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Published: Apr 26, 2023 by Sugar Geek Show · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

Blueberry Pancake Cake

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This blueberry pancake cake is soft, fluffy, and full of tangy buttermilk flavor and fresh blueberries. The best part is that it’s made from very basic ingredients and a pancake mix! A realistic-looking stack of pancakes made of fondant brings this easy cake together. slice of cake coming out of a pancake cake

Don’t be intimidated by the fondant work of this cake, it comes together really easily with just a few ingredients. You also don’t have to make the fondant pancakes, as the cake and buttercream alone make a delicious treat! Forget the cinnamon rolls, blueberry pancake cake will be a new brunch favorite! 

Table of contents

  • Ingredients
  • How to Make a Blueberry Pancake Cake
    • The Blueberry Pancake Cake Layers
    • The Maple Buttercream Frosting
    • Assembling the Cake
    • The Pancake Fondant Decoration
    • The Gelatin Syrup and Butter
  • FAQ
  • Related Recipes

Ingredientsbowls of ingredients for pancake cake on a table

Pancake mix: Most types of pancake mix will work for this cake, but I like the flavor of Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix. There is already all-purpose flour, sugar, egg whites, and leavening in this mix, so just adding wet ingredients makes it into a cake!

Blueberries: Fresh and juicy blueberries add bursts of flavor to this cake. Frozen blueberries will also work for the inside of the cake, no need to thaw them! But dried blueberries won’t work as well. 

Fondant: Making the fondant “pancakes” as decoration is totally optional, but it’s so fun and easy to make it look like a realistic stack of pancakes. 

Gelatin: Just like the "fondant pancakes", the gelatin syrup drips are optional. They add a fun gummy element to the cake that brings it to life! 

How to Make a Blueberry Pancake Cake

This cake just by itself or with frosting is delicious as it is! If you want to take it up a notch and make it look like a realistic stack of pancakes, you can make the fondant strips, gelatin syrup, and fondant butter. I would make the cake layers the day ahead and frost and decorate on the day you're going to serve.

The Blueberry Pancake Cake Layers

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/176ºC and prepare three 8-inch round cake pans with cake goop, parchment paper, or another preferred pan release. You can also bake this in a sheet pan, 9" cake pans, or a bundt pan. hand brushing a cake pan with cake goop
  2. Add the pancake mix and milk to a large bowl and whisk it together until just combined. Do not overmix! It’s okay if the flour mixture is lumpy.pouring milk into a bowl of pancake mix
  3. Fold in the fresh blueberries and let the mixture sit for 2 minutes.adding blueberries to a bowl of pancake mix
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.weighing a pan of cake batter on a food scale
  5. Bake the cakes for 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  6. While the cakes are still warm, brush the tops with melted butter. brushing the top of a cake with melted butter
  7. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then flip the cakes out onto a wire rack.cake layer flipped onto a cooling rack
  8. Cool the cakes completely at room temperature, or wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes or overnight.

The Maple Buttercream Frosting

  1. Mix the room-temperature butter in a large separate bowl with a hand mixer until smooth.mixing butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer
  2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix until it's fully combined.mixing butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl
  3. Pour in the vanilla and maple syrup and mix together until the frosting is smooth, light, and fluffy.maple frosting in a large bowl

Assembling the Cake

  1. Trim the top of the 2 cake layers so they are flat, and leave the 3rd full to be the top. 
  2. Place the first cake layer down on a cake board and spread a layer of buttercream evenly across the top. Pro-tip: For extra blueberry flavor, add some homemade blueberry sauce in between layers. spreading frosting on a layer of cake
  3. Repeat this process with the remaining 2 layers. stacking a 3rd cake layer on top of 2 others
  4. Spread a thin layer of frosting around the entire cake as a crumb coat. Leave the cake at room temperature while you decorate so that the buttercream stays sticky. spreading a crumb coat of frosting on a cake

The Pancake Fondant Decoration

  1. Add the Everclear and brown food coloring to a medium bowl and mix them together. This will be your “paint” for coloring the golden brown edges of the pancakes.adding brown food gel to a bowl
  2. Color about a pound of fondant with a few drops of ivory food coloring.hands stretching fondant
  3. Sprinkle powdered sugar on the work surface and roll out about ½ cup of fondant into long strips, about ½  inch thick.hands rolling a long strip of fondant
  4. Cut the strip in half lengthwise with a pizza cutter.pizza cutter cutting a fondant strip in half lengthwise
  5. Starting at the bottom, place a strip on the cake with the flat-cut side facing the cake. It should stick to the buttercream, but you can dab a little bit of water to help.hands placing a strip of fondant against a cake
  6. Spread some of the brown mixture with a paintbrush onto the top and inside of the fondant strip. It doesn’t need to be fully covered or perfect, it will just help the fluffy pancakes look more realistic.hand painting a strip of fondant on the outside of a cake
  7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 and works up to the top edge of the cake. cake covered up halfway in fondant strips
  8. Roll out a piece of fondant into a large circle about ½ inch thick. Then place it on top of the cake and paint it to look like a pancake.brushing food color onto fondant on top of a cake
  9. Use a small ball modeling tool to create small dots on the side of the fondant to represent air bubbles.making dots in fondant with a modeling tool

The Gelatin Syrup and Butter

  1. Sprinkle gelatin onto a small bowl of cold water and microwave it for about 15 seconds until just melted.
  2. Add a few drops of brown food coloring and mix it together. bowl of brown gelatin mixture
  3. Drizzle spoonfuls of gelatin “syrup” from the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.drizzling brown gelatin mixture down the side of a cake
  4. Pour the rest of the gelatin mixture on top of the cake. 
  5. Color about ¼ cup of fondant yellow and form it into a ½ inch thick rectangle.hands holding yellow fondant
  6. Cut the yellow fondant into 2 equal-sized squares with a knife or bench scraper. These will be the “butter” pieces. cutting yellow fondant squares with a bench scraper
  7. Add some fresh blueberries and the “butter” pieces on top of the cake before the gelatin fully cools. hand placing blueberries and fondant butter on top of a cake
  8. Now serve and enjoy! This cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. blueberry pancake cake

FAQ

What is the difference between cake mix and pancake mix?

The funny thing about both cake mix and pancakes mix is that you can add water to the dry ingredients, put it in a cake pan, and it’ll bake up into a cake! Cake mixes are typically sweeter, have vanilla and other flavorings, and need to be mixed until they’re smooth and cohesive. 

What is a pancake cake?

A pancake cake is just pancake batter baked into layers of cake. It’s delicious by itself, but cover it in buttercream and decorate it with fondant to make a realistic-looking stack of pancakes, and it’s a true “pancake cake.” 

Can I flavor my pancake cake?

Adding blueberries to this recipe makes them taste like sweet blueberry pancakes. You can also add chocolate chips, vanilla extract, lemon zest, or lemon juice to flavor this recipe.

What frosting goes with a pancake cake?

This frosting recipe is a maple buttercream, but cream cheese frosting or stabilized whipped cream would also pair well. 

Related Recipes

Blueberry Muffins

Sourdough Discard Pancakes

Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe

Brown Butter Buttermilk Pancakes

Recipe

slice of cake coming out of a pancake cake

Blueberry Pancake Cake

Cake for breakfast? Absolutely! This blueberry pancake cake is actually made from a buttermilk pancake mix and you only need milk and blueberries to bake it up into three delicious layers. Some maple buttercream frosting and fondant bring this cake to life as a realistic-looking stack of pancakes. 
Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Decorating Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 12 cups
Calories: 743kcal
Author: Elizabeth Marek

Equipment

  • 3 8" x 2" cake pans

Ingredients

Blueberry Pancake Cake

  • 4 cups pancake mix Krusteaz buttermilk
  • 2 ⅔ cups milk
  • 2 ½ cups fresh blueberries or frozen
  • ¼ cup melted butter for brushing

Gummy "Syrup"

  • 2 teaspoons gelatin powder
  • ½ cup cold water
  • 1-2 drops brown food coloring

Fondant Decoration

  • 1 pound white fondant
  • 1-2 drops ivory food coloring for the pancakes
  • 1-2 drops yellow food coloring for the butter
  • 3 Tablespoons Everclear
  • 4 to 5 drops brown food coloring for the pancake edges

Maple Frosting

  • 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
  • 7 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoon salt
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

The Blueberry Pancake Cake Layers

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF/176ºC and prepare three 8-inch round cake pans with cake goop, parchment paper, or another preferred pan release. 
  • Add the pancake mix and milk to a large bowl and whisk it together until just combined. Do not overmix! It’s okay if the flour mixture is lumpy.
  • Fold in the fresh blueberries and let the mixture sit for 2 minutes.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
  • Bake the cakes for 15 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  • While the cakes are still warm, brush the tops with melted butter. 
  • Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then flip the cakes out onto a wire rack.
  • Cool the cakes completely at room temperature, or wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes or overnight.

The Maple Buttercream Frosting

  • Mix the room-temperature butter in a large separate bowl with a hand mixer until smooth.
  • Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix until it's fully combined.
  • Pour in the vanilla and maple syrup and mix together until the frosting is smooth, light, and fluffy.

Assembling the Cake

  • Trim the top of the 2 cake layers so they are flat, and leave the 3rd full to be the top. 
  • Place the first cake layer down on a cake board and spread a layer of buttercream evenly across the top.
  • Repeat this process with the remaining 2 layers. 
  • Spread a thin layer of frosting around the entire cake as a crumb coat. Leave the cake at room temperature while you decorate so that the buttercream stays sticky. 

The Pancake Fondant Decoration

  • Add the Everclear and brown food coloring to a medium bowl and mix them together. This will be your “paint” for coloring the golden brown edges of the pancakes.
  • Color about a pound of fondant with a few drops of ivory food coloring.
  • Sprinkle powdered sugar on the work surface and roll out about ½ cup of fondant into long strips, about ½  inch thick.
  • Cut the strip in half lengthwise with a pizza cutter.
  • Starting at the bottom, place a strip on the cake with the flat-cut side facing the cake. It should stick to the buttercream, but you can dab a little bit of water to help.
  • Spread some of the brown mixture with a paintbrush onto the top and inside of the fondant strip. It doesn’t need to be fully covered or perfect, it will just help the fluffy pancakes look more realistic.
  • Repeat steps 3 through 6 and works up to the top edge of the cake. 
  • Roll out a piece of fondant into a large circle about ½ inch thick. Then place it on top of the cake and paint it to look like a pancake.
  • Use a small ball modeling tool to create small dots on the side of the fondant to represent air bubbles.

The Gelatin Syrup and Butter

  • Sprinkle gelatin onto a small bowl of cold water and microwave it for about 15 seconds until just melted.
  • Add a few drops of brown food coloring and mix it together. 
  • Drizzle spoonfuls of gelatin “syrup” from the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.
  • Pour the rest of the gelatin mixture on top of the cake. 
  • Color about ¼ cup of fondant yellow and form it into a ½ inch thick rectangle.
  • Cut the yellow fondant into 2 equal-sized squares with a knife or bench scraper. These will be the “butter” pieces. 
  • Add some fresh blueberries and the “butter” pieces on top of the cake before the gelatin fully cools. 
  • Now serve and enjoy! This cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. 

Notes

  1. It’s important to not overmix the cake mix, or it will have a dense texture. The light and fluffy texture comes from mixing just until the batter is incorporated.
  2. You can also bake this in a sheet pan, two 9" cake pans, or a bundt pan. Just bake them at different times.
  3. Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
  4. For extra blueberry flavor, add some homemade blueberry sauce in between layers. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 743kcal | Carbohydrates: 94g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 129mg | Sodium: 375mg | Potassium: 219mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 78g | Vitamin A: 1276IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 181mg | Iron: 1mg
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Hi, I'm Liz! I'm an artist and cake decorator from Portland, Oregon. Cakes are my obession, which is why I'm dedicated to crafting tried-and-true recipes, small cake tutorials, as well as advanced online cake courses!

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