Juicy blueberries and tart lemons are a favorite flavor combination for spring desserts, and this easy-to-make lemon blueberry loaf cake makes the most of that classic pairing.
Light, moist and loaded with lemon flavor and juicy blueberries, this recipe uses a somewhat uncommon ingredient when it comes to baking – frozen lemonade concentrate.
The lemonade adds both sweetness and a bright, lemony flavor that’s accentuated with the addition of fresh lemon zest. In the interest of conserving calories, we’ve kept the added sugar to a minimum too, something we try to do in all of our dessert recipes.
Quick Breads, Pound Cakes and Loaf Cakes: What’s the Difference?
There a variety of non-yeasted baked goods you can make in a loaf pan. You’ll find recipes labeled as quick breads, pound cakes or, as in this case, a loaf cake. So what’s the difference between them?
True to their name, quick breads are breads that are quick to make because they don’t include yeast and therefore require no rising time. These breads are leavened with baking powder and/or eggs and if you want to get technical, this category also includes muffins, biscuits and scones.
A classic recipe for pound cake is made with a pound each of flour, sugar, butter and eggs, and flavored with vanilla. Most modern recipes aren’t quite that rich, but the dense texture and buttery flavor that formula produced is still the goal when making a pound cake.
A loaf cake is a much more forgiving term, essentially being any cake baked in a loaf pan. For our purposes, we’re giving this recipe that label because it has a finer texture than most quick breads and is far less rich and dense than a pound cake.
PrintLemon Blueberry Loaf Cake
This easy recipe for lemon-blueberry cake is light, moist and, as desserts go, relatively low in calories and fat.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 servings
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup blueberries, washed, drained and patted dry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup canola oil
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon coarse sugar for decorating (optional)
For the glaze:
- 2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a standard (8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″) loaf pan with butter (see notes).
- Place the blueberries in a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon of the measured flour and stir until thoroughly coated. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, oil, milk, lemonade concentrate and lemon zest together until frothy.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine with a spatula until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Gently fold the blueberries into the batter, mix well and transfer to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with coarse sugar if desired.
- Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
- Once the cake has cooled completely, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice, stirring until smooth.
- Brush the glaze onto the cake, let sit for a few minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
Recipe Notes:
It’s okay to use a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan if you don’t have the 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ size – it just won’t be quite as tall. Just remember to check your bread for doneness after about 45 minutes instead of 50 minutes as stated in the recipe.
Recipe Keywords: easy, blueberries, lemon
Lynne DeCew says
Can you substitute frozen blueberries?
Lynne Webb says
Hi Lynne,
I think frozen blueberries would work out fine, but I looked into it a bit for you and learned that if you don’t want them to discolor the whole cake you need to rinse and dry them.
Here are the instructions from the baking experts at King Arthur Flour (my favorite brand):
“Rinse berries in cold water several times – until the water is noticeably lighter when you drain them. It’ll start out dark blue, but will gradually shade its way up to a watery red/blue.
When that happens, dry the berries well with several layers of paper towels, top and bottom.
Gently and quickly stir the frozen berries into the batter. You’ll see a few inevitable streaks of blue, but the entire batter shouldn’t turn blue. If that starts to happen – stop stirring, you’re done!”
Let me know if you try this and how it works out!