Lemon Blueberry Mascarpone Cake

Name: Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 ⅓ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 3/4 tsp kosher salt; 1 cup, plus 1 Tbsp (250 grams) granulated sugar; 2 T lemon zest; 1 1/2 sticks (171 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature; 2 ¼ tsp lemon extract; 1 T vanilla extract; 3 eggs at room temperature; 3/4 cup (195 grams) buttermilk, room temperature; 2 T lemon juice, fresh or bottled; 3 T (35 grams) canola oil (or other colorless, odorless oil like vegetable or rapeseed); 2 T full fat Greek yogurt or sour cream at room temperature; 1 cup (165 grams) of fresh blueberries; 1 T of all-purpose flour to coat the blueberries; 1 8–ounce container (226 g) mascarpone, chilled; ½ cup (150 grams) heavy cream, chilled; 1 ½ cups (200 grams) powdered sugar; 1 tsp (12g) vanilla extract

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Wow guests at your next gathering with this decadent lemon blueberry mascarpone cake. Its flavor comes from the dream team combo of lemon and blueberries, giving it a tangy and refreshing taste. The mascarpone cream in the frosting makes this layer cake feel like a melt-in-your-mouth sort of treat. It works beautifully for a special occasion or a "just because" kind of cake.

White mascarpone frosting on a lemon and blueberry cake, sitting on a glass cake stand, with lemons and berries scattered around it.

If you haven't used mascarpone in desserts, you're in for a real treat. This Italian cream cheese has a really smooth, luxurious texture.

It's my go-to ingredient when I want something that seems fancy but is actually quite easy to use. I use it in this chocolate mascarpone mousse and these mascarpone cookies with pumpkin, which are so great during fall baking.

And if you're also a fan of blueberry things (I'm guessing that's what brought you to this cake!), my blueberry filled cupcakes, lemon blueberry cookies, and blueberry pear crumble are some of the other fun fruity recipes around here that use this versatile berry. 🫐

Jump to:

📋 Mascarpone Cake Ingredients
Best Results: Baking in Grams
Ingredients for Creamy Mascarpone Frosting
Frosting Substitutions
Pro Tip for Even Cake Layers
📖 Steps for Baking this Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake
Pro Tip for Decorating - Freeze your Cake Layers!
Steps for Making the Frosting
Assembling Layers
❓Troubleshooting and FAQ for this Lemon Cake
Storage Instructions
🫐 More Desserts with Blueberry
Lemon Berry Mascarpone Cake

📋 Mascarpone Cake Ingredients

overhead shot of ingredients for a blueberry lemon layer cake

Find the full list of ingredients and detailed instructions for this lemon blueberry mascarpone cake in the recipe card below. Here are some highlights that make this cake a keeper:

Blueberries – I used fresh blueberries here but frozen would work. King Arthur Baking has this handy guide to baking with frozen blueberries.
Canola oil or vegetable oil – Oil is a fat that helps keep cake moist and tender. It makes this fluffy cake taste fresh and soft for days!
Triple the lemon with lemon zest, lemon extract, and fresh lemon juice - This recipe balances the sweetness of the fresh berries and mascarpone with the citrus lemon flavor. Feel free to decorate the top with lemon slices or zest, too.
Mascarpone cream - Somewhat similar to American cream cheese, mascarpone is noticeably softer and less tangy. It's perhaps best known for giving tiramisu its dreamy texture and taste.

Best Results: Baking in Grams

If you’re not already, use a kitchen scale for accuracy in baking.

While I include cups and grams in my recipe cards, weighing your ingredients and writing or following a recipe using a standard metric like grams ensures consistency.

I highly recommend investing $30 or less in a kitchen scale.

Ingredients for Creamy Mascarpone Frosting

To make the frosting, you’ll need the following items:

Heavy whipping cream, chilled
Powdered sugar
Mascarpone cream, chilled
Vanilla extract

Frosting Substitutions

While I love cream cheese on my mini carrot cakes and many other desserts, this lemon blueberry cake was calling for something a bit more elegant and rich.

This frosting also holds its shape nicely if you want to pipe it onto the cake.

Cream cheese substitution - If you prefer using cream cheese frosting, you can substitute it for the mascarpone here. I recommend slightly softening it, and you may need a few more drops heavy cream to give it a more spreadable consistency.
Almond buttercream - Almond frosting is so nice and versatile; it would taste really great here.
Blueberry cream cheese frosting - Up the berry flavor by coating this cake with blueberry frosting, made from freeze-dried blueberries!

Pro Tip for Even Cake Layers

I use these bake even strips on most of my cakes. They help cake rise evenly during baking.

If you want to do the same, start soaking strips in water before proceeding with the recipe.

📖 Steps for Baking this Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake

Preheat your oven to 350°F and dive into the steps below.

Small cake pan, wrapped in damp purple cake strip.

Step 1: Line three 6” round cake pans with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can generously butter and flour the pans or use non-stick baking spray. Whatever you decide, it’s important to use proper baking release spray or butter and flour so that your layers don't stick to the pan.

Flour and other dry ingredients in glass mixing bowl.

Step 2: To a bowl large enough to eventually hold all of your ingredients, add and whisk together all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

Step 3: Using the paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat your sugar and lemon zest together for 1 minute. This helps release the oil of the lemon peel into your cake.

Bowl of butter, sugar, and extract to mix for cake.

Step 4: Then add your butter, vanilla and lemon extract to cream them together on medium speed for 4 minutes. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Ingredients in a mixing bowl for cake batter.

Step 5: Add your eggs, buttermilk, fresh or bottled lemon juice, canola oil, and Greek yogurt (or sour cream) to your primary mixing bowl. Mix on slow for about 3 minutes. Higher speeds will have batter splashing and flying around, so start slowly!

Wet and dry cake ingredients combined for lemon blueberry cake.

Step 6: Add the bowl of wet ingredients to the dry, mixing gently until just combined.

Cake pan filled with batter and some blueberries.

Step 7: In a small bowl, toss blueberries with tablespoon of flour before gently folding them into batter and pouring it evenly into your prepared cake pans (about 420 grams in each pan).

Up-close image of baked lemon berry cake layers, cooling on wire racks.

Step 8: Bake layers in preheated oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until layers appear buttery and dense but bounce back at the touch of your finger. Let cakes cool in pans about 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Pro Tip for Decorating - Freeze your Cake Layers!

Want to avoid crumbs getting everywhere in your frosting as you decorate your cake? Work with a cold cake and freeze your layers!

After baking most of my cakes, I freeze them so that I can apply the frosting or buttercream more easily without crumbs getting in my way.

If the cake is cold when you decorate it, the crumbs are held in place.

Once your cake is no longer warm from the oven, you can wrap it in plastic wrap. Set it on a flat surface like a cooling rack and gently wrap your cake layers.

You can pop the cake layers into the freezer for half an hour or overnight. They'll still be fresh and ready for frosting.

Steps for Making the Frosting

Step 1: Make the Frosting: Whip your mascarpone, vanilla extract, and powdered sugar on low speed for about 10 seconds, then bump up for another 30 seconds on medium speed.

Step 2: Make Stiff Peaks: Once combined, slowly pour in your heavy cream. Once incorporated, bump mixer to medium high speed and continue whipping until all ingredients are combined, about 90 more seconds. Closely watch the bowl to avoid over-mixing, as it may cause the frosting to develop lumps and curdle.

You'll know you're done when you have medium stiff peaks, (meaning the frosting can loosely hold its shape) like the picture here.

Assembling Layers

Cake circle with frosting on top of it, on a cake turntable.

Step 1: Start to Stack Layers: Set out your cake turntable with a cake circle on it. Then use pipe or spread a dollop of your frosting onto a cake circle to act as glue to hold the layer in place. Set first lemon berry cake layer on top of that.

Setting third cake layer onto second on a cake turntable.

Step 2: With your piping bag and mascarpone frosting, evenly spread roughly 20% of your frosting on top of the bottom layer. Place second cake layer on top of the first, repeating the same steps, and then add your final layer of cake.

Three layers of cake, frosted with a rough coat of mascarpone.

Step 3: Start Frosting: Starting from the base of the cake, drag your piping bag in circles around the cake until the sides and top are mostly covered. To recreate this semi-naked and more rustic look, leave some openings in the frosting.

Cake scraper against a white cake, smoothing out frosting.

Step 4: Smooth Out the Crumb Coat: Place and hold a cake scraper against the side of the cake and gently pull the cake around to smooth out the frosting. Use the cake scraper or an offset spatula to also push the frosting on the cake's top toward the center. Smooth top with offset spatula.

Offset spatula against a white cake, smoothing out frosting.

Step 5: Clean up Up the Design: Continue coating cake with remaining frosting and scraping gently as desired. Once the design is fairly smooth, stop! Over-scraping the frosting can lead to a messy look and increase your chances of accidentally pulling out the crumbs in the layers.

Front view of lemon and blueberry cake, topped with berries.

Step 6: Add Finishing Touches: If desired, add some fresh blueberries and small pieces of lemon zest to the top of the cake, base and sides.

❓Troubleshooting and FAQ for this Lemon Cake

Why is my mascarpone icing runny?

Because mascarpone is a more delicate ingredient, if over-beaten, it can become runny. Avoid this by mixing the frosting together only until combined - no need to keep whipping once ingredients are all incorporated together.

High temperature and/or humidity can both cause your icing to run. If your frosting is too liquid-y, pop it back into the refrigerator until it's firmer and begin slowly mixing together again.

Also, if you've added too much heavy cream to the mascarpone, it may not be able to thicken properly. In that case, a little more powdered sugar can help thicken the frosting's consistency. More mascarpone cheese could help balance out the liquid as well.

What's the difference between crème fraîche and mascarpone?

Crème fraîche and mascarpone are both dairy products. The former has a slightly sour flavor. Mascarpone, on the other hand, is a type of Italian cream cheese with a rich, creamy flavor that lacks the tanginess of crème fraîche.

In terms of texture, crème fraîche is thinner and more liquid-like than mascarpone.

Why does my mascarpone frosting split?

Mascarpone has a tendency to split when mixed with other ingredients that are different temperature. If your mascarpone is very cold and heavy cream is warm, or vice versa, your frosting could split. Carefully follow the steps of the recipe whenever determining the temperature you should use for combining ingredients with mascarpone.

Overhead view of lemon and blueberry cake, topped with berries and curled lemon zest.

Storage Instructions

Refrigerator - Because mascarpone is a dairy-based product, store this cake in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It'll taste best and more moist closer to room temperature.

Bring it out about 30 minutes before serving.

I recommend eating this lemon blueberry mascarpone cake within 5 days for freshest taste.

Freezer - You could make the cake layers in advance; they freeze well.

Wrap them with plastic wrap and store in an airtight container for maximum freshness. This cake can keep it in the freezer for about three months.

Frosting storage - The mascarpone frosting will still be good if frozen. However, its consistency may be different when it thaws. The flavor is still good, though texture is not quite the same. I'd make the frosting when I'm planning to put it on the cake.

For more info, I have a guide for freezing cupcakes. Many of the same rules and tips apply to frozen cakes as well.

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