(Last Minute) Lemon Blueberry Cake

A few weeks ago I had the personal pleasure of baking this lovely Lemon Blueberry cake for my new friend Elizabeth. She created a beautiful cake topper diy to share on Kaelah's blog and I thought it might be fun to share the recipe so you can have your own taste of fresh blueberry citrus goodness!
The first recipe I tried was actually a complete fail. I don't wanna go into details, but between the wet but still somehow crumbly cake to the failed organic powdered sugar frosting— let's just say the first cake looked nowhere close to this. Since my failed cake didn't leave me with very many options, I decided to go with a doctored boxed cake to save some time.
This cake is moist and zesty with just the right amount of sweet. Layered with The Nashville Jam Company's blackberry jam for extra goodness— what's not to love?

Last Minute Lemon Blueberry Cake 
(makes three 6-inch cakes)

1 box Lemon Cake Mix*
1 1/3 cups orange juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs*
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tsp orange zest
1.5 cups fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease pans with shortening or oil spray then flour lightly. (Use baking cups for cupcakes.)

2. Blend everything besides the blueberries in a large bowl at a low speed for about 30 seconds until moistened, then beat at medium speed for two minutes. (You can use a handheld or standing mixer for this.)

3. Evenly distribute batter into pans. Add a handful of blueberries (about a half cup) to the top of each pan. (Don't stir them in or they will mostly sink to the bottom like mine did.) Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

*I used Duncan Hines, which is actually a vegan cake mix. You can substitute the eggs with 2 flax eggs and 1 Ener-G egg (I just happened to have some eggs on hand I needed to use up).
Zesty Lemon Buttercream

1/2 vegetable shortening
1/2 cup room temperature butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 heaping tablespoon lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream the butter and shortening until fluffy. Add in powdered sugar, lemon juice, zest, and extract on lowest speed until just incorporated. Beat on high for 3-5 minutes until smooth.
And there you have it: delicious Lemon Blueberry cake that you can make at home. Don't forget to pop over here to see the whole how-to post!