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Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake

Last Updated On: August 16, 2025 | Published: August 16, 2025 by Melissa Diamond
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This moist Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake is so buttery, flavorful, and perfect for summer! Homemade lemon pound cake is swirled with fresh blackberries and blackberry preserves in this fantastic dessert.

Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake, sliced, on a cake plate.

Lemon Blackberry Cake Ingredients

This cake is loosely based on our classic pound cake recipe, but with the addition of lemon, and a blackberry swirl. *Find full, printable recipe below.

  • Unsalted Butter (We add the salt separately)
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • All Purpose Flour
  • Baking Powder and Salt
  • Lemon Juice and Lemon Zest
  • Lemon Extract, for an added boost of lemon flavor
  • Milk (we like 2 percent or whole milk)
  • Blackberry Preserves (we used seedless, jam is fine also)
  • Fresh Blackberries (we haven't tried with frozen blackberries but that should work also, just as with our lemon blueberry cake).

How to Make Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake

In this recipe, we are making a simple Lemon Pound Cake. The lemon juice in the recipe makes it extra tender, just as with a lemon buttermilk cake. (Did you know that lemon juice + milk is a substitute for buttermilk?)

What makes the pound cake unique is the blackberry swirl in the center. Just as with some of our other swirled or marbled cake recipes, we used seedless preserves for this step. We reserved a bit of the lemon pound cake batter, and combined it with blackberry preserves and fresh, sliced blackberries.

To put it all together, we layered the lemon pound cake batter with the blackberry batter. The combination of lemon and blackberries so refreshing, and the cake has a wonderful texture. You will love it!

Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake on a cake plate.

Recipe FAQs

While I don't think of this as a very perishable cake (like a layer cake with whipped cream filling for instance), I would still refrigerate it to be on the safe side.

Our Lemon Raspberry Swirl pound cake is one that we leave at room temperature. However, the fresh blackberries are so concentrated in the center and produce a good amount of juice. I'd rather play it safe.

**With refrigerated cakes, for the very best flavor and texture, it is best to remove them from the refrigerator at least a couple of hours before serving. This will allow the cake to warm and soften.

Yes, just as with the majority of our cakes and cupcakes, from Italian Cream Cake to vanilla cupcakes, Brown Sugar Pound Cake and more, this cake freezes beautifully.

Once the cake has cooled, wrap in a layer of plastic wrap followed by foil. Freeze for up to three months.

When it is time to thaw, move the wrapped cake to the refrigerator the day before you need it. Then, move to the kitchen counter the next morning to continue thawing.

I first tried making this recipe with cake flour and it just didn't rise as high as I wanted it to. I don't know if it was the added acidity of the lemon juice in combination with the blueberries that effected the structure, but it just wasn't quite right. I prefer all purpose flour for this one.

Yes, we highly recommend the lemon extract. While this cake contains lemon juice, it just adds a hint of lemon flavor as much of it bakes out. The lemon zest adds a bit more flavor than the juice (because the oils in the lemon peel have a more concentrated flavor), but the extract gives the most noticeable lemon flavor.

*While lemon juice doesn't add a hefty amount of lemon flavor, it creates a more tender crumb thanks to its acidity. (The acidity helps to soften the strands of gluten in the cake batter).

While we do have marbled cakes that only use preserves or jam, in this case, we really do like the addition of the blackberries. After tasting a spoonful of preserves, it didn't have as much blackberry flavor as I wanted. It comes down to personal preference, but we really liked the addition of fresh berries.

*The blackberries to break down a bit and soften during the baking process, releasing additional juices.

For me, no. Each slice has its own personality. ;0) I found that some slices had a thicker swirl, or the shape or position of the swirl may be different from slice to slice. As the batter bakes and rises, it has a mind of its own.

As a side note, in my first test of this recipe, I used a knife to marble the batter. It didn't come out very pretty as I overdid it ;0) -So I skipped the marbling step altogether. You can experiment if you'd like!

More Berry Cakes

In addition to our collection of pound cakes and bundt cakes, we have many more berry cakes for you to try as well! Some of our favorites are our homemade strawberry cake, lemon blueberry pound cake, berry chantilly cake, and almond raspberry swirl cake.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! We hope that you enjoy this delicious Lemon Blackberry Cake Recipe as much as we have.

If you give it a try, let us know what you think! It makes a great simple birthday cake recipe, holiday cake, potluck dessert, or cake "just because"! If you love cake decorating, don't miss our huge collection of cake decorating tutorials.

Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!

Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake, sliced, on a cake plate.

Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake

BY Melissa and Bebe
This moist and buttery Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake is so delicious. Homemade lemon pound cake is swirled with blackberry preserves and fresh blackberries.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Dessert
Servings: 15
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Ingredients

  • 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339 g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups sugar (600g)
  • 5 large eggs, room temperature (you can warm them in a bowl of warm water if you are in a hurry)
  • 3 cups All Purpose Flour (375g)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Zest of 2 Lemons approximately 2 Tablespoons
  • 1 tablespoon Lemon Extract 12g We used McCormick- See Notes Below
  • 3 Tablespoons (42g) Lemon Juice (approximate amount of juice in one lemon)
  • 1 cup Milk (235g) (We use 2 percent or whole)

For the Blackberry Swirl

  • ⅓ cup Seedless Blackberry Preserves or Jam (We used preserves)
  • 6 oz Fresh Blackberries, sliced into small pieces (adjust amount to your liking). We reserved 6 blackberries for the top of the cake. (Frozen should work also but we have not tried frozen with this recipe)
  • ½ cup Cake Batter
  • Red or deep pink coloring gel- (optional) to brighten the color. We used a very small amount of red.

For the Lemon Glaze

  • 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract you could also use lemon juice
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2-3 tablespoons Milk to reach desired consistency. (Start with 2 and increase as needed.)

Garnish

  • Lemon slices & Fresh Blackberries

Instructions

  • Grease and flour a tube pan or bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  • Wash and dry 10-12 fresh blackberries and slice into small pieces-- You may notice a white "core" in the center- it is edible and fairly soft, but you can slice around it if you'd like. Set sliced berries to the side.
  • In a separate bowl, whisk the all purpose flour, salt, and baking powder for 30 seconds to combine. Set aside for later.
  • In a measuring cup or small bowl, add the milk, lemon juice, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Set aside for later.
  • Cream the softened butter with the paddle attachment in your mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix until lightened in color and fluffy 4 to 5 minutes.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each until the yellow of the yolk blends in.
  • With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. We do three additions of the flour mixture and two of the milk mixture. Mix just until blended. * Don't add to pan yet.
    Lemon Pound Cake Batter in a mixing bowl.
  • Scoop ⅓ cup of blackberry jam into a small bowl and give it a good stir to loosen it a bit.
    Blackberry jam in a bowl.
  • Add ½ cup of cake batter to the bowl of blackberry jam and stir to combine. I also added a touch of red coloring gel to brighten the color a bit, but this is optional. Stir the sliced blackberries.
    Lemon Blackberry batter in a bowl.
  • Scoop about half of the lemon batter (approximately 3.5 cups or so) into the bottom of the prepared bundt pan and lightly smooth it with the back of a spoon to level (or tap the side of the pan to level it).
  • Next, layer on the blackberry batter slightly smoothing to even out. You can sprinkle on a few sliced blackberries if you see any areas that need it. I think it is best to keep the fresh blueberries from touching the side of the pan when possible.
    Layered Batter in a bundt pan.
  • Layer on the remaining lemon batter. Tap the sides of the pan to smooth/level everything out, or gently smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
    Batter in the pan.
  • Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (or with just a few crumbs attached.) Baking times can vary and so peek in as it approaches the 1 hour mark. If the top of the cake begins to get too dark, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil. (Ours took closer to 70 minutes to finish baking).
    Freshly baked Lemon Blackberry Pound Cake.
  • This recipe makes approximately 8 cups of batter.
  • Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out onto serving plate.

For the Easy Lemon Glaze

  • Combine ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. If too thin, add a bit more sugar, if too thick, add a bit more milk.
  • Apply the glaze to the cooled cake using a spoon, or for more control, spoon into a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away and drizzle over the cake.
  • As an optional step, after glazing the cake, we lightly tapped a bit of confectioners sugar through a fine mesh strainer over the top of the cake.
  • For garnish, top with fresh blackberries and thinly sliced lemon.

Storage

  • While I don't think of this as a highly perishable dessert, to be on the safe side, I would refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container or sealed cake box, etc. For the very best flavor and texture, remove the cake from the refrigerator at least a couple of hours before serving as the cake will become more firm when cold (due to the butter in the recipe).

Notes

Freezing: This cake can be wrapped and frozen for up to three months! Wrap tightly in plastic wrap, followed by foil. To thaw, place in the refrigerator the night before, still wrapped. Move to room temperature the next morning. 
Lemon Extract There are many brands of Lemon Extract- we use McCormick most often. Make sure that you smell the extract before using as sometimes it can go bad. It should smell lemony ;0)
 

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