Blueberry Pancake Cake

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. 

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! 

Ingredients

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.
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.
3. Fold in the fresh blueberries and let the mixture sit for 2 minutes.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
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. 
7. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then flip the cakes out onto a wire 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.
2. Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and mix until it's fully combined.
3. Pour in the vanilla and maple syrup and mix together until the frosting is smooth, light, and fluffy.

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. 
3. Repeat this process with the remaining 2 layers. 
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.

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.
2. Color about a pound of fondant with a few drops of ivory food coloring.
3. Sprinkle powdered sugar on the work surface and roll out about ½ cup of fondant into long strips, about ½  inch thick.
4. Cut the strip in half lengthwise with a pizza cutter.
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.
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.
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 and works up to the top edge of the cake. 
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.
9. 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

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. 
3. Drizzle spoonfuls of gelatin “syrup” from the top of the cake and let it drip down the sides.
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.
6. Cut the yellow fondant into 2 equal-sized squares with a knife or bench scraper. These will be the “butter” pieces. 
7. Add some fresh blueberries and the “butter” pieces on top of the cake before the gelatin fully cools. 
8. Now serve and enjoy! This cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. 

FAQ

Related Recipes

Blueberry Muffins

Sourdough Discard Pancakes

Lemon Blueberry Cake Recipe

Brown Butter Buttermilk Pancakes

Recipe