Lemon Velvet Bundt Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Sunshine-sweet lemon bundt cake topped with lush blueberry cream cheese frosting. Take a bite and taste all the sweet, bright flavors of spring!
I’ve been craving lemon for awhile, but I wanted to wait for spring to get here before I made anything with lemon. Now that spring is officially in a full swing, I guess it’s only appropriate that I share my very favorite lemon recipe with you. Introducing… Lemon Velvet Bundt Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting.
Lemon-blueberry is one of those winner combinations, like strawberry and banana or peanut butter and chocolate. The sunshine-sweet lemon flavor complements the juicy sweet/tangy blueberry flavor perfectly and vice versa.
There’s only 7 simple ingredients need to make the actual cake: storebought white cake mix, lemon pudding mix, water, applesauce, eggs, vegetable oil, and lemon extract. And only 5 ingredients needed to make the blueberry cream cheese frosting: cream cheese, butter, blueberries, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
The lemon flavor in this recipe is spot on. It’s everything sweet and not a single bit sour! I am not a fan of the squint your eyes and pucker up your lips lemon flavor, so we will tolerate none of that business here!
The lemon flavor comes from a package of lemon pudding mix and a tablespoon of lemon extract, instead of pure lemon juice; making it just saturated enough to give each bite a refreshing zest of sweet citrus flavor.
And as for the fruity blueberry cream cheese frosting… Oh my gosh. It’s amazing. Not too sweet, not too tangy. The best accompaniment to the lip-smackin’ cake underneath.
The frosting is lightly tangy, gently sweet, and not heavy in the slightest. I took my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe, added pulverized blueberries, and increased the powdered sugar by a cup to compensate for the addition of liquid-y blueberries.
By pulverizing the blueberries, the juicy flavor hidden inside each blueberry gets released, and that flavor infuses itself into the frosting. It’s light, creamy, and tastes like spreadable blueberry cheesecake. Yep.
A side note regarding Cake Mix
This recipe calls for an 18.25 oz box of cake mix, however if you accidentally buy a cake mix that’s 16.25 oz, no worries! We’ve done it too. Just add 1/2 cup all-purpose flour to your cake mixture.
If you’re not a fan of storebought mixes, you can easily make your own by combining 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
Lemon Velvet Bundt Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting
Sunshine-sweet lemon bundt cake topped with lush blueberry cream cheese frosting. Take a bite and taste all the sweet, bright flavors of spring!
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
- 1 (18.25 oz) package white cake mix, if your box is 16.25 oz: add 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 (3.4 ounce) package instant lemon pudding mix
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sweetened applesauce
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon lemon extract
For the frosting:
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup whole blueberries, pulverized in a blender
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4-5 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. I grease and flour twice to ensure the cake comes out perfect, but it’s not required.
- In a large mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Next add water, applesauce, eggs, oil, and lemon extract.
- Beat on low speed until mix appears blended. Scrape bottom of bowl (there will be unmixed flour), and beat 4 additional minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
For the frosting:
- In a large mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until soft, creamy, and combined thoroughly. Add pulverized blueberries and powdered sugar and beat until thick and combined. Add vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed for 2 more minutes. Add more powdered sugar until frosting is desired thickness
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
