Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
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If you’re looking for a delicious, seasonal, berry cake recipe to add to your morning-treat repertoire, this buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake is perfect! The batter can be made ahead of time and stashed in the fridge, allowing you to bake the cake off in the morning. What’s more? It freezes beautifully!
Buttermilk is magic. It turns everything into gold: super-moist, super-delicious gold.
This morning I awoke needing a simple, summery, cake-like-but-not-dessert-like breakfast treat. One of Ben’s friends had crashed here last night, and I thought it only appropriate to treat him to a proper breakfast.
In other words, I was craving sugar and carbs. The truth is I’ve been craving sugar and carbs and a cake like this for months. But seriously, who doesn’t need a good, seasonal, berry cake recipe in their morning-treat repertoire?
Nobody. And I think I’ve found the recipe that fits the bill: buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake. On an old photocopied sheet of paper in my mother’s hand writing, I spotted a note: “Baby Boy’s Favorite.”
Oh Baby Boy. Baby Boy is my younger brother, my parents’ favorite child, and one of the most satisfying people to cook for. If it was Baby Boy’s favorite cake, it would soon be mine, too. This cake is delectable! I think you’ll like it, too.
(And if you’re looking for more fruit options, this cake is so good with cranberries.)
PS: Divine Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
Five Favorite Recipes Made with Buttermilk
- One-Bowl Buttermilk Birthday Cake
- Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Simple Rhubarb Compote
- Tartine’s Buttermilk-Blueberry Scones
- Joanne Chang’s Buttermilk Biscuits with Maple and Sea Salt
- One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
Bonus: Favorite Buttermilk Dressing for Slaw
How to Make Buttermilk from Scratch
Scale this recipe up as needed.
- Place 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
- Fill cup with milk (2% or whole is best) until it reaches the 1/2-cup line.
- Let stand for five minutes. Use as directed.
Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 to 16 pieces
Description
This cake is a long-time family favorite. My mother made it for my siblings and me when we were young, and every time I pull it out of the oven, clichè as it sounds, I am reminded of summer mornings in my childhood kitchen. It’s simple, adaptable, and make aheadable 🙂
Over the years, many questions have been asked, which I’ve answered as best as I can in the comments. I’ve answered a few FAQs in the notes below the recipe as well.
Also, if you’re new here, welcome! You’ve landed on one of the two most popular recipes on Alexandra’s Kitchen, the other being My Mother’s Peasant Bread, which led to the creation of my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs, which includes 40 simple bread recipes and 70+ recipes for eating them up. (If you love baking, you’ll love this no-knead bread.)
Ingredients
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons | 4 oz | 113 g ) unsalted butter, room temperature
- zest from 1 large lemon
- 1 cup (214 g) sugar (set aside 1 tablespoon for sprinkling)
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour (set aside 1/4 cup of this to toss with the blueberries)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. kosher salt (I like 1.25 tsp)
- 2 cups fresh blueberries, picked over
- ½ cup buttermilk, see FAQs below
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, cream the butter with the lemon zest and the 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon of sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the batter, and stir with spatula to incorporate. Add all of the buttermilk. Stir. Add remaining flour, and stir until flour is absorbed. Fold in the blueberries. (Leave excess flour from the blueberry bowl behind.)
- Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar—I prefer this 8-inch pan because I like the thicker pieces) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. If you have parchment paper on hand, line the pan with parchment on top of the butter. Spread the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the batter with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes — a 9-inch pan will be done in closer to 35 minutes; an 8-inch pan usually needs 40 to 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary, especially if you’re using a smaller pan such as an 8×8-inch. It’s not unusual for this cake to take 50 minutes, so just be patient.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
FAQs
- Can this be made ahead of time? Yes. Prepare the batter, spread it into the prepared baking pan, cover it with plastic wrap, and store in the fridge. In the morning, if time permits, bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the sugar, then bake as directed. It may need more time if the batter was refrigerated.
- Can this be doubled? Yes. Bake it in a 9×13-inch pan … like this pan from Pyrex. Increase the baking time but begin checking at the 35 minute mark.
- What if I don’t have buttermilk? Use 2% or whole milk or make your own buttermilk: place 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk until it reaches the 1/2-cup line. Let stand for five minutes. Use as directed.
- Can this be made gluten free? Yes. I like Cup4Cup and King Arthur Flour gluten-free flour mixes, but use whatever you like, keeping in mind that all gluten-free flours absorb liquid differently, so you may need to adjust to get the batter to the right consistency.
- Should the batter be thick? Yes. As with all baking, I highly recommend using a scale to measure the flour. I have this one, which costs under $11.
- Can I bake this into muffins? Yes. Follow the baking directions on this post.
- Can I use frozen berries? Yes. No need to thaw.
- What other fruit could I use? Really any fresh fruit or berries. Around the winter holidays, I make this cranberry-orange buttermilk breakfast cake.
- Can this be frozen? Made ahead of time? Yes! Let cool completely, then wrap well with plastic wrap or other airtight wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature the night before serving. Reheat at 350ºF for 15 minutes before serving. If you are not freezing it, store it at room temperature for a day. Refrigerate if storing for more than 1 day.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
3,543 Comments on “Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake”
Amazing!!!
So good, so yummy, so easy to make!
Yay 🎉🎉🎉
I’ve made this twice in the last few days…. the best blueberry cake I’ve ever made. I did use sanding sugar instead of baking sugar for the top. It caramelized beautifully with a hard crunchy top! I’m afraid to look at your other recipes!
Sanding sugar sounds amazing! Love this idea 😍😍😍
Can i use frozen blueberries?
Yes!
Do you use a wet or dry measuring cup to measure your milk?
I find dry measuring cups to be more accurate, so I almost always use dry measuring cups when measuring liquids. I use dry measuring cups here.
This cake is wonderful and so easy to make!
Yay 😍😍😍
So good, not overly sweet. We LOVE this recipe.
wonderful to hear this, Jessi!
I love this recipe! I’m making a double batch tonight to take to work tomorrow. My coworkers love it! Instead of blueberries, I use huckleberries that my husband and I picked in the mountains last summer! Yummo! Thank you so much for sharing!
Amazing! Wonderful to hear this, Rae!
Could you use oil in place of the butter here? So excited to try this one!
I think you could! I would reduce the amount — use slightly less than 1/2 cup … or just go for it with the 1/2 cup! I think the general rule is to use slightly less oil when converting from butter to oil, but somehow I think 1/2 cup of oil here would be just fine.
Moist, perfect blend of lemon freshness with blueberry. Absolutely loved it and made it just as written. Double recipe and used two cake pans…started testing around 35 min, added an extra 7 for perfection! Thank you
This recipe is amazing !! Easy to make and worth it!!
This is a fabulously good recipe. It is pretty simple to make. True to the comments, I had to test if it was done. I live at high altitude (5000 feet) and recipes for baking don’t always do well at this altitude. But this recipe is a big hit and a true keeper. 4 adults and one toddler finished it off quickly. If you have a big crowd you should double the recipe or make two batches.
I served it with home made whipped cream. Yummo!
Wonderful to hear this, Glenda!
Do I have to use baking powder? Can I use baking soda(how much) instead?
Hi Sandra! Baking soda is 4x more powerful than baking powder, so you would only need 1/2 teaspoon baking soda here. Baking powder is made up of baking soda + cream of tartar. I think this recipe will be OK if you don’t add any cream of tartar because buttermilk will offer enough acidity to react with the baking soda and allow the cake to rise.
Delicious and such a nice balance of sweetness and tartness. The lemon zest adds a lightness. I will be making again!
Moist with the most amazing flavor. I did replace the buttermilk with oat milk, but that worked just fine.
Wonderful to hear this!
Absolutely delicious, and very easy to make! I will definitely add this to my regular rotation of recipes.
Wonderful 😍😍😍
Thank you for helping me conquer baking with blueberries and a cake for the first time! Your recipe is easy to follow especially the video and the home made buttermilk instructions. My cake turned out moist with the perfect balance of lemon and blueberry! Only 1/4 of the cake is left!
Wonderful to hear this!!
Absolutely amazing!! The texture is like a very light muffin. If you love lemon blueberry foods, you’ll love this. The whole family loved it!
Wonderful to hear this!
Very good moist and full of blueberries
This looks delicious and will be on our breakfast menu tomorrow! I’m wondering… is there a way to print this without the ads on the print page?
Let me find out! If I can remove them, I will … thank you!
Amazing! Once I tried this recipe, I was done looking for a good blueberry/lemon anything!!!! Addicting!
Wonderful to hear this, Ann!
Just made this as part of our “breakfast for dinner” tonight…and WOW. This is amazing. All 3 of my kids have now requested this as their future breakfast cake on their birthdays. Sweet, tart, light and fluffy…perfection.
Wonderful to hear this, Mae! Breakfast for dinner is the best 😍😍😍
This was the perfect cake and so easy to make! I didn’t have buttermilk on hand so I used 2% milk with a little lemon juice. I will definitely make this again soon. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Wonderful to hear this, Phyllis!
I am making another one right now! The last one didn’t last long. Good thing blueberries are in season..
Wonderful to hear this, Phyllis!
I just made this but there is NO evidence I actually made it. My family devoured it! A testament to how good it is! I had to add a few strawberries bc my husband helped himself to the blueberries this morning.
Wonderful to hear this, Fran!
I made this cake. It is amazingly good. We grow our own blueberries, so I have been looking for a great recipe – found it!!! I did add a crumb topping which turned out very pretty and delicious. I added 1 1/2 T melted butter and 2 T sugar to the flour used for dusting the berries. Turned out great. Anxious to try some other fruit options. Definitely my go to recipe. Thanks so much!!
Wonderful to hear this, Kathy! Crumb topping sounds divine.
I made this tonight and it was more labor intensive than most, but, oh so worth it!! I used Pillsbury Best Gluten-free all-purpose flour blend and baked at 350° for 40 minutes and it was delicious!! This recipe will be used over and over again because it was an absolute hit with my family!
Wonderful to hear this, Melissa!
I have made this so many times, and it is just perfect every time! I’ve swapped blackberries in place of blueberries, and used oranges in places of lemons – all incredibly tasty variations!
Wonderful to hear this, Leslie!
I made this recipe for the first time. My family and I enjoyed it immensely. It had great flavor and texture. I did have to bake it a few minutes longer as stated in the instructions. I will definitely be making this again!
Wonderful to hear this, Monica!
I put in extra blueberries cause … I love them. Didn’t change anything else. Just the most wonderful “breakfast” you can imagine!
Yay hooray 😍😍😍😍😍
So delicious!!! I shared with my neighbors who then wanted the recipe.
wonderful to hear this!
I loved this recipe I was only 8 when I made this the first time it was very easy, and delicious everyone loved it!
Mia, this is amazing!!
OMGosh! this is so delicious and moist. I did double so I could take some to a friend who lost her mother to the virus and she loves blueberries so I’m sure she will be over the moon about this cake. It did take longer to bake but like you said I was patient and watched and tested and it came out perfect, just ate some with some ice cream. Thanks for the easy recipe!
Wonderful to hear this, Sue! So sorry about your friend’s mother … so, so sad 😢