Blueberry Pound Cake

Feeling blue.

This moist blueberry pound cake recipe topped with a simple vanilla glaze folds plump, juicy blueberries into buttery pound cake for an easy dessert that also makes a lovely breakfast bake. Plus: Learn how to make sure your blueberries don’t sink!

Meet This Blueberry Pound Cake Recipe

There is something beloved about simple, homemade desserts, and nothing tastes better than this buttery, moist blueberry pound cake. This is my go-to blueberry pound cake recipe, one I’ve been making for years  — since even before pastry school. This is a moist, easy pound cake loaded with fresh blueberries that burst with their juices when baked. Serve this for dessert, breakfast, tea time (don’t forget the scones, too!), or any time you like.

And if you like blueberry pound cake, you will also like this recipe for Blueberry Cobbler and Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins.

Below, you’ll learn all about this moist blueberry cake recipe, including:

• The best blueberries for baking (fresh or frozen)
• Recipe ingredients
• Steps for how to make blueberry pound cake
• How to add lemon flavor if you want
• How to prevent blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the cake
• Storing and serving this cake

How to Make Blueberry Pound Cake

This is a straightforward recipe. As with all recipes with only a few ingredients, use the best quality you can find.

Ingredients

To make this moist blueberry pound cake recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

• 2 sticks (half pound) unsalted butter, softened: soft butter allows you to cream butter and sugar together, incorporating air properly
• 2 cups sugar, plus more to sprinkle
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tbsp (3 tsps) vanilla extract: I prefer Madagascar vanilla extract
• Lemon zest (optional): this will give a light lemon fragrance to the cake
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt: I use Diamond Crystal and find Morton’s too salty; adjust as necessary
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour: I use King Arthur brand
• 2 cups fresh or fresh-frozen (IQF) blueberries

Step-by-Step Instructions

This recipe follows a standard creaming method:

1. Beat the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. I usually beat the mixture on medium high speed. (Once the flour mixture is added, only mix on low to not activate the gluten.)
2. Add the vanilla, eggs, and salt. Beat again until lightened and emulsified. If you would like a hint of lemon flavor, you can also add the zest of one lemon.
3. Combine the baking powder and flour. When the flour mixture dry ingredients are just mixed into the batter, add the blueberries.
4. Fold in the blueberries until evenly distributed.
5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit in a greased large loaf or tube pan until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes or so.

What type of blueberries are best for baking blueberry pound cake?

All blueberries are not created equal. If possible, choose the plump, standard blueberries you see in most grocery stores, such as Hammonton blueberries. Larger blueberries distribute better when folded into the batter. When baked in the  oven, bigger blueberries mean bigger, juicier blueberry crannies in the cake.

Wild blueberries, such as those from Maine, are much smaller, with concentrated blueberry flavor. Small, wild blueberries will work in a blueberry pound cake. But they aren’t my favorite choice here. Despite how good they taste, I find them too small in proportion to the cake batter. You really don’t get that big burst of blueberry like you do with larger berries. So choose the larger, standard blueberries if you can. Save the wild blueberries for desserts like blueberry cobbler or pie.

Baking With Fresh vs. Frozen Blueberries

I often bake this cake with frozen (IQF) blueberries. Frozen blueberries make an especially great choice when blueberries are not in season. You do not have to thaw frozen blueberries before folding them into the pound cake batter. Just increase the baking time by a few minutes.

How do you keep blueberries from sinking in the pound cake when it goes in the oven?

A great pastry chef trick to keep berries from sinking into a cake: Toss the blueberries with a few tablespoons of the flour. The flour coats the blueberries, creating a grippy coating that will cling to the batter and suspend the berries in the cake.

Remember: Measure the flour for the cake recipe, then remove a portion of that flour to toss the blueberries. Do not use additional flour to coat the berries because that will change the dry ingredient measurement overall.

How to keep blueberry pound cake moist?

This is a very moist blueberry pound cake for two reasons: 1) the correct balance of butter, sugar, and dry ingredients, and 2) storing it correctly.

1. Keeping your pound cake moist with the ingredients and baking time.

This cake is a moist blueberry pound cake for two reasons: 1) the correct ingredient ratio of dry ingredients to liquifiers (eggs, butter, sugar), and 2) not overbaking the cake, which dries it out.

Baking time: You can bake this cake in a buttered or greased tube pan, large loaf pan (I used a 4.5-inch x 12-inch loaf pan), or large bundt cake pan. The cake generally takes about 1 hour 15-20 minutes to bake. But in the words of my baking professor at the C.I.A., the cake it “done when it’s done.”

You can tell your cake is done when a cake tester comes out clean and the top feels firm and springs back — your finger shouldn’t sink into it.

2. Keep pound cake moist by storing it correctly.

This blueberry pound cake keeps for several days at room temperature in an airtight container, such as under a cake dome or wrapped. It also freezes very well. Do not refrigerate; refrigerators are quite humid and will stale the cake.

How far in advance can you make pound cake?

This blueberry pound cake will keep for at least 3 days covered at room temperature. Pound cake has a high fat content, which keeps it tender and moist.

How do I add lemon flavor to the cake?

This blueberry pound cake is a sweet, vanilla pound cake that lets the blueberry flavor shine. But lemon-blueberry is a very popular flavor combination for pound cake.

If you’d like to enhance this with lemon flavor, add the zest of one lemon into the batter, and make the glaze with lemon juice instead of milk or water. This will give it the perfect lemon zing.

You will also like these sweet fruit-based recipes:

• Mixed Berry Pound Cake
• Blueberry Sheet Pan Pancakes
• The Best Blueberry Muffins
• Peach Pound Cake

Blueberry Pound Cake

Author: Lisa Ruland

An easy, moist blueberry pound cake recipe for a cake that bakes up sweet and bursting with fresh, juicy blueberries and topped with a simple glaze. Make in a large loaf pan or tube pan. (Plus: a pro tip on not letting your blueberries sink into the batter!)

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 10 people (one standard tube pan)

Calories: 524kcal

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 sticks (1/2 pound) butter, softened
• ▢ 2 cups sugar, plus more for dusting
• ▢ 4 large eggs
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt (I use Diamond Crystal kosher salt)
• ▢ Zest of one lemon, optional
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 cups blueberries, fresh or fresh-frozen (no need to thaw)

For the Glaze (Optional)

• ▢ 1 cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 1/8 cup milk, water, or lemon juice (see notes)
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and line a standard tube pan or large loaf pan (4.5" x 12").

  PRO TIP: Do not overfill the blueberry pound cake batter in the pan. No matter what type of cake pan you choose, the blueberry pound cake batter should not fill the pan higher than about 3/4 full. Bake any extra batter as muffins or tea-sized loaf cakes.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy and light. Add the eggs, vanilla, salt, and lemon zest (if using). Beat until smooth and light.

  PRO TIP: Don't forget to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice with a rubber spatula as you go! The batter should be fully emulsified.
• Add the baking powder and flour on low, just until combined. Fold in the blueberries and mix gently, just until evenly distributed.

  PRO TIP: To make extra sure the blueberries do not sink into the batter, scoop out about 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and toss it with the blueberries. This serves two purposes: First, if you're using frozen blueberries, it will absorb some of the juice and keep the batter from turning lavender colored. Second, the flour acts as a grippy buffer against the batter, helping suspend the berries instead of sinking. The flour mixture will absorb into the batter with the blueberries.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tube or loaf pan(s). Spread the batter to even the top, and sprinkle the top generously with sugar, if desired.
• Bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes, or until a cake tester (such as a toothpick) comes out clean and the top of the cake springs back lightly. Do not overbake.

  TIP: If you use frozen blueberries, your baking time will increase by a few minutes.
• Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack. When the cake pan is cool enough to handle but still warm, turn the cake out onto the cooling rack. Cool fully before serving. Feel free to serve as-is, or whisk up a quick confectioner sugar glaze with fresh lemon juice, water, or milk.

For the Glaze and to Serve

• In a bowl, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, and water. Whisk until smooth.
• Keep the cake on the wire cooling rack but place a rimmed baking sheet or piece of parchment paper beneath to catch the drips. The spoon glaze over the top of the cake, allowing some to pool on top, and some to drip down the sides. Serve.

Notes

Why I don't recommend a bundt pan

A loaf or tube pan works best here, thanks to the flat sides. Blueberries can be sticky in a cake pan, even a well-greased or nonstick one, and the angles and crannies of a bundt pan make it hard to get the cake out without tearing. 

Storage and Freezing

This blueberry pound cake will keep for several days, covered at room temperature. Do not refrigerate, which will stale the cake.

Pound cake freezes well. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil or plastic wrap before freezing. Thaw, unwrapped, at room temperature. 

Making This Blueberry Pound Cake in Advance

This blueberry pound cake will keep for at least 3 days covered at room temperature. Pound cake has a high fat content, which keeps it tender and moist.

What if I want to add lemon flavor to the cake?

This blueberry pound cake is a sweet, vanilla pound cake that lets the blueberry flavor shine. But lemon-blueberry is a very popular flavor combination for pound cake.

If you'd like to enhance this with lemon flavor, add the zest of one lemon into the batter, and make the glaze with lemon juice instead of milk or water. This will give it the perfect lemon zing.

Nutrition

Calories: 524kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 114mg | Sodium: 274mg | Potassium: 94mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 55g | Vitamin A: 682IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 2mg

Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.