your own cake flour if you don’t have any on hand.
- fresh blueberries – frozen can work too–just make sure to coat them in flour before adding to the batter.
For the blueberry lemon cream cheese frosting:
- salted butter
- powdered sugar
- blueberry jam
- cream cheese – softened block cream cheese works best here!
- lemon zest
Helpful Tips to Make This Cake Amazing
Wait, I don’t have cake flour! If you don’t have cake flour, you can make it very easily by adding 1 cup of all-purpose flour to a bowl, remove 2 tablespoons, then add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch to the all-purpose flour. Whisk together, and you have cake flour (3 1/2 cups are needed for this recipe).
Okay, but I don’t have buttermilk! Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup, and fill the rest up with milk until you’ve reached 3/4 cup. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and you’ve got yourself some homemade buttermilk.
Fresh or Frozen Blueberries? You can use fresh or frozen blueberries in this recipe. I recommend using fresh blueberries because frozen blueberries can bleed into the batter, turning the cake into a purplish-blue color (though really, this isn’t much of a problem–it will still taste delicious!). Adding flour to the blueberries will help prevent this. Adding flour will also help keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the batter as the cake bakes!
Blueberry Lemon Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 cups cake flour
- 6 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup ice water
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 4 egg whites (the whites from 4 eggs)
- 2 cups fresh blueberries and a bit more for decorating the cake
For the lemon blueberry cream cheese frosting
- 1 1/2 cups salted butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened, use block cream cheese, not whipped
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 5 tablespoons blueberry jam
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Prepare two round 9-inch cake pans by lining them with parchment paper, with a bit of olive oil, and a sprinkle of flour. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350℉.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar and extra-virgin olive oil. Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt.
- In a separate bowl, sift the cake flour and baking powder together. Alternate adding in the cake flour, ice water, and buttermilk, by adding half of each at a time, mixing throughout. Then add the second half of the cake flour, ice water, and buttermilk. Whisk in the egg whites.
- Finally, fold in the blueberries. To prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the cake, you can coat them in 2 tablespoons of flour before adding them to the batter.
- Pour the batter evenly between the two cake pans. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the cake is done. You'll know the cake is done by putting a toothpick in the center and no wet batter sticks to the toothpick. A few moist crumbs are just fine. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before transferring on to the wire racks to cool completely.
Make the frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to cream the butter and cream cheese for about two minutes. Once smooth, gradually add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, making sure to scrape the edges of the bowl as you mix.
- Fold in the blueberry jam, lemon zest, and lemon juice until just combined. Frost the top of the bottom layer cake, then add the second layer before frosting the rest of the cake. Decorate the cake with lemon slices and blueberries. Serve immediately or refrigerate until you're ready to serve the cake!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Did you love this cake? If so, it would mean the world to me if you left a review!
Did you try this recipe? I’d sure love to hear your thoughts on it, if so!