This incredibly easy and moist lemon poppy seed cake with naturally flavored blueberry buttercream is seriously delish! Made with buttermilk, the texture of this cake is soft and packed with the fragrant flavor of lemons. To complement the vibrant lemon flavor of the cake, I paired it with a sweet and slightly tart blueberry buttercream.
Why You Will Love This Lemon Cake Recipe?
- Soft cake texture
- Fragrant flavor of lemons in each bite
- Naturally flavored, sweet and slightly tart blueberry buttercream
- So easy to make, which is great for any special occasion
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Made with buttermilk, this lemon cake has the most soft crumb texture that is not too moist. To ensure that the flavor of lemon was present throughout this cake, I infused lemon zest in granulated sugar to help release its natural oil. Each bite of this cake is a delight especially if you are a lover of lemon desserts. Here is what you will need to make recipe:
Key Ingredients
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Buttermilk
- Unsalted Butter
- Neutral Flavored Oil i.e. Vegetable Oil
- Fresh Lemon Juice
- Lemon Zest
- Poppy Seeds
- Vanilla Extract
Tips for Making Moist Lemon Cake From Scratch
- Use Room Temperature Ingredients – using room temperature ingredients will help to ensure that the ingredients in recipes mix up into a smooth batter without any lumps. Using room temperature ingredients will also allow for even baking of the cake once placed in the oven.
- Do Not Overmix Cake Batter – cake ingredients should be mixed just until it is combined into a smooth cake batter. To prevent overmixing the batter, I like to alternate mixing the dry ingredients and liquids (for example, milk) into the wet batter. From this point, the cake batter should be mixed just until it comes together without any unmixed ingredients present.
- Do Not Overbake Cake – cake should be baked just until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the toothpick has moist batter on it, the cake needs to be baked further. If the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the baking pan, the cake has been overbaked.
Naturally Flavored Blueberry Buttercream
I am a big supporter of using natural ingredients to flavor my buttercreams and frostings. I find that natural ingredients best capture the desired flavor I am going for without any artificial aftertaste. That is why I prefer using freeze-dried fruits in my fruit flavored buttercreams.
For this blueberry buttercream, I ground freeze-dried blueberries into a powder before mixing into the buttercream. The outcome was a perfectly sweet and slightly tart blueberry buttercream. Aside from freeze-dried blueberries, here is what you will need to make buttercream:
Key Ingredients
- Confectioners’ (Powdered) Sugar
- Unsalted Butter
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Salt, Optional
- Vanilla Extract, Optional
Blueberry Lemon Cake Assembly
- Spread a thin layer of the buttercream over cooled cake
- Transfer the remaining buttercream to a large pastry bag fitted with a 6B or desired piping tip
- Pipe a braided pattern over the surface of the cake. I used this tutorial for the buttercream braid pattern
How to Store Lemon Cake
- Lemon cake stored in an airtight container will last 2-3 days stored in the fridge and 1-2 months in the freezer. When ready to serve frozen cake, thaw overnight in the fridge to restore soft texture.
- Lemon cake may be baked in advance. Once cooled to room temperature, tightly wrap in plastic/cling wrap and keep in the fridge for up to 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 1-2 months.
- Blueberry buttercream may be prepared in advance. To store, transfer to an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 5 days. When ready to use, thaw at room temperature until soft enough to re-whip and pipe. This can take anywhere between 30-90 minutes depending on the warmth of your kitchen.
Looking for More Scrumptious Eats, Checkout the Links Below:
If you make this recipe, please make sure to let me know by tagging me @nourishedendeavors on Instagram or by leaving a comment in the comment section down below so I can find out how this recipe turned out for you! If you have any questions, ask away! I would love to answer your questions! Happy baking!
PrintBlueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
This incredibly easy and moist lemon poppy seed cake with naturally flavored blueberry buttercream is seriously delish! Made with buttermilk, the texture of this cake is soft and packed with the fragrant flavor of lemons. To complement the vibrant lemon flavor of the cake, I paired it with a sweet and slightly tart blueberry buttercream.
- Prep Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
- Cook Time: 35 Minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 Cake 1x
Ingredients
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- 1 3/4 Cups (219 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Spooned and Leveled
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 Cup (150 g) Granulated Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
- 1/2 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (150 ml) Buttermilk, Room Temperature
- 5 Tablespoons (71 g) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Neutral Flavored Oil i.e. Vegetable Oil
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Fresh Lemon Juice, Room Temperature
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Zest (1) Large Lemon
Blueberry Buttercream
- 1 1/2 Cups (339 g) Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature, Not Softened
- 3 Cups (360 g) Confectioners’ (Powdered) Sugar, Sifted, Plus More as Needed
- 3 Tablespoons (8 g) Freeze-Dried Blueberries
- 1 –2 Tablespoons (15–30 ml) Heavy Whipping Cream, Room Temperature
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt, Optional
- 1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract, Optional
Instructions
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
- Preheat the oven to 325F(165C). Grease and line an 8×8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add and whisk to combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, add the sugar and lemon zest. Use a fork or fingertips to incorporate lemon zest into sugar until sugar becomes fragrant with the aroma of lemons.
- Fit stand mixer with paddle attachment or use a hand-held electric mixer to cream the butter, oil and lemon sugar together at medium high speed until mixture appears thick and fluffy in appearance, about 2-3 minutes.
- Mix in the vanilla extract into the creamed butter mixture.
- Beat the eggs into the wet mixture one at a time. The initial egg should be completely mixed into the batter before mixing in the next egg.
- Reduce mixer speed to low. In an alternating fashion, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, mix half of the dry ingredient mixture into the wet batter, followed by the buttermilk and lemon juice, and ending with the remaining dry ingredient mixture.
- Next, mix in the poppy seeds into the cake batter.
- Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides and base of the mixing bowl.
- Resume mixing the cake batter at medium speed for an additional 30-60 seconds to help ensure an evenly smooth batter.
- Transfer cake batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through bake time. Cake is ready once a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the baking pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely to room temperature.
Blueberry Buttercream
- Grind the freeze dried blueberries into a powder in a coffee grinder or small food processor. You should end up with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of powdered freeze-dried blueberries.
- In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter and salt (optional) at medium high speed until it is smooth and fluffy in appearance, about 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the confectioners’ sugar and powdered freeze-dried blueberries into creamed butter. Gradually increase the mixer speed back to medium.
- Once all the sugar and powdered blueberries have been incorporated into the butter, mix in 1 tablespoon of the heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract (optional) into buttercream.
- If buttercream appears too thick, mix in additional cream 1/2 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency (thick but spreadable) is reached.
- If buttercream appears to be too soft, mix in additional confectioners’ sugar 1/4 cup at a time until a thick but spreadable consistency is reached.
- Increase mixer speed to medium high and mix blueberry buttercream for an additional 30-60 seconds. The resulting buttercream should be smooth and fluffy in appearance.
Assembly
- Spread a thin layer of the buttercream over the cooled cake.
- Transfer the remaining buttercream into a large pastry bag fitted with a 6B French or desired pastry tip.
- Pipe buttercream in a braid pattern over the entire surface of the cake. This is the buttercream braid tutorial I used.
- Alternatively, buttercream may be evenly spread over the surface of the cooled cake for a more rustic cake design.
Notes
- Blueberry lemon poppy seed cake is best eaten the day it is prepared. However, leftover cake stored in an airtight container will last 2-3 days stored in the fridge and 1-2 months in the freezer. When ready to serve frozen cake, thaw overnight in the fridge to restore soft texture.
- If preferred, lemon poppy seed cake may be topped with this lemon cream cheese frosting. Given the softer texture of the cream cheese frosting, I do not recommend using it for piping braid design. Instead, frosting should be evenly spread over the cooled cake.
- I used a coffee grinder to grind freeze-dried blueberries into a powder but a small (mini) food processor would work as well.
- Freeze-dried blueberries can be purchased through Amazon or from your local grocery or health food store.
YOU MIGHT also LIKE:
Widget not in any sidebars
Leave a Reply