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!
I made this cake for my daughter’s 5th birthday this past Sunday(yes, her birthday fell on Mother’s Day lol) and it is DELICIOUS!!! Even my picky husband likes it!! Thank you for posting the recipe!!
Happy belated birthday to your daughter! I hope she had a wonderful celebration. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for giving it a try! :)
I made this cake last month and it was incredible. Perfect recipe! I’m so happy I stumbled across your blog. Can’t wait to try more recipes!
Thank you for trying out the recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Happy baking! :)
The recipe says to use 4 cake pans in the picture there looks to be five layers. Should 5 pans be used or did you cut a layer in half? I am making this for a party of 20 people so I’m trying to figure out how much to increase the recipe.
Hi Allison, I baked the cake using four 6-inch cake pans and then sliced each cake into two layers. However, I didn’t end up using all the cake layers (as photographed). You can also bake this recipe using four 8-inch cake pans.
Thank you for this awesome recipe! Though the flavor was great it turned out quite dry. The only thing I could think that might have been wrong was the amount of blueberry puree. Is it 7oz before or after pureed??? I will be trying this again.
Just wanted to thank you for this recipe! I made it for my blueberry-mad son’s 4th birthday party today.. with gluten-free baking mix (Pamela’s) and it turned out GREAT! One dad said it was the yummiest cake he’d ever had.
Maryanne,
Thank you for the cupcake recipe referral. I made them for my Grandson’s birthday & they were spectacular. Not only did they look beautiful, they were scrumptious. Everyone wanted to know how I made them. Thank you. I will definitely use this recipe again.
Katy
My Grandson has requested blueberry cupcakes for his 6th birthday party. There are going to be 60 attending. How many cupcakes does your recipe make? I’m trying to figure out if I should triple it????? Let me know what you think. It looks & sounds delicious & I’m sure will be a hit!!
The cupcake version of this blueberry cake can be found here: https://www.thelittleepicurean.com/blueberry-blackberry-cupcake-with/
The cupcake recipe makes 1 dozen. For 60 guests, I suggest making at least 6 dozen cupcakes.
Can this be adapted for a sheet cake? Not nearly as lovely but I have to feed 30 people.
Sorry, I haven’t tried using this recipe for a sheet cake. I’m not sure how it will turn out.
I made the cake and used an alternate frosting recipe. I followed the recipe exactly and I am an experienced baker, but I was disappointed. The flavor of the cake was good, but I disliked the texture. It was dense and kind of gummy. I have had the same experience trying to adapt a cake recipe to incorporate powdered freeze-dried strawberries and I can never seem to get a cake with a nice texture.
I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve made this cake several times with consistent results. I have found that it makes a difference whether you use freshly ground freeze dried berries versus freeze dried berries that have been ground into a powder earlier. As the ground freeze dried berries sit out, it does absorb moisture and humidity- which could lead to the gummy texture.
Beautiful cake! I am planning on making this for my daughter’s birthday, can I make it a day before the party? How do you suggest storing it?
Yes, you can make it the day before. Keep it in the fridge overnight. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving. (A few notes about keeping cake in the fridge: make sure the fridge is free from any strong odors from other foods (leftovers, open containers, garlic, pickles, etc.). The frosting WILL pick up and absorb all those flavors. You could protect the cake by keeping in a cardboard cake box.)