Blueberry Lemon Loaf Cake
Fluffy and moist loaf cake that is bursting with lemon and blueberry flavors, all topped with the most amazing lemon blueberry glaze! Not only is this treat colorful, it’s delicious. Try this with your morning coffee, afternoon tea, or even as a full on after-dinner dessert on a hot day!
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I have a very important question: is it lemon loaf? Lemon pound cake? Lemon bread? What are we supposed to call this type of baked good?? And is it a dessert? A snack? A breakfast food?
See? Very important questions.
My daughter helped me make this, and since “lemon loaf” was too much of a tongue twister for her, we’ve been calling it lemon bread. And that's how I fell down the rabbit hole of how to classify this.
Whatever you call it and whenever you’re “supposed” to eat it, you should make this. It’s moist and very lemony and lasts for days, thanks to the blueberries. And that glaze. Oh. My. Gosh. I was feeling lazy and decided to strain some jam instead of taking the 60 seconds to smash up then strain some fresh blueberries. But it was one of my better baking decisions. The glaze takes this loaf/bread/cake from great to amazing.
How to make blueberry lemon loaf cake
1. Zest and juice your lemons and melt your butter.
2. Stir blueberries with some flour. This helps them not sink to the bottom of the loaf.
3. Sift then whisk the dry ingredients.
4. Whisk the sugar and zest until fragrant.
5. Combine the wet ingredients. Stream the butter and lemon juice in last to prevent scrambling or curdling.
6. Whisk in the sugar.
7. Stir in the flour (there will be lumps).
8. Stir in the blueberries. There will still be lumps.
9. Bake.
10. Make the blueberry lemon glaze.
11. Glaze the loaf cake once it’s cooled.
Enjoy!
Tips and notes for this recipe
Place some blueberries on top
This is purely for aesthetics, but I decided to put some blueberries on top in case they all sank to the bottom. Turns out they stayed pretty evenly distributed, but I’m still glad I had some blueberries on top, especially as I sliced through it and had them all throughout each piece.
Use finely grated lemon zest
I love this microplane zester my mother-in-law gave me. It makes it much easier to avoid the pith (see next tip) and gets the zest nice and fine. There’s nothing worse than having to chew your zest while eating lemon loaf.
Don’t zest the pith
It won’t be the end of the world if you get some pith, but it’s best to zest lightly to avoid the white pith. It’s rather bitter and won’t add any extra lemon flavor.
Spoon then level your flour
Don’t scoop your flour! I never knew this until I started blogging, but it seriously makes a big difference. You will end up with roughly 25% more flour than the recipe called for if you just doonk (official baking term right there) your measuring spoon into the flour container and scoop. Gently spoon your flour into your measuring cup then level it off with the back of a knife. Trust me! It makes a difference.
Increase recipe for a 9x5 pan
*This also works in a 9x5 pan, but may be a little shorter. You can increase the recipe by 50% (or multiply each ingredient by 1.5) to get a full-to-the-top 9x5 loaf. That would equate to the following amounts (the glaze recipe will cover either sized loaf):
2 ¼ cups (306g) all-purpose flour (plus 1 tablespoon for the blueberries), spooned then leveled
2 ¼ teaspoons (9g) baking powder
¾ teaspoon (4g) salt
2 tablespoons (12g) grated lemon zest
½ cup (115g) esh lemon juice, room temperature
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
6 tablespoons (84g) avocado or vegetable oil
1 cup (226g) full fat plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, room temperature
6 tablespoons (84g) melted butter
⅔ cup (127g) fresh or frozen blueberries (don’t thaw if using frozen)
My loaf cake tools
Here are my must-have tools I use for making this loaf cake. Affiliate links provided.
Mesh sieve (because sifting is KEY for a fluffy cake)
Blueberry Lemon Loaf Cake
- prep time: 5-10 minutes
- bake time: 45-50 minutes
- total time: 1 hour
servings: 8-12
Ingredients:
for the loaf
- 1 ½ cups (204g) all-purpose flour plus 1 tablespoon (for the blueberries), spooned and leveled
- 1 ½ teaspoons (6g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 2 tablespoons (12g) grated lemon zest
- ⅓ cup (77g) lemon juice, room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons (56g) avocado or vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup (150g) full fat Greek yogurt or sour cream, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons (56g) melted butter
- ½ cup (95g) fresh or frozen blueberries (don’t thaw if using frozen)
for the blueberry lemon glaze
- 1 cup (200g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (about 40g) blueberry jam
- 1 tablespoon (14g) lemon juice
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8x4 loaf pan (see note for making in a 9x5 pan). If it’s prone to sticking, you can line it with parchment as well.
- Prep your ingredients by washing and drying your blueberries, zesting and juicing your lemons, and melting your butter. Mix the dry blueberries with the 1 tablespoon flour.
- Using a large fine mesh sieve, sift then whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl, whisk the sugar and lemon zest until fragrant.
- In another, larger bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and yogurt until well mixed. Slowly stream in the melted butter while whisking quickly (this prevents scrambling the eggs). Slowly whisk in the lemon juice.
- Add the sugar to the wet ingredients and whisk for about 1 minute.
- Add the flour mixture and stir gently until fully combined. It should still have some lumps in it, but it shouldn’t look separated, chunky, or dry in spots.
- Stir in the blueberries (omit any flour that sank to the bottom of the bowl.
- Pour into your prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes (longer if using a 9x5 pan), until golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with some moist crumbs. Check early so it doesn’t over bake. If it starts to brown too quickly, tent the pan loosely with foil. Let cool in pan at least 10 minutes.
- While the loaf cools, make the glaze. Mix the lemon juice and blueberry jam together then strain through a small fine mesh sieve. Mix with the powdered sugar until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, add a little powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add some lemon juice in small splashes.
- Pour over cooled (or slightly still warm) loaf, either in the pan or on a plate or cooling rack. Slice and serve.
Enjoy with your morning coffee!
Store leftovers in an airtight container.