This Lemon Blueberry Mascarpone Cake is so bright, fresh, and tender – it has the perfect hint of tart lemon with bursting sweet blueberries. Easy to make in one bowl, great to throw together in a pinch when you want a simple cake. No layer cake steps or assembly, a simple single layer loaf cake!
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Ingredients
This fluffy lemon cake comes together with pretty basic ingredients, and is dotted with fresh juicy blueberries making it a perfect fruity treat.
- All purpose flour: standard flour, I tend to use unbleached
- Granulated sugar: regular or organic both are fine
- Lemon zest and lemon juice: fresh of both, brings a ton of great bright tangy flavor that pairs so nicely with the sweet blueberries.
- Large eggs: make sure you get large, it matters for moisture content
- Vanilla extract: rounds out the flavors and brings them all together. Vanilla bean paste is also a great option, 1:1 swap
- Neutral oil: any you prefer, vegetable oil or canola oil are my go-to. You could also use a mild olive oil
- Mascarpone cheese: a soft, mild Italian cheese that is reminiscent of cream cheese
- Fresh blueberries: fresh berries are best (especially when they're in season), frozen is also fine!
- Baking powder: the leavener
- Kosher salt: to bring out all the flavor and balance the sweetness
- Turbinado sugar: raw, coarse sugar that creates the best crunchy top
Step by step instructions
Full recipe with ingredient quantities can be found in the recipe card at the end of this post.
1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest – work it together with your fingers so the lemon essence spreads all throughout the sugar.
2. To the lemon sugar, add the wet ingredients – eggs, vanilla, oil, fresh lemon juice, and mascarpone – whisk together.
3. To the combined liquids, add the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until almost fully combined.
4. Add the blueberries and fold into the batter until everything is fully combined.
5. Pour the cake batter into the baking pan, top with a the remaining blueberries and turbinado/raw sugar.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden and a cake tester comes out without wet batter. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes to set, then take it out and put it on a cooling rack.
Ingredient substitutions
- You can use frozen blueberries if you'd like – no need to thaw them
- If you can't find mascarpone cheese you can use plain full fat greek yogurt or sour cream
- Substituting orange or grapefruit in place of lemon
What is mascarpone cheese?
Mascarpone cheese is a spreadable cow’s milk cheese from Italy, similar in texture to cream cheese. It’s very mild, slightly sweet almost - similar in flavor to ricotta cheese.
Tips and tricks
To help make sure your lemon blueberry mascarpone cake comes out great, read the tips and tricks below.
- Do really take the time to combine the sugar and the lemon zest, it really infuses the lemon flavor throughout the sugar and therefore really well throughout the cake.
- Using room temperature ingredients will help make sure everything mixes together well – I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s absolutely necessary, but it does help.
- To line your pan, use both parchment paper and non-stick cooking spray. I like the extra insurance.
- Use one strip of parchment and hang it over the sides so you can easily pull the cake out of the pan when it’s done
- Mix the ingredients until the flour and berries are just combined, if you over-mix your batter you run the risk of making the cake tough. It’ ok to leave some lumps!
- If you want to add a glaze or frosting on top of the cake, go for it!
- A simple powdered sugar glaze would be great (whole milk + powdered sugar + pinch of salt)
- So would a quick cream cheese frosting or buttercream frosting, especially mixed with a bit of lemon curd
- Or double down on the mascarpone and make a fluffy mascarpone frosting
- Or even just some fresh whipped cream and extra fresh mixed berries on top
- When you measure ingredients for baking, accuracy is important! For flour specifically, I suggest either using a scale or scooping the flour gently into a measuring cup and leveling it off.
Storage
Lemon Blueberry Mascarpone Cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
FAQs
Sure can! 8-inch cake pans or 9-inch cake pans would be great, but the batter will bake quicker in these, so start checking it at about 30 minutes.
The addition of mascarpone helps the cake be moist and and have a delicious tender texture.
No, they are not interchangeable.
I don’t find it necessary because you add the blueberries before the flour is fully incorporated, so they naturally get a little coated. However, if you use frozen blueberries you should coat them in about 1 tablespoon of flour as they hold more moisture and will be more prone to sinking.
Did you make this recipe? Leave a rating and review below and tag me on social!
📖 Recipe
Lemon Blueberry Mascarpone Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest about 1 lemon
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice about ½ a lemon
- ½ cup mascarpone cheese room temperature
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest – work it together with your fingers so the lemon essence spreads all throughout the sugar.
- To the lemon sugar, add the wet ingredients – eggs, vanilla, oil, fresh lemon juice, and mascarpone – whisk together.
- To the combined liquids, add the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until almost fully combined.
- Add most of the blueberries and fold into the batter until everything is fully combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the baking pan, top with a the remaining blueberries and turbinado/raw sugar.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden and a cake tester comes out without wet batter. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes to set, then take it out and put it on a cooling rack.
Pamela says
Curious if this would work in muffin tins? Looks delicious!
Haley says
Absolutely & thanks! Bake at the same temperature for about 20-25 minutes, until a tester (or knife) comes out clean.
Alexis says
Made this (as muffins! My 4 year old’s fave) last night - SO good! The flavor is amazing - a bite of summer. So impressed with this recipe!
Haley says
I'm so glad to hear you & your little one loved them! Thanks so much for trying my recipe 🙂
Kate says
I was home alone and had the ingredients, so I made this. I only had 6 ozs of yogurt so added a bit of half and half. This is truly delicious. I can taste the lemon zest and it is very moist, thank you.
Haley says
Thanks so much, Kate! Glad you enjoyed.
Yuro says
Can I use vanilla yogurt instead of Greek yogurt?
Haley says
I haven't tried it, but I think it could work. You might just need to bake the cake for a little bit longer since regular yogurt is more liquid-y. I'd also pull the vanilla extract back to 1/2 tsp if you're using vanilla yogurt.