There are only a few things that scream Spring / Summer, one is lemon flavour and the other are blueberries!
The freshness of blueberries alongside the sweet, light and fluffy sponge cake is scrumptious! It makes for a perfect afternoon tea (or anytime) cake.
This Vegan Blueberry Cake features 2 small batch cake layers with whole, fresh blueberries inside, filled with a blueberry compote and fresh blueberry yogurt buttercream.
Recipe is sponsored by Cuisinart. Check out my Disclosure Policy for more details.
This post also contains aff links.
The BEST Blueberry Cake EVER
This is a small batch Blueberry Cake and serves around 8 -10. It’s moist, light and loaded with fresh blueberries! With easy, homemade blueberry compote and a fresh blueberry buttercream, this cake will leave you wanting another slice. As the cake contains blueberries, it’s healthy right? Meaning you can have it for breakfast? – haha!
I’ve not always been the biggest fan of blueberries. My mum always tops off her breakfast with them and I’ve never understood why. I’ve always preferred strawberries and raspberries myself, but in the past couple of months my love for the little blue-berry has really grown.
Blueberries have a subtle sourness to them and I love how they pop in your mouth.
After making my Vegan Blackberry Cake and seeing how much my followers loved it, I had the idea of making a scrumptious blueberry version. It’s similar to the blackberry one, but this blueberry cake literally has blueberries baked into the sponge, along with a homemade blueberry compote and a yogurt buttercream.
If you’re a blueberry fan like I am now, you’re going to love it.
Looking for more fruity recipes? Look no further:
How to make a Vegan Blueberry Cake
This plant-based cake comes together in less than 10 minutes and needs just half an hour in the oven. To make it, simply mix the dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar together to create a vegan buttermilk. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl. Pour in the oil and curdled buttermilk. Combine, then fold in some flour coated blueberries. For an extra hint of flavour, you could always add in some fresh lemon zest. Yum!!
All you need are two small cake tins – I use 6 inch for this recipe. Just make sure they’re lined or the cakes will stick. To test if the cakes are ready, stick a knife or skewer down the middle and see if it comes out clean. If it does then its baked and ready to take out the oven. If not, they’ll need a bit more baking time, just keep an eye on them as you don’t want them to burn.
Make sure to ‘PIN’ the photo below to your favourite Pinterest Board.
What mixer did I use?
I used the Cuisinart Stand Mixer to make this cake. (ad).
It’s no secret that I love stand mixers. I am definitely someone who likes to bake the easy way, using an electric mixer and a blender rather than doing the things myself and waking up with arm and back ache – haha! This stand mixer is fabulous for bakers, if you’re just starting out or are a professional. It’s simple to use, comes with 3 different heads (including my personal favourites the balloon whisk attachment, dough hook and the paddle attachment). It has an amazing 12 speed setting, from low to high, excellent for folding, kneading and whisking.
Two main things I love about this mixer is how stylish it is in black and chrome and how quiet it is when mixing. So, if you are baking at night when family are in bed, like I do a lot, you won’t disturb them and they’ll have a cake to wake up to.
How to use the Cuisinart Precision Stand mixer for this blueberry cake?
This mixer comes with a few different attachments which are all super easy to take on and off the machine.
I used the paddle attachment to help make the cake batter and the balloon whisk attachment for the buttercream.
I combine the dry ingredients with the wet using the paddle attachment. Fold in the blueberries by hand to prevent them from over-mixing and bursting. You want to maintain that blueberry pop!
I use the balloon whisk attachment to make the buttercream. All you need to do is to add the butter into the bowl, whisk on high speed until pale in colour (this will take 3-5 minutes on number 12 speed). Turn down the speed to number one, then add in the icing sugar and yogurt. Keep the speed on slow while the icing sugar gets combined, then slowly turn up the speed back up to number 12. Allow the buttercream to whisk on high for around 5 minutes until fluffy and creamy. Fold in the blueberry compote by hand.
If you’re after an affordable stand mixer that’s not only stylish but works like a dream, you’ve got to check this one out! It comes highly recommended by me!
Get your own Cuisinart precision Mixer here.
What you’ll need to make this Vegan Blueberry Cake (cakes only):
- Dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar
For the sponge, you’ll want to make a simple dairy-free buttermilk. Whisk these two ingredients together and allow to stand for 5 minutes to curdle, making your vegan buttermilk.
- Self raising flour
You’ll want to use self raising flour, as this helps the cake to rise and become extra light & fluffy.
- Caster Sugar
The sugar adds sweetness and stabilises the cake. You can use white caster sugar or a golden caster sugar if preferred.
- Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
These two raising agents allow the cake to rise and become fluffy. They’re a must in vegan cakes.
- Oil
I like to use sunflower oil for cakes, as it works amazingly well and doesn’t have any flavour, meaning it won’t effect the taste of the cake unlike coconut oil and other vegetable oils.
- Blueberries
The star of the show. You’ll want to coat the blueberries in flour before adding into the batter for the cake, this helps to prevent the berries sinking when baking.
To make this cake even tastier, I made a homemade blueberry compote and fresh blueberry buttercream (recipe and details below).
What is compote?
Compote is quite like jam. It uses fruit, sugar and a thickening agent like cornstarch / cornflour. It resembles jam in it’s taste and texture but has a stronger flavour, which is why I love baking with it! Plus, its super easy to make!
I have one of the best compote recipes in my brand new book ‘The Little Book of Vegan Bakes‘, where I feature it in Lemon & Raspberry Cookies. Make sure to check it out!
Tips for the fluffiest blueberry cake
- For preventing the blueberries sinking to the bottom of the cake when baking, toss the blueberries in a small drop of lemon juice or water to moisten the skin, then roll them in flour.
- Use soya milk for the best buttermilk. Any dairy-free milk works perfectly, but I find soya milk works best when making a thick buttermilk for cakes.
- If you’re not using 6-inch pans, double the recipe for 8-inch pans or triple the recipe for 9-inch pans.
- Make sure to measure all of the ingredients correctly. My preferred method is grams as this is the most accurate.
- As you’re adding yogurt into the buttercream, make sure you don’t add too much, as this can make your buttercream split. When you add the yogurt, keep an eye on the texture. If it does look like it’s splitting, add more butter / icing sugar until it comes back to the right consistency (which should be thick and creamy).
If you make, and love this recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating below. It would mean so much, thank you & happy baking!
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Vegan Blueberry Cake
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8–10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This small batch, fluffy Vegan Blueberry Cake is moist, light and loaded with fresh blueberries! With easy, homemade blueberry compote and a fresh blueberry buttercream, this cake will leave you wanting more!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the compote
- 150g of of fresh / frozen blueberries
- 50g of caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons of cornstarch / cornflour
- 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Ingredients for the sponge
- 240ml of dairy-free milk
- 1 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
- 210g of self-raising flour
- 200g of caster sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 60g of sunflower oil
- Zest of 1 lemon (optional)
- 50g of fresh blueberries (coated in flour, see step 6-7 for details)
Ingredients for the buttercream
- 160g of dairy-free block butter*
- 330g of icing sugar
- 50g of dairy-free vanilla / plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoons of the blueberry compote
+
- Whole blueberries
- Mint leaves (for decoration)
Instructions
Method (blueberry compote)
- Place the blueberries into a medium-sized saucepan and sprinkle over the sugar, cornflour / cornstarch and lemon juice.
- Place on top onto the hob over a medium to high heat and bring to the boil. This will take around 5-8 minutes. Keep stirring with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from sticking and burning, being careful not to burst the blueberries too much as you want some to stay whole. It will start to turn thick. Once thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool before using. As it cools, it will thicken up even more and turn jelly-like.
- Store in a sealed container in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. As the compote cools, it’ll turn thick. If this happens, give it a gentle stir before using.
Method (cakes)
- Preheat your oven to 180°C fan and line two, 6 inch loose base / push up cake tins with greaseproof paper. Set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the dairy-free milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined. Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Mix well to combine.
- Add the oil and zest of 1 lemon (if using) into the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of lemon juice into a bowl and add in the blueberries. Coat them in the lemon juice to moisten them, then roll to coat them in flour.
- Gently fold the coated blueberries into the batter. Only fold them 1-2 times, don’t over-mix.
- Pour equal amounts of batter into the lined cake tins. Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.
- Pop the cakes into the centre of the preheated oven and bake for around 25-30 minutes. You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch. As the cakes have the blueberries, they might be sticker than usual when first out of the oven.
- Place the cakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool slightly before removing from the tins. Remove the greaseproof paper and allow to cool fully on the cooling rack. Once cool, pop them into a sealed container to keep them fresh before frosting.
Method (buttercream)
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the dairy-free butter and whip until pale. I use a Cuisinart Stand Mixer with a balloon whisk attachment, a hand mixer will work well too.
- Sift in the icing sugar and add in the dairy-free yogurt, whip on high speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate it.
- Fold in 2 tablespoons of blueberry compote. If your buttercream splits, no worries, it’s easily fixable! What you’ll want to do is add more icing sugar (50g at a time) into the mixture along with a few cubes of butter. Keep the mixture whipping on high until it comes back to a smooth consistency.
- Stack and fill the cakes with some buttercream and compote (watch how I decorate this cake here). Optional: Press whole, fresh blueberries into the buttercream / compote before placing the other cake on top.
- Place the second cake layer on top. Pressing it down gently so it sticks.
- Crumb coat the whole cake with a little buttercream, then place into the freezer to firm up. This will take 5 minutes. You don’t want to actually freeze the cake, just set the buttercream firm. This helps with ease at applying the final coat. If you’d like to learn ‘how to ice cakes’ and applying buttercream, make sure to pick up a copy of my book. It will really help you!!
- Apply a thick coat of blueberry buttercream all around the top and sides of the cake. Use a cake scraper or pallet knife to make it smooth.
- Make decorative lines in the buttercream using a small off set spatula, drag it from the bottom to the top of the cake, wiping off any excess buttercream in-between each swipe.
- Transfer any left over buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star tip nozzle (I use a Wilton 2D tip), and pipe a decorative swirl along the top edge of the cake.
- To decorate the cake, press whole, fresh blueberries to the side of the cake (in three’s). Finish with a mint leaf for decoration (optional). Check out the photos on this post for reference. Why not go that extra step and fill the top of the cake with whole blueberries?!
Notes
To store: Keep this cake stored in a sealed container in the fridge (as it contains yogurt). Best eaten within 3 days of making. Un-iced cakes can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for 2 days. Leave at room temperature for 15 minutes before tucking in!
My favourite vegan block butter to use is Flora Plant Based Block and Naturli Block.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
- Category: Cakes and layer cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Hi, can I make this awesome cake gluten free? My daughter loves blueberries. She eats blueberries every single day. But she needs to be in a gluten free diet.
Thank you!
Vanessa
Author
Hello, you can!!! Quite a few people have already made this one, and made it gluten-free. Make sure to use a good quality gluten-free self raising flour. Enjoy xx
Made this and tasted amazing! Thankyou !
Made this and tasted amazing! Thankyou ! X
Author
Hello, Aw im so glad you enjoyed. Thank you so much xx
If I triple the ingredients to make a 9″ cake, what temperature should I use and how long would you cook it for thanks? Also could I use square tins with those amounts?
I want to give this 5 stars but the buttercream separated SO bad. I followed your steps Re: adding extra butter cubes and icing sugar… it came together smooth when I frosted it but then separated on the drive over (12 minute drive in air conditioning)… it looked gorgeous after frosted and looked like hell when it got to the party. It had separated and curdled very very badly… at least the sponge was tasty 😅
Hi! Would you be able to advise how to alter this recipe for 9 inch tins? Thank you x
hello! could you do this with blackberries or raspberries instead of blueberries?
Author
Hellooo, i have a blackberry cake on my site already which you’ll love! Type ‘blackberry cake’ in the search bar of my site and it’ll come up lovely x
Another delicious light and airy sponge cake! I ended up just using shop bought blueberry jam instead of making the compote which worked well. The icing did split a little but didn’t affect the taste of it. Perfect size if you’ve got friends coming around
Author
So happy you enjoyed, thank you so much x