This blueberry cake gets its natural violet color from freeze dried blueberries. This cake is sure to wow even your most jaded guest.
This stunning blueberry layer cake achieves its gorgeous natural purple hue without a drop of food coloring. As a professional pastry chef, I’ve spent years perfecting this recipe that combines freeze-dried blueberries for intense color and fresh blueberries for moisture.
The result? A tender, flavorful cake with blueberry cream cheese frosting that’s become one of my most-requested recipes!
Why This Recipe Continues to be a Reader Favorite
Since publishing this recipe’s predecessor years ago, I’ve received countless messages and photos from readers. My favorite came from a mother who made over 100 blueberry cupcakes for her daughter’s wedding using this recipe as her base.
What makes me happiest about this cake is how it brings people together. It’s impressive enough for special occasions but approachable enough that home bakers feel confident tackling it. That’s exactly what I aim for with every recipe I share—professional techniques made accessible.
The natural purple color never fails to wow guests. In an age of artificial everything, serving a cake that gets its stunning hue from real fruit feels special. It’s a conversation starter that also happens to taste incredible.
Ingredient Highlights
For the Blueberry Cake:
The key to success is using freeze-dried blueberries (found at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or Amazon) ground into a fine powder. This gives you concentrated blueberry flavor and that signature purple color. Fresh blueberries are pureed and strained to add moisture without creating pockets of fruit that can make the cake soggy.
Buttermilk and a touch of lemon zest keep this cake bright and balanced—a technique I learned in professional pastry kitchens.
For the Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
Equal parts butter and cream cheese create the perfect frosting consistency—sturdy enough for layering but still creamy and spreadable. More freeze-dried blueberry powder ensures the frosting matches the cake’s gorgeous color.
How to Make Blueberry Layer Cake
Step 1: Prepare Your Blueberry Powder
Use a food processor to grind freeze-dried blueberries into a fine powder. This takes about 30 seconds. You’ll need two 1.2 oz packages total—one for the cake, one for the frosting.
Step 2: Make the Blueberry Puree
Blend 7 oz fresh blueberries until smooth, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve to remove skins. You should have about 5-6 oz of smooth puree after straining. This step is crucial for a smooth, professional texture.
Step 3: Mix the Cake Batter
Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, ensuring each is fully incorporated. Alternate adding the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, blueberry powder) with the wet ingredients (buttermilk, blueberry puree, vanilla) in three additions, starting and ending with dry.
Pro Tip: Don’t overmix once you add the flour. Mix just until you no longer see streaks—overmixing develops gluten and creates a tough cake.
Step 4: Bake to Perfection
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans (I use four 6-inch rounds for dramatic height, but three 8-inch pans work beautifully too). Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Baker’s Note: Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks. This prevents crumbling.
Step 5: Make the Frosting
Beat softened butter and cream cheese until completely smooth with no lumps. Add blueberry powder, vanilla, powdered sugar, and salt. Beat on low speed first to avoid a sugar cloud, then increase to medium-high for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Step 6: Assemble and Decorate
Level your cake layers if needed for perfectly flat tops. Place the first layer on your serving plate or cake board, spread with about ¾ cup frosting, and repeat with remaining layers. Use remaining frosting for a simple crumb coat and final coat, or go rustic with a naked cake look.
Decoration Ideas: Top with fresh blueberries, edible flowers, gumpaste/fondant flowers, or leave it simple—the natural purple color speaks for itself.
Tips From a Professional Pastry Chef
Measure Your Blueberry Puree After Straining: You need 7 oz of blueberries to yield about 5-6 oz of strained puree. If you measure before straining, you’ll end up with too little liquid and a dry cake.
Room Temperature Ingredients Are Essential: Cold eggs and butter don’t emulsify properly, leading to a dense cake. Set everything out 30-60 minutes before baking.
Don’t Skip the Lemon Zest: It’s not about making this a lemon cake—the zest brightens the blueberry flavor and cuts through the richness. Think of it as seasoning, not a primary flavor.
Check Your Baking Powder: Old baking powder won’t give you proper rise. Test it by adding ½ teaspoon to hot water—it should bubble vigorously.
Make-Ahead & Storage Notes
Make-Ahead: Bake cake layers up to 2 days ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature. For best results, may frosting the day you plan to frost and assemble.
Freezing: Unfrosted cake layers freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Wrap in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before assembling.
Storage: Finished cake keeps at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving for the best texture and flavor.
Common Questions
No, fresh blueberries won’t give you the color or concentrated flavor. The freeze-dried blueberries are what make this recipe special. You can find them in the dried fruit section or order online.
Absolutely! This batter makes about 24 cupcakes. Bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes. Check out my original blueberry-blackberry cupcakes for inspiration.
I don’t recommend it for this recipe. Butter provides structure and flavor that oil can’t replicate. The creaming method (beating butter and sugar) is also crucial for the texture.
Baby showers, bridal showers, spring and summer birthdays, Mother’s Day, or any time you want to serve something truly special. I’ve had readers make this for weddings!
Related Berry Recipes
Blueberry Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Blueberry Cake:
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (450 g)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1.2 oz package freeze dried blueberries, ground into a powder*
- 1 cup unsalted butter (227 g), room temp
- 1 ⅓ cup granulated sugar (265 g)
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar (135 g), packed
- 1 teaspon finely grated lemon zest
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temp
- 7 oz fresh blueberries, pureed and strained (about 6oz after straining)*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste, or pure vanilla extract
Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (227 g), room temp
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla paste, or pure vanilla extract
- 1.2 oz package freeze dried blueberries, ground to a powder
- 4 cups powdered sugar (480 g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
Blueberry Cake:
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line four 6-inch cake rounds (or three 8-inch rounds) with parchment paper. Lightly butter and set aside.
- Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and blueberry powder. Set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugar: In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add lemon zest.
- Add Eggs: Add eggs one at a time, mixing on medium speed until each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Scrape down bowl between additions.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: In a measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, strained blueberry puree, and vanilla.
- Alternate Mixing: With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until no streaks remain. Do not overmix. Scrape down bowl to ensure even mixing.
- Bake: Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Smooth tops with offset spatula or back of spoon. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool: Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting (about 1 hour)
Blueberry Frosting:
- Beat Butter and Cream Cheese: In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until completely smooth with no lumps. Scrape down bowl as needed.
- Add Remaining Ingredients: Add vanilla paste, blueberry powder, powdered sugar, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined, then increase to medium-high and beat for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Assemble: If desired, level cake layers with a serrated knife. Place first layer on serving plate or cake board. Spread with about ¾ cup frosting. Repeat with remaining layers. Use remaining frosting for crumb coat and final coat, or create a rustic naked cake look. Top with fresh blueberries if desired.
Notes
- To make blueberry powder, pulse freeze-dried blueberries in a food processor for 30 seconds until finely ground. You’ll need two 1.2 oz packages total for this recipe.
- IMPORTANT: Measure blueberries AFTER pureeing and straining, not before. You should have 5-6 oz of smooth puree after removing the skins.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!
My daughter will be turning 5 on the 26th of this month and has requested a blueberry cake. I have chosen to make this one since it is so beautiful and I know that she will love it. (It also helps since her favorite color is purple.) My question is where do you find your freeze dried blueberries? I live in south Texas and I might have trouble finding them. Thank you in advance.
Hi Ariana, I buy my freeze dried blueberries from Trader Joe’s. They are also readily available at Whole Foods market. I have seen them on occasion at Target. And if all else fails, it is also available online.
Happy early birthday to your daughter!
I just made this cake over the weekend. It tasted as good as it looked in the photos above.
That’s wonderful to hear Clifford! Glad you liked it!
Thanks for your response. I was making this for someone’s birthday the day of my previous comment. I ended up using a strawberry cake recipe and replacing the strawberry ingredients with the freeze dried blueberries and fresh pureed blueberries and it turned out great. Even though your cake didn’t turn out for me, the freeze dried, and pureed blueberry ideas turned out beautifully for me, since the person wanted blueberry cake, but not whole blueberries in it.
Hi! Can you use fresh blueberries instead? And if you don’t have vanilla paste, how much Extract should you use? Beautiful cake, thanks!
You cannot use fresh blueberries in the cream cheese frosting. It will be very wet and will not hold up well. If you don’t have vanilla paste, just substitute an equal amount of pure vanilla extract. I hope that helps!
Hi, I just put this cake in the oven. Is the batter supposed to be like a paste? Maybe I did something wrong. Were the pureed fresh blueberries 7 oz whole, or 7 oz of puree? I can’t imagine what else I may have done wrong.
Hi Samantha, I weighed out 7 oz of fresh blueberries, then pureed and strained it. The batter should feel like another other cupcake/cake batter.
It’s the freeze dried berries. I just made a strawberry cake and had to throw away it away, it was like bread. Leave them out!
Hi There, Looks so yum! I’m making four different cakes for my daughters first birthday (spelling out her name), I was therefore hoping to bake and freeze the cakes I make over the next few weeks and get them out for icing etc the day before the party. Would this cake be ok to freeze do you think? Thanks so much
What a wonderful idea! I’m sure that’s going to look awesome!
I have never frozen this cake, but it should freeze fine. Let it cool to room temperature before you tightly wrap it. Make sure you freeze it on a sheet tray or something flat to ensure it stays level. Let the cake defrost at room temperature.
Yeah that helps a lot, thanks Marianne! Sorry for asking this, but do you have an idea about approx how long it’d take to bake if I poured the batter into a 9″ cake pan, that’s 3″ tall? I really love this recipe but live in a place where I can’t find the cake pans you used very easily.
Thank-you in advance and for answering my questions! Your last answer was very helpful :)
Hi there! This cake looks amazing and very moist and delicious. I want to make this as one bigger birthday cake (for around 8 people). Will this recipe work if I pour the batter into a large cake pan? What do you suggest? :)
Thank-you in advance!!
This cake can easily serve 6-8 people. It’s a tall cake, so you don’t need large slices. You can bake the cake in a larger pan, you’ll just have thinner or fewer layers. You’ll also have to adjust baking time depending on the size of the cake. Hope that helps.
Also, I making this recipe in regular 9″ cake rounds it would probably make about 2?
Can you substitute dried blueberries for the freeze dried blueberries? Or just use more regular blueberries? I’m going to make this for a cake project I have due in culinary school, so I’m trying to make it as cost effective as possible!
No. Freeze dried berries are devoid of all moisture, which is makes them perfect for coloring cakes. “Dried” blueberries still have a ton of moisture. You’ll end up with a paste instead of a powder.