Blake put Burnley on their way to a fourth win in five outings with a wonderful free-kick struck sweetly from 25 yards after he had been fouled by Youl Mawene.
And he settled the matter five minutes from time when he capitalised on a mix up between Gavin Ward and Chris Lucketti.
But in between times, Preston had more than enough opportunities to equalise.
The form of Richard Cresswell was the main reason why they didn't.
Cresswell missed three gilt-edged chances but was unlucky not to win a penalty after being clearly fouled by Frank Sinclair who had already been booked.
Preston were on top in the early stages of the second half, but Cresswell just couldn't find the scoring touch and Eddie Lewis was unfortunate to see a free-kick curl just wide.
Apart from Blake's brace, Burnley's scoring chances were few and far between but their defending is such that once they edged in front a victory was always on the cards.
The Clarets have conceded just once in their last 450 minutes of Championship action and, in teenage defender Gary Cahill, on loan from Aston Villa, they have a real star in the making.
On any other day he would have taken the Man of the Match accolade, but on this occasion it was reserved for Blake.