Paleo Lemon Blueberry Cake
466 Comments
Updated Aug 30, 2024
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Paleo Lemon Blueberry Cake is the perfect spring and summer cake recipe. It’s bright, lemony and covered in a heaping amount of fresh blueberries. Made from a blend of almond flour, tapioca flour and coconut flour plus a good amount of fresh lemon juice, this is a paleo cake recipe that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.
I’ve been wanting to make a lemon blueberry cake for ages. There’s just something about the combination of lemon and blueberries that’s deliciously sweet and puts a smile on your face. It’s all the goodness of spring and summer rolled up into a cake and it’s perfect for Sunday brunch, afternoon tea and Mother’s Day.
But as you probably know, paleo baking is not without nuance. The ratio of the flours, wet ingredients and sweetener has to be just perfect for the right texture. If you followed the behind-the-scenes on my Instagram, you know that I attempted this cake four times (and made lots of little tweaks).
But good news – I’m incredibly happy with this final version and thrilled to share the recipe with you today!
Paleo Cake Ingredients
If you’re familiar with paleo baking (which is gluten-free and dairy-free) then the ingredients will be of no surprise to you. Like a lot of my baking recipes, I have a mix of almond flour, tapioca flour and coconut flour, which forms the bulk of the cake.
While taste testing this recipe I also tried out a few different sweeteners:
- Maple Syrup: For the official recipe I decided to stick with maple syrup as this was the clear favorite among the taste testers. It really gave the cake a light and moderately sweet flavor.
- Honey: An alternative is to use honey which can be swapped 1:1 with the maple syrup. Compared to the syrup, honey can make the cake texture a little more dense. But if you’re looking for a less sweet cake, honey will be the best alternative.
- Monk fruit and Erythritol: For a low-carb and keto friendly sweetener you could use monk fruit or erythritol. However, since monk fruit is a dry ingredient, you’ll need adjust the ratio by either adding additional wet ingredients or minimizing a dry ingredient (I recommend doubling the coconut oil and reducing each of the flours a little).
Lastly, the cake, if you haven’t guessed has a lemon flavor and a delicious blueberry top. Blueberries are on my 8 Anti-Inflammatory Foods I Eat Every Week list and who said I couldn’t include them in a dessert to get my count for the week. *wink*
Which Lemons Should You Use?
I recommend using fresh lemon juice for this recipe, rather than bottled lemon juice. The flavor is much more vibrant and pronounced. If you can find Meyer lemons, those are great and they’re a little sweeter which is perfect for this cake.
How to Make Paleo Lemon Blueberry Cake
Because this cake has blueberries on top, I recommend using a springform pan. It’s much easier to release the cake after baking and you don’t have to worry about turning it upside down. Once you’ve got your pan ready you’ll need to go through the following steps:
- Mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. This step may seem like an evil plan to get you to wash more dishes, in reality though, a chemical reaction occurs once you mix the wet and dry ingredients together that helps the cake rise. It’s important to have the chemical reaction happen last right before the batter goes into the oven or else your baking may fall a little flat.
- Mix both wet and dry ingredients together with a hand mixer. Once the batter is all mixed in pour it into your spring-form pan.
- Add blueberries! I recommend adding 1/2 cup (or more, if you’d like) of blueberries after half of the batter has been poured. Then add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of blueberries on top and place the cake into the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
More Delicious Paleo Desserts You’ll Love
- Paleo Brownies
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Amazing Paleo Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Caramel Cheesecake
- Berry Sheet Cake
Want a variation of this in muffin form? Try my Paleo Blueberry Muffins. And if you’ve got an abundance of lemons, you might also love my Lavender Lemonade, Meyer Lemon Coconut Macaroons and Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies.
Paleo Lemon Blueberry Cake
Description
Video
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups almond flour
- 3/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups blueberries
Wet Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 3 lemons, juiced and zested (equals 1/2 cup juice and 3 tbsp zest)
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350° F (175° C).
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan with coconut oil or ghee. You can also line the bottom of the springform pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
- Combine all dry ingredients (minus the blueberries) in a large bowl and stir.
- Combine all wet ingredients in a bowl.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a hand-mixer on medium-high speed for about 30 seconds or until combined.
- Pour half the batter into the springform pan and add 1/2 cup of the blueberries. Pour the remaining batter and add the rest of the blueberries on top of the batter.
- Bake in the oven for 55-60 min. The batter will remain light colored on top, so use a toothpick to make sure the middle is cooked through.
Lisa's Tips
- Don't forget to use a springform pan for this recipe. It's much easier than a regular cake pan.
- A few extra tips:
- If your cake sinks in the middle, your wet to dry ratio might be slightly off. Just reduce the lemon juice a smidge and add 1-2 extra tablespoons of coconut flour.
- I recommend fresh blueberries rather than frozen blueberries as frozen blueberries are heavier and may sink to the bottom. Frozen blueberries can also add extra moisture to the cake, so if you do use them you may have to bake a little longer. A few folks on instagram have posted they've done it with frozen blueberries with success though!
- If you pile a ton of blueberries on top (as I did) you'll notice the top may not get very golden. Don't use the color of the cake as an indicator of doneness. Make sure to use a toothpick and cook until it comes out clean. Every oven is different and you may have to cook slightly more or less time.
Nutrition
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If I am using monk fruit, can I combine water or other wet ingredient with sugar to make the same amount of maple syrup you suggested instead of adding double coconut oil?
Cause the batter turned out wet last time.
Hello there,
I was using coconut sugar with the same amount of maple syrup. I added double coconut oil according to your article and also cut a bit of the dry ingredient.
But when I double the coconut oil. The batter looks really wet. It is much more wet than the batter in your video.
So I added some more dry ingredients.
My cake turned out super dense.
Now cause it is not easy for me to get maple syrup, I would like to use monk fruit sugar instead.
But do I need to add the same amount of monk fruit sugar 241g as the amount maple syrup you suggested and double the coconut oil?
If it is too wet, can I not add so much coconut oil?
Also, i only want to add half of the amount of sugar, how do I add wet ingredients to balance it?
Please let me know, thank you.
Is there difference if I don’t use egg?
I have made this several times, substituting Allulose instead of maple syrup and my family and gluten free friends simply loves it! It is definitely better using fresh blueberries rather than frozen ones. But since we’re on the Gundry Plant Paradox diet, I will continue making this awesome recipe using frozen blueberries when the fruit is no longer in season. My husband thanks you Lisa as this is the first cake I ever baked!
Happy to hear the whole family loves this lemon blueberry cake!
This is my go to cake to take to brunch when I am invited somewhere. It is easy to make and is so pretty when I pop off the spring form pan. I love how it tastes too.
This is such a great go-to cake recipe for any occassion!
This recipe was amazing! I made them into muffins, used frozen wild blueberries using the same method of putting some blueberries in the middle and the rest on the top. Cooked at 350 for 30 minutes and they were perfect in everyway. I have made quite a few of your recipes Lisa and they have all been amazing. Some in my family are gluten free so these recipes are so wonderful to have. I’ve been meaning to leave a comment and this recipe pushed me to do it!! Thank you!1
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment, Kathy! I really appreciate it. And I’m so happy you love this recipe as well!
Made with cherries instead of blueberries.
Hi Hibber – Happy to hear this cake worked out great with cherries instead!
This is our favorite coffee cake. Not too sweet and loaded with lemon and blueberries, what could be better? It’s the first cake I think of when it’s blueberry season .
Hi Kathleen – Happy to hear you’re loving this blueberry cake!
The batter seemed dry/ spongy when putting it in oven. I’m waiting to see the results. Any thoughts? The measurements were exact.
Lemons can be different sizes. How much juice is a good amount for this cake?
Can you substitute a different flour for the almond flour ? Nut allergies won’t allow almond flour
Hi Sally – unfortunately, all flours bake differently, and I haven’t tested it with other flours.
🙋♀️ Lisa, I 💛 the lemon in this recipe. I know you have a recipe for muffins as well (omitting the 🍋) can I make this recipe for muffins? 🤗
Yep, you sure can!
Can I simply use almond flour only, instead of the other flours listed?
Excited to try this for Easter! Wondering if I could use Avocado oil instead of coconut oil. My family doesn’t care for coconut oil. I am not sure if the fat content is different enough to make a difference.
Hi! This sounds delicious 🤤 my son cannot do eggs though. How do you think flax “eggs” would do instead? When I’ve used soaked ground flax in baked goods before, it resulted in more of a moist soufle-like cake
This cake is delicious! Storage options: since I won’t finish it in a few day, would you recommend freezing it in saran in a ziplock bag? I received your cookbook as a gift and I am now using recipes on your website as well. Loving all of the recipes I have tried so far! I even shared with family and they have loved the recipes. I always felt overwhelmed cooking. You have created recipes that are easy to follow, with minimal ingredients and so flavorful.. Thank you!!
Hi Lindsey – I’m so thrilled you love this cake and my other recipes. And thank you for sharing them! :) In terms of storage, yes, you can place it in an airtight container and freeze it for several months. Just make sure to thaw it in the fridge overnight, before you’d like to enjoy.
I have made this Lemon, Blueberry Cake a few times now and I have loved it each time.
It is nice and moist with lots of flavor. I serve it with strawberries to bring in more fruit and
color.
Hi Kelly – Thanks for the review and I’m glad this cake has been a hit every time!
Wow amazing recipe. thank you so much!!?
Hi Dipali – Happy to hear you love this lemon blueberry cake!