A heavenly vegan Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake with a light crumb and delicious pockets of blueberries.
We don't need a reason to bake up a vegan cake around here, it's a celebration by itself. And this vegan Blueberry Buttermilk Cake is definitely an event to remember, with a light yet moist crumb, hints of lemon and purple streaks of gooey, baked blueberries.
If you have someone in your family who loves blueberries, this is the perfect cake to bake for them. It showcases this incredibly healthy little fruit better than almost any other blueberry dessert I've ever made (and I've made a few). I love how the pockets of blueberry balance out the sweetness of the cake, so your dessert doesn't feel annoyingly sweet and even a little healthy -- maybe?
Blueberry, as a flavor, dovetails nicely with lemon, and into this cake go both the zest and the juice of a lemon. The zest is really important, because it gives you those hints of citrusy flavor. Lemon juice, on the other hand, while adding a complexity, tends to always bake out of lemony desserts. When you want a cake that is truly lemony, you'd do well to add in layers of lemon at various stages of the process, the way I do with my Vegan Lemon Yogurt Bundt Cake. In this recipe, though, you really want the blueberry to be the star.
There are a thousand, pretty little white flowers in the blueberry bush we planted a few years back, with the promise of berries to come. The bush has been producing berries for the last couple of years now, but we haven't ever had a chance to taste one, because the birds always get to them before they can ripen. 🙂 It's the same story with the raspberry bush, but who's complaining? Not me. Let them eat the berries, I'd rather have the birds in my backyard.
The buttermilk in the cake is a combination of a nondairy milk (I used almond milk, but use any other if you want to do this nut-free) and apple cider vinegar. You can make this a real vegan buttermilk, by mixing a quarter cup of a cultured cashew yogurt like this one with water to make a cup.
This cake doesn't need any vegan butter -- use oil instead -- but it has an incredibly buttery, smooth flavor, probably because of the vegan buttermilk. Needless to say, it went down rather quickly with our resident blueberry fan, Desi, and with the resident kid, Jay. I hope you'll try it too, with blueberries coming into season right about now, and if you do, let me know in the comments below or by taking a photo of your cake and posting it to Instagram. Tag it @holycowvegan.
More vegan dessert recipes
- Vegan Orange Cake with Orange Marmalade Frosting
- Vegan Rhubarb Ginger Upside Down Cake
- Vegan Carrot Bundt Cake with Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with a Lemon Glaze
- Vegan Lemon Blueberry Cake with Blueberry Lemon Topping
- Vegan Blueberry Muffins
Vegan Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt or any fine-grained salt
- 1 ¼ cup turbinado sugar (or cane sugar or coconut sugar)
- 1 cup nondairy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 1 cup vegetable oil (use a flavorless oil like avocado)
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pint blueberries
- Juice and zest of one lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix the nondairy milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside for a couple of minutes.Prepare a bundt pan by buttering or oiling the sides liberally, and then dusting with flour.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer or whisk, place the sugar, nondairy milk with vinegar, applesauce, the lemon zest and lemon juice. Whisk on medium speed for a minute or until the mixture looks quite thick. Add the oil and vanilla extract and continue mixing for another minute.
- Add the flour to the bowl in two batches, mixing well but quickly after each addition. You don't ever want to overbeat your cake batter. Mix the blueberries into the batter using a spatula (check recipe notes for a great tip on how to keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the pan while the cake bakes).
- Scrape the cake batter into the bundt pan, making sure it is evenly distributed.
- Pop the bundt pan onto a baking sheet and place in the hot oven. Bake 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick near the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Then gently loosen the sides with a spatula or knife, taking care not to cut into the cake. This is a delicate cake, so handle it gently.
- Place a place over the mouth of the bundt pan and flip it over quickly. Tap the bottom of the pan gently, if needed, to help the cake release. Continue cooling the cake on a rack, and let it cool thoroughly before cutting and serving.
Recipe notes
- To keep the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the pan as the cake bakes, use this trick: wash and dry them thoroughly, then freeze them for 30 minutes. Mix them with 1 tablespoon of flour and then mix into the batter.
Eli Someck
This looks incredible, cant wait to get some applesauce and try it. I don't have a bundt pan, does that matter? I have a pan that one would normally use for banana bread etc
Vaishali
A loaf pan is fine, but you'd probably need two--or you can halve the recipe.
Eli Someck
Thank you 🙂 Looking forward to it
Tara
Hi
Can I use a normal 9” cake tin?
Or
2 X 8” to make tier cake?
How long should I bake it for
Angie
I only found this recipe yesterday but I’ve already baked this delicious bundt cake twice.
The only changes I did was put 1/2 c of oil the first time, turned out great, but still too oily for me. I brought this one to my fiancé. Him and his roommates loved it.
The second time I baked it for my family. This time I made it with whole wheat flour so I put 1.5 c of it instead of 2 c white flour, and then put 1/4 c oil. Also turned out scrumptious.
I wanted to dress it up a bit so I made a sugar glaze to drip over (2 c powdered sugar and 2 TBS non-dairy milk).
Thank you for this amazing recipe! 🙂
Vaishali
Thanks for sharing your tips, and so happy you loved it!
Anais Kainer
I love this recipe, I tweaked it a little though to my preference.
I didn't use blueberries, instead i used the juice and zest of half and lemon and half and orange.
YUM!
Anonymous
I love this recipe, I tweaked it a little though to my preference.
I didn't use blueberries, instead i used the juice and zest of half and lemon and half and orange.
YUM!
Lyn
This was simple but very good and moist. I used half the avocado oil that the recipe called for and doubled the unsweetened applesauce. Cake came out perfect. Will definitely make again and again because I love blueberries. Thank you for sharing.
1960s girl
Hello,
That cake is delicious! I made it yesterday. However, I will try to use a little less oil next time as I thought there was a slight oily texture.
But Wow!
Prepare to get a few more subscribers as everyone I know who's interested in vegan or vegetarian is asking where I get my great recipes!
Vaishali
🙂 Good to hear. Thanks so much!
Jan
Looks and sounds amazing!
I can not have sugar, or gluten.
Will you try a version with acceptable flour and sweetener?
Have you ever used monk fruit? Stevia?
I am not an experienced cook so hopefully you can help.
Thank you!
Vaishali
Hi Jan, I sure will. I haven't baked much with sugar substitutes, but I really enjoy gluten-free baking, and this sounds like a good challenge. Stay tuned.