This Easy Blueberry Lemon Sheet Cake recipe yields a moist lemon cake with a blueberry swirl, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting and blueberry jam. This sheet cake is flavored with fresh blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract for maximum lemon and blueberry flavor in every bite! Lemon blueberry sheet cake is perfect for feeding a crowd on a special occasion, but the recipe can easily be halved for smaller occasions.
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I usually develop fancy cake recipes served outside their baking tins, but recently I rediscovered the joy of a more casual cake that's served right out of the pan. The little bits of grease and flour on the edge pieces are just so yummy. So for this lemon blueberry cake recipe, I opted for greasing and flouring the baking pan, rather than just greasing or parchment papering. I adapted the lemon cream cheese frosting from Two Sisters Crafting. It's got just the right amount of zing and lemon flavor that complements the blueberry so well.
I also used this cake batter and lemon frosting in my lemon poppy seed cupcakes. So you could absolutely make this recipe into lemon blueberry cupcakes instead. Just be sure to spray your cupcake liners for easier release. If blueberry sans lemon is more your thing, you'd like my blueberry financier cakes.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- You don't need a stand mixer! The cake batter can be made with a whisk and the buttercream can be made with hand beaters.
- The lemon buttercream has a great tart natural lemon flavor and pairs beautifully with tangy cream cheese.
- This is a recipe that uses up blueberries and fresh lemons, perfect for when you have a surplus. I use frozen wild blueberries, but use any sweet blueberries, fresh or frozen.
- Thanks to oil, the cake stays moist for days! Even when stored in the refrigerator.
Ingredients
- Blueberries flavor the swirl and garnish. I prefer wild blueberries for more intense blueberry flavor, but any blueberries will work (fresh or frozen!)
- A touch of cinnamon in the blueberry jam brings out the blueberry flavor even more.
- Granulated sugar sweetens the jam and cake.
- Cornstarch helps thicken the blueberry jam.
- Vanilla extract and kosher salt round out the flavor profile.
- Eggs add structure to the cake. Use room temperature eggs so they incorporate easier.
- Lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract bring lots of lemon flavor.
- All-purpose flour provides a tender crumb for the cake.
- Baking powder and baking soda give the cake lift.
- Oil brings richness to the cake and helps it stay moist for longer. I use avocado oil, but any neutral-flavored oil like canola oil, vegetable oil or grapeseed oil will work here.
- Sour cream adds richness and tang to the cake.
- Unsalted butter is the base of the buttercream.
- Powdered sugar sweetens the buttercream.
- Cream cheese flavors the buttercream.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and variations
Here's how to customize this blueberry lemon sheet cake to your liking:
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- Butter — swap half or all of the oil in the cake for melted unsalted butter, if desired. You can also swap the butter in the frosting for dairy-free butter, if desired.
- Greek yogurt — if you don't have sour cream you can swap for greek yogurt. Add 1 tablespoon more oil to make up for the loss of fat.
- Cupcakes — instead of baking in a 9x13 pan, you can make ~24 cupcakes. Bake cupcakes 15-19 minutes.
- No lemon extract — if you don't have lemon extract, be sure to add 1 extra tablespoon of lemon zest to the batter.
- Cake flour — if using cake flour, use 2 tablespoons more cake flour than what is called for in all-purpose flour.
- Another fruit — swap blueberries for raspberries, cherries or strawberries.
- Lemon curd — for even more lemon flavor, make lemon curd to garnish the top of the cake.
- Whipped cream — swap lemon cream cheese frosting for whipped cream frosting. Whip together 1 ½ cups of heavy whipping cream with ¼ cup of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until stiff peaks.
- Blueberry buttercream — steal the frosting recipe from my blueberry cake to top the cake with blueberry buttercream instead.
- Layer cake — Make this as a layer cake by baking the batter in two 8-inch round cake pans, or baking as instructed but slicing the cake into thirds to stack like this. Chill the cake often during decorating, as cream cheese frosting is prone to making cake layers slip. Alternatively, swap the cream cheese frosting for a swiss meringue buttercream that is more structurally stable.
This recipe has not been tested with any substitutions or variations. If you try any, please let me know how it turned out by commenting below!
How to make Easy Blueberry Lemon Sheet Cake
Step 1: In a medium pot, combine the blueberries, sugar, water, cinnamon and salt. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Whisk together the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water. Add to the blueberry mixture and cook until the cornstarch is activated to thicken the mixture, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, rub together the sugar and lemon zest with your fingers to express the oils for more flavor. Whisk in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
Step 3: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula just until there are no longer any streaks of flour.
Step 4: Place half of the batter into the prepared 9x13 pan. Drop spoonfuls of the blueberry jam on top, reserving some for garnish. Add the remaining cake batter on top. Drag a butter knife or toothpick through the batter to swirl the blueberries in a bit. Bake for 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Step 5: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with beaters, add the cream cheese and beat on medium low until smooth. Make sure there are no more lumps. Scrape down the bowl a few times to be sure before removing the beaten cream cheese to a separate bowl. In the bowl you just used, add the butter and beat for 3 minutes or until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the cream cheese back to the bowl with the butter and beat to combine. Add half of the powdered sugar and beat on low until combined. Mix in the fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and optional citric acid. Mix in the remaining powdered sugar until incorporated. Color with a few drops of yellow food dye, if desired.
Step 6: Frost the cooled cake, as desired. Garnish with dollops of the remaining jam.
Top tips
- Spring for wild blueberries! They have so much more flavor than regular blueberries. I buy them frozen and they aren't too expensive that way.
- Use an oven thermometer to double check your oven temperature. Mine varies by 50 degrees sometimes!
- If serving outside of the pan, don't forget to line the cake pan with cooking spray and parchment paper for easier release.
More recipes you'll love
Lastly, if you make this Blueberry Lemon Sheet Cake recipe be sure to leave a comment or give it a rating. I love to see when people make my recipes, so please tag me @youthsweets on Instagram if you post!
📖 Recipe
Blueberry Lemon Sheet Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Blueberry swirl
- 16 oz blueberries (454g, 1 lb) I used frozen wild blueberries, but any fresh or frozen blueberries will work
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon optional
- Pinch salt
- 1 tablespoon corn starch + 1 tablespoon water
Lemon cake
- 4 tablespoon lemon zest grated, then measured, then very finely chopped (6g)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour (440g)
- 3 teaspoon kosher salt half if using table salt
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ⅓ cups oil (140g) I used avocado oil
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups sour cream (346g)
- 4 tablespoon lemon juice freshly-squeezed
- 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoon lemon extract
Lemon cream cheese buttercream
- 8 oz cream cheese softened (224g)
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature (1 stick, 113g)
- 5 cups powdered sugar (625g)
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly-squeezed (57g)
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest grated, then measured, then very finely chopped (3g)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt half if using table salt
- ¼ teaspoon citric acid optional
- Few drops yellow food coloring optional
Instructions
Do ahead
- The blueberry swirl can be made ahead up to 2 days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until needed.
- Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan, if serving out of the pan. Alternatively, grease and line with parchment paper.
Make the blueberry swirl
- In a medium pot, combine the blueberries, sugar, water, cinnamon and salt. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water. Add to the blueberry mixture and cook until the cornstarch is activated to thicken the mixture, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, rub together the sugar and lemon zest with your fingers to express the oils for more flavor. Whisk in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, oil, lemon juice, vanilla and lemon extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold with a rubber spatula just until there are no longer any streaks of flour.
- Place half of the batter into the prepared 9x13 pan. Drop spoonfuls of the blueberry jam on top, reserving some for garnish. Add the remaining cake batter on top. Drag a butter knife or toothpick through the batter to swirl the blueberries in a bit.
- Bake for 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with beaters, add the cream cheese and beat on medium low until smooth. Make sure there are no more lumps. Scrape down the bowl a few times to be sure before removing the beaten cream cheese to a separate bowl.
- In the bowl you just used, add the butter and beat for 3 minutes or until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the cream cheese back to the bowl with the butter and beat to combine.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until combined. Mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and optional citric acid. Mix in the remaining powdered sugar until incorporated. Color with a few drops of yellow food dye, if desired.
Assemble
- Frost the cooled cake, as desired. Garnish with dollops of the remaining jam.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published 6/11/2026.
