Blueberry Chocolate Cake
Blueberry Chocolate Cake has a fudge-y chocolate cake recipe with a homemade wild blueberry jam, dark chocolate ganache and blueberry Swiss meringue buttercream. Summer Indulgence at its finest!
Ya’ll!!! If you’ve been here a while, you might know I’m more of a chocolate/peanut butter/caramel/etc. Type of dessert lover but this…This blueberry chocolate cake got me. This is the ULTIMATE summer indulgence.
What is in this blueberry chocolate cake
What’s not to love? Cake is always a good idea especially where it involves
- No-mixer fudge-y chocolate cake
- 10 minute blueberry jam (frozen or fresh blueberries)
- Easy dark chocolate ganache
- Blueberry Swiss meringue buttercream (or any buttercream you want), just add a couple of tablespoons of the blueberry jam we made.
Ingredients
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour in most of my cakes and I also HIGHLY recommend using a digital scale, as flour is so often over measured.
- Cocoa Powder: I love dutch-process and I recommend that here but natural unsweetened cocoa powder works here as well. You’ll likely get a lighter color and slightly less intense flavor.
- Sugar: please don’t cut the sugar… 🙂
- Coffee: I use coffee to make the chocolate color darker and the flavor more intense. Water also works here.
- Eggs: I use room temperature, large eggs. Pop them in hot water for a few minutes if they’re cold.
- Milk: You can use 2%, full fat or dairy free milk here.
- Blueberries: You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for the blueberry filling. You can also use regular or wild blueberries.
- Butter: I use unsalted butter in the buttercream.
- Chocolate: I like the chocolate ganache with dark chocolate. If you use milk chocolate, cut the heavy cream by a couple of tablespoons.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Make the Chocolate Cake: whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl and the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Sift the dry ingredients over the wet and mix until it’s smooth. Bake in three greased and lined 6 inch cake pans at 350F for about 35 minutes.
- Make the Blueberry Jam: combine the blueberries (no need to thaw if they’re frozen) with the sugar and lemon. Simmer over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until it’s thickened. Cool Completely.
- Make the Chocolate Ganache:simmer the cream and pour it over the chocolate chips, cover and let it rest for a few minutes. Gently stir the mixture until it’s completely smooth. Allow it to cool completely and refrigerate it for 15-30 minutes before assembling if it feels too soft.
- Make the Blueberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream:make the swiss meringue buttercream and add the blueberry jam. I used 2 Tbsp for a lighter color but the buttercream can hold up to ⅓ – ½ cup, depending on how runny the jam is.
- Assemble The Cake: pipe a border around the edge of the first layer of cake. Fill it in halfway with a thin layer of blueberry jam and then top it with the chocolate ganache. Make sure they don’t spill over the border. Place the second layer on top and then repeat with the last layer. Refrigerate the cake for at least an hour so it’s solid when frosting.
- Frost the cake: I didn’t do a crumb coat because the buttercream is speckled anyway. Use the rest of the buttercream to frost the outside of the cake and then use a cake scraper to smooth the sides, allowing it to create that rough edge at the top of the cake. Leave that edge nice and tall. Refrigerate the cake, the leftover chocolate ganache and the leftover blueberry jam for about another hour.
- Decorate the cake: When the cake is cold and the chocolate ganache is chilled, spread the chocolate ganache on top of the cake inside the top border. Refrigerate it again for 20-30 minutes until the chocolate feels set. Place a half moon design of blueberry jam on top and top with fresh blueberries, chocolate covered blueberries, gold foil and flowers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use store bought blueberry jam?
You can use whatever store bought blueberry jam you like, just make sure not to add too much to the buttercream if it’s more runny than mine looks in the photo.
Can I use milk chocolate for the ganache?
You can but you’ll have to cut down on the heavy cream by a couple of tablespoons.
Can I make this into a sheet cake?
Yes! You can bake this into a 9×13” sheet cake, it may take 45-50 minutes to bake.
Can I make this into cupcakes?
Yes! You can make it into 23-24 cupcakes. Fill them ¾ full and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until they spring back when you press on them. You can place the blueberry jam and the chocolate ganache into two separate piping bags. Fill the cupcakes with the blueberry jam, pipe a border of blueberry buttercream on top of the cupcake and fill it in with the chocolate ganache.
Can I bake this into 8 inch cakes?
Yup, you can bake this blueberry chocolate cake in two 8 inch pans or a 9×13″ sheet pan.
If you do the sheet pan, you could a layer of chocolate ganache on the cake, refrigerate it until it’s set. Then top with frosting and swirl in some blueberry jam on top of the frosting.
How to store blueberry chocolate cake
Store the cake fully covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.
How to freeze
Cakes stay more fresh when they’re frozen. Place cake slices in an airtight container and then place the container in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to a couple of months. Bring back to room temperature before serving.
Thanks so much for reading today’s post, if you have any questions just comment down below. Make sure to leave it in the comment section because I can’t answer in the rating section :).
If you make this blueberry chocolate cake I would love to see it so make sure to tag me @baranbakery on instagram and check out my cookbook, Frosted, for a blueberry cardamom cake (add 1 cup of blueberries to the batter)!
As always, have a blessed day and happy baking!
Love, B
Is it possible to make a three layered cake on 8 inches pans with this recipe? Do you know how much batter should it take? 1.5x?
Thank you!
Hi! Yes I would do 1.5x the recipe 🙂
Hi! I want to make this for my son’s bday but I don’t want to use coffee… could I use water instead?
Yes!
Can I use the boiled milk butter cream frosting for this cake or is Swiss meringue the best option?
Thanks
Hi Kelly, yes you absolutely can use the boiled milk buttercream!
Buttercream is so runny 🙁
Put it in the fridge for an hour and read my whole post
https://baranbakery.com/how-to-make-swiss-meringue-buttercream/
Help! My buttercream frosting is soupy. Is it supposed to be granulated sugar? All other buttercream recipes I saw are powdered. What can I do to remedy this fast?
Yes it’s granulated sugar. Put it in the fridge for 30-60 minutes and then whip it again
Can I make this 1 day ahead of a party fully assembled? If I keep it covered in the fridge will it stay assembled/fresh?
Hi Amy, yes I would definitely do that 🙂 I would take it out of the fridge a few hours before serving 🙂
Thank you so much for your prompt response! I really appreciate it! One more question – for the blueberry jam, do you use the lemon juice of one whole lemon?
Of course! I use 1/2 the juice of a lemon. Sorry if that wasn’t clear, will update!
Is the coffee supposed to be hot or room temp when using?
I usually do room temp, but doesn’t really matter. I’ve done both but if it is hot, mix it with the milk before adding the eggs so that it doesn’t scramble your eggs lol.
Instead of buttercream would whip cream mixed with the blueberry jam work as well?
Hi Michelle, sorry i don’t think whip cream would hold up this cake.
Can I ask the size of the piping tip you used?
Want to make this for a birthday and want to make sure I do it justice ☺️
Hi Carolina, I don’t use a piping tip, I just cut the tip of the bag to a medium size (about half an inch).