Evianne Wijma
Blueberry upside-down cake is a simple dessert you can make with fresh or frozen berries. It’s easy to make and absolutely delicious served with ice cream!
Blueberry upside-down cake! A soft, lemony cake is topped with a sweet, lightly cinnamon-y blueberry topping. And as an extra bonus it’s really easy to make.
This isn’t some fancy layer cake you need all kinds of special equipment and a full day to pull off—not at all. This is dessert for the non-baker. It’s simple enough to whip up on a Thursday afternoon but special enough to serve for Easter dinner.
Why you’ll love this blueberry upside-down cake
You can use fresh OR frozen berries!
You don’t need a stand mixer to make it
The ingredients are easy to find and you probably have them all on hand right now
HOW TO MAKE THE CAKE
Cream room temp butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy
Beat in eggs and a few other ingredients
Mix in the dry ingredients and buttermilk
For the topping
Stir together topping ingredients
Pour into a 9-inch round cake pan
Pour the blueberries into the pan
Gently pour the cake batter over the berries and smooth
Then you’ll bake the cake for about an hour. When the cake comes out of the oven, let it sit for five minutes, then carefully flip your cake onto a cake plate.
HOW TO STORE YOUR CAKE
Uneaten blueberry upside-down cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to two days. Wait to cover your cake until it’s fully cooled to room temp! Otherwise your cake will sweat.
The cake can also be stored in the freezer, tightly wrapped, for up to two months.
HOW TO ZEST LEMONS
Blueberry and lemon are an unbeatable combo, which is why I like to add lemon zest to this blueberry upside-down cake. But you want to be sure your zest is grated finely—no one wants to bite into a huge chunk of lemon rind.
When zesting lemons, you want just the outer yellow part of the lemon peel—DON’T go all the way down to the white part, which isn’t lemony at all.
You can buy special lemon zesters, which do an OK job but I think you still need to chop the zest before using it.
Blueberry Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
Cake
12 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
Topping
5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
Cake
Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, several minutes. Beat in the vanilla, lemon zest, and eggs. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.
With mixer on low, beat in half of the dry ingredients followed by half of the buttermilk until just combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, then the remaining buttermilk, again beating until just combined.
Set the batter aside and make the topping.
Topping
Combine the butter, brown sugar, and honey in a small bowl and stir together to form a paste. Spread into the bottom of the cake pan.
Scatter the berries in a single layer in the bottom of the pan and set the pan aside.
Pour the cake batter over the berries and use a small offset spatula to spread the batter out (gently!) if necessary.
Bake 55 to 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge of the pan a few times to loosen. Place a cake stand or large serving plate on top of the pan and flip.
If the cake sticks, turn the pan back to right side-up and run your knife around the cake a few more times and use a small offset spatula to lift the cake (again gently!) up. Then invert onto the serving plate again.
If any blueberries stick to the pan you can just remove them with the spatula and replace them on top of the cake.
Cool for 20 to 30 minutes, then serve and enjoy.
Uneaten blueberry upside-down cake can be stored at room temperature (covered) for up to 2 days. Be sure the cake is cooled completely to room temperature before you cover it.
Cake can also be stored in the freezer, tightly wrapped, for up to 2 months.
