Copycat Nothing Bundt Cakes Lemon Blueberry (Air Fryer)

Nothing Bundt Cakes brings back its Lemon Blueberry flavor as a limited-time seasonal release, and every spring my inbox fills with the same question: is it back yet, and can I make it at home? This copycat gets you there in an air fryer — no oven, no waiting for the bakery to restock.

The bakery version pairs lemon cake baked with wild blueberries and finishes it with their signature cream cheese frosting ribbons. Mine uses buttermilk in the batter, which is the piece that makes it taste like theirs instead of like a plain blueberry cake.

Why Buttermilk Is the Secret Here

This is the part most copycat recipes skip.

Buttermilk is acidic, and acid does three things in a lemon cake that regular milk cannot:

1. It tenderizes. The acid weakens gluten strands as the batter rests, so you get a fine, soft crumb instead of a chewy one. This matters more in an air fryer, where the dry circulating heat can toughen a cake fast.
2. It reacts with baking soda for lift, which is why this recipe uses both baking soda and baking powder. The soda handles the acid from the buttermilk and the lemon juice; the powder gives you a second rise in the pan.
3. It amplifies the lemon. Tang on tang. Without it, lemon zest reads as perfume rather than flavor.

Sour cream does a similar job — that’s what I use in my Air Fryer Blueberry Bundt Cake — but buttermilk is thinner, so the crumb comes out lighter. For a lemon cake, lighter is what you want.

No buttermilk? Put 1½ tablespoons of lemon juice or white vinegar in a measuring cup, top with whole milk to the ½ cup line, and let it sit 5–10 minutes until it looks curdled. It works. Real buttermilk is better.

What Size Bundt Pan Fits in an Air Fryer?

Straight answer, because this trips everyone up: a 7-inch bundt pan with a 6-cup capacity. That’s the size that fits a 5.5-quart basket air fryer or larger.

Your standard kitchen bundt pan is 10 inches and holds 10–12 cups. It will not fit, and a full-size bundt recipe scaled into a small pan will overflow into the heating element and smoke up your kitchen.

Pan	Capacity	Fits basket air fryer?
Mini bundt (6-inch)	3 cups	Yes — halve this recipe
7-inch springform bundt	6 cups	Yes — use this
8-inch bundt	9 cups	Air fryer ovens only
Standard 10-inch bundt	10–12 cups	No

This recipe makes about 4½ cups of batter, which fills a 6-cup pan to roughly two-thirds — exactly where a bundt should sit. Never fill past two-thirds. If you have batter left over, bake it in a lined muffin tin at the same temperature for 12–14 minutes.

Air fryer ovens: place the pan on the lowest

Ingredients

For the Cake

• Unsalted butter: Creaming it with sugar is where your lift comes from. Room temperature, not cold, not melted.
• Granulated sugar: The crystals cut air into the butter. It also carries the lemon oil once you rub the zest in.
• Lemon zest: Where the lemon flavor actually lives. Two lemons’ worth. Yellow only — the white pith is bitter.
• Large eggs: Structure and richness. Add one at a time so the batter doesn’t break.
• Vanilla extract: Rounds out the lemon so it doesn’t taste thin.
• Fresh lemon juice: Acid for lift, plus sharpness. Bottled tastes flat here.
• Buttermilk: The ingredient that makes this taste like the bakery version — it tenderizes the crumb, reacts with the baking soda, and boosts the tang. No buttermilk? 1½ tablespoons lemon juice plus milk to the ½ cup line, rested 5 minutes.
• All-purpose flour: Spoon and level it. Scooping packs in up to 25% extra and dries out the cake. Cup-for-cup gluten-free blend works.
• Baking powder and baking soda: Both, on purpose. Soda handles the acid; powder gives a second rise in the pan.
• Fine sea salt: Sharpens the lemon. Fine grain dissolves evenly.
• Wild blueberries: Small enough to stay suspended instead of sinking. Frozen ones are cheaper and better than fresh regular. Raspberries or blackberries swap 1:1.

For the Frosting

• Block cream cheese: Full-fat, not tub-style — spread has added water and won’t pipe. Or make your own: Instant Pot Cream Cheese.
• Unsalted butter: Gives it enough body to hold a piped ribbon. Skip it and use my 3 Ingredient Cream Cheese Frosting — just chill the cake after piping.
• Powdered sugar: Sift it. Lumps don’t beat out.
• Fresh lemon juice: Cuts the sweetness, same trick as my Copycat Cinnabon Frosting.
• Pinch of salt: Keeps it from tasting one-note.
• Milk: Only if it’s too stiff to pipe. Half a teaspoon at a time.

How to Make Copycat Nothing Bundt Cakes Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Step 1: Rub the zest into the sugar first. Use your fingertips and work it for about 30 seconds until the sugar looks damp and smells strongly of lemon. This ruptures the oil cells in the zest and is the single biggest thing you can do for lemon flavor. Don’t skip it.

Step 2: Cream the butter and lemon sugar on medium-high for a full 3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Scrape the bowl.

Step 3: Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in the vanilla and lemon juice. The batter may look curdled — that’s the acid hitting the butter, and it corrects when the flour goes in.

Step 4: Toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the flour, taken from the 2 cups. This coating is what keeps them suspended instead of sinking to the bottom (which, in a bundt, becomes the top).

Step 5: Whisk the remaining flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Alternate dry and wet: add a third of the flour mixture, then half the buttermilk, then flour, buttermilk, flour. Mix on low and stop as soon as the last streak disappears. Overmixing here is how you get a tough cake.

Step 6: Fold in the blueberries by hand with a spatula. Prep the pan properly. Grease every crevice with baking spray that contains flour, or brush with softened butter and dust with flour. Fluted pans stick in a way that flat pans don’t, and there’s no rescuing a bundt that tore.

Step 7: Fill to two-thirds and smooth the top. Tap the pan on the counter twice to settle it. Air fry at 310°F for 30–35 minutes. Low and slow — a higher temperature sets the outside before the center cooks. If the top is browning fast at the 20-minute mark, tent it loosely with foil.

Step 8: Check for doneness with a thermometer, not a toothpick. The center should read 200–205°F. Blueberries make toothpick tests unreliable — you’ll hit a berry, see wet blue, and put a done cake back in. Cool in the pan for exactly 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack. Less than 10 and it’s too fragile; much more and the sugars set and it sticks.

The Cream Cheese Frosting Ribbons

This is what makes it read as Nothing Bundt Cakes rather than “a lemon cake with glaze.” It’s a thick frosting, not a thin drizzle.

Beat the cream cheese and butter together until completely smooth with no lumps — this only works if both are genuinely at room temperature. Add the powdered sugar in two additions, then the lemon juice and salt. Beat 2 minutes until fluffy. It should hold a soft peak but still be pipeable; add milk a half teaspoon at a time only if it’s too stiff.

Wait until the cake is completely cool. Warm cake plus cream cheese frosting equals a puddle.

Load it into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped to about ½ inch). Starting at the outer edge of the top of the cake, pipe a thick line from the outside toward the center hole. Repeat all the way around, leaving a small gap between ribbons so the cake shows through. Eight to ten ribbons on a 7-inch cake.

Storage

Because of the cream cheese frosting, this one lives in the refrigerator — up to 5 days in an airtight container. Pull slices out 20–30 minutes before serving; cold butter cake tastes dry and cold cream cheese tastes like nothing.

To freeze: freeze the unfrosted cake, wrapped tightly in plastic and then foil, for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and frost the day you’re serving. Frosted slices freeze acceptably but the ribbons lose their shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use frozen blueberries?

Yes, and for this recipe I’d almost recommend it — frozen wild blueberries are smaller and cheaper than fresh. Do not thaw them. Toss them straight from the freezer with the tablespoon of flour and fold them in. Thawed berries release juice that turns the batter purple and makes it too wet. Add 2–3 minutes to the cook time.

Can I bake this in the oven instead?

Yes. Preheat to 350°F and bake the 7-inch bundt for 35–40 minutes, or until the center reads 200–205°F. Same batter, same pan, same doneness cue.

Why did my bundt cake stick to the pan?

Almost always one of three things: the pan wasn’t greased into the flutes, the cake cooled too long before inverting, or it was underbaked and the crumb was still fragile. Use baking spray with flour, invert at the 10-minute mark, and check the internal temperature.

Can I use a different fruit?

Raspberries and blackberries both work with lemon at the same 1-cup measurement. Diced strawberries release more water, so pat them dry first. Whatever you use, keep it at 1 cup — more fruit than that and the crumb can’t hold it.

Is Lemon Blueberry available at Nothing Bundt Cakes right now?

It’s a seasonal Featured Flavor rather than a permanent menu item, so it rotates in and out — typically spring. Check their site for current availability. That’s exactly why this recipe exists.

More Air Fryer Cake Recipes

• Air Fryer Blueberry Bundt Cake — the classic, no lemon
• Air Fryer Homemade Chocolate Bundt Cake
• Preparing A Bundt Cake in the Air Fryer Or Instant Pot
• Air Fryer Blueberry Pinwheels