The weather in Maryland has been all over the place lately. Up and down and everywhere in between.
But one thing has remained constant over the past couple of weeks.
I’ve made this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake 9,847 times, to make it just perfect for you.
It has been a ray of sunshine during this unpredictable winter. Winter is peak season for citrus, so this cake takes full advantage of the wonderfully tart lemon, and balances it with plump, sweet blueberries.
This cake is bright and balanced in color and flavor, and the blueberries look beautiful in the cut cake. Finished with an optional lemon mascarpone whipped cream, this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake is perfect for a reception cake for company, brunch with friends, or a Sunday afternoon snack cake.
About this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake
This Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake works perfectly with either fresh or frozen blueberries; you’ll want to check your state’s harvest schedule to see when local blueberries are in season in your area.
If they’re not in season where you live (and, for those of us in Maryland, blueberries won’t be in season until the end of June ????), this recipe shines with the best frozen blueberries you can find.
If you’re using frozen blueberries, you can thaw them gently under warm water to remove the exterior ice, and then spread them in a single row on a double layer of paper towels while you make the rest of your batter. By the time you’re ready to coat them with flour, they’ll be ready to go!
I recently wrote about four common types of liquids that I use for cakes. Friends, I tried three of the four for this cake and two of them produced exceptional, but different results. So, for this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake, you can use either Greek yogurt or sour cream.
Greek Yogurt Cake
If you want a cake that has a very balanced texture and a WHOLE LOT OF lemon and blueberry flavor, Greek yogurt is the right choice.
If you use Greek yogurt, you can expect a more toothsome, less buttery-flavored cake with an amazing, balanced crumb; the blueberries had a more prominent flavor in this cake than in the sour cream cake. Don’t get me wrong; the cake was extremely rich but also very balanced. The blueberry distribution is absolutely ideal in this cake, making it gorgeous when cut.
Speaking of blueberries…the Greek yogurt brings out every sweet burst of blueberry flavor in this cake, and it also somewhat enhanced the tartness from the lemons. From a taste and texture standpoint, I thought this would be perfect for a breakfast or snack cake. It was exceptional.
Sour Cream Cake
If you’re going for extreme decadence, sour cream is the way to go; the sour cream cake just melts in your mouth from all of that extra butter fat, and the sweet blueberries add a wonderful pop of sweetness. The sour cream also mellowed the tartness of the lemon and the sweetness of the blueberries; it created a very well-balanced, buttery cake that just made my eyes roll back in my head.
I put a note in my Bits and Bobs book to try this sour cream version in a full layer cake, because I think this version could work really well as a showcase dessert. #comingsoon
Beginners Start Here
If you’re new to baking, or if your stand mixer is covered in dust, here are a couple of articles from the BwB site that will help you get off to a great start with this recipe!
- Meet Your Kitchen BFF–Your Digital Kitchen Scale!
- How to Cream Butter and Sugar (With New Video!)
- Baking 101: How to Measure Ingredients
- The Best Tools for Perfect Pound Cakes
- Knowing When to Stop a Technique
These resources are never mandatory reading, but they are super useful to help you understand the techniques that you’ll need to successfully execute this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake. Happy Reading!
Also, in this batter, there’s an important folding technique. You don’t want to break the blueberries in the batter and turn the whole thing blue! For a visual example on how to fold the blueberries into the batter, take a peek at this quick video at the :35 mark!
Important Tools Used in this Recipe
Below, you’ll find some tools that I used for this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake. They’re what I use in my kitchen for just about everything that I bake. **I get paid a small commission if you purchase directly from some of these links, but they are truly amazing products that you’ll find in my kitchen.**
If you have them already, great! Think of this as a checklist to help you build the confidence that you’ll need to execute this recipe!
- Oven Thermometer
- Digital Food Scale
- KitchenAid Hand Mixer
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer (not an affiliate link)
- Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl Set
- OXO Spatula Set
- Sifter
I hope you love this Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake as much as I do. It’s making regular rounds at my house right now and every cake is consistently delicious.
PrintLemon Blueberry Loaf
This brightly balanced Lemon Blueberry Loaf is perfect for special occasions or lazy weekend days.
Ingredients
For the Batter:
192 g all purpose flour, plus 2 tbsp for the blueberries
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt (if using table salt, reduce to 1/4 tsp)
115 g butter, room temperature
250 g granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
115 g full-fat sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt
1 cup blueberries, washed and dried (if blueberries are not in season in your area, good frozen berries are preferable)
For the Simple Syrup:
67 g granulated sugar
84 g water
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
For the Mascarpone Whipped Cream:
250 g heavy whipping cream
86 g confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
230 g mascarpone cheese, cold
Instructions
To Make the Batter with a Stand Mixer:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. An oven thermometer will help you determine where you need to set your oven in order to get to a true 325°F.
- Wash and inspect the blueberries, discarding any rotten ones. Rinse blueberries and lay flat in a single layer, on top of a double layer of paper towels to dry.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
- Sift the flour mixture into another medium bowl. Add kosher salt to the mix and whisk to combine.
- Place the room temperature butter in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low speed until smooth. (20 seconds)
- Slowly add the granulated sugar and mix on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. (6-8 minutes total)
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for at least 45 seconds after each addition. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed (I usually scrape the bowl after the first and third egg for this recipe). This step is essential to cake rise. (4 minutes)
- Add vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest and mix until thoroughly combined. (1 minute)
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. (20-30 seconds)
- With the mixer on the lowest speed, add all of the Greek yogurt or sour cream and mix until combined. (~1 minute)
- Add the second half of the flour mixture and mix on medium speed until combined. (~1 minute)
- Using a rubber spatula, fully scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Then, mix the batter until it is smooth and consistent. Make sure to fully scrape the bottom of the bowl!
- Put the blueberries in a medium bowl with the remaining 2 tbsp of flour. Stir gently to coat. Reserve a small handful of blueberries from this mix to top the batter.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
- Grease a 9”x5” or 8.5”x4.5” loaf pan. I add parchment paper to the bottom of the cake pan for added insurance (see video).
- Place the batter into the pan, dotting the top of the batter with the remaining blueberries.
To Make the Batter with a Hand Mixer:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. An oven thermometer will help you determine where you need to set your oven in order to get to a true 325°F.
- Wash and inspect the blueberries, discarding any rotten ones. Rinse blueberries and lay flat in a single layer, on top of a double layer of paper towels to dry.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour and baking soda.
- Sift the flour mixture into another medium bowl. Add kosher salt to the mix and whisk to combine.
- Place the room temperature butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until smooth. (30 seconds)
- Slowly add the granulated sugar and mix on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. (8-10 minutes total)
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing for at least one minute after each addition. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed (I usually scrape the bowl after the first and third egg for this recipe). This step is essential to cake rise. (4 minutes)
- Add vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest and mix until thoroughly combined. (1.5 minutes)
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. (30-45 seconds)
- With the mixer on the lowest speed, add all of the Greek yogurt or sour cream and mix until combined. (~1 minute)
- Add the second half of the flour mixture and mix on medium speed until combined. (~1 minute)
- Using a rubber spatula, fully scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Then, mix the batter until it is smooth and consistent. Make sure to fully scrape the bottom of the bowl!
- Put the blueberries in a medium bowl with the remaining 2 tbsp of flour. Stir gently to coat. Reserve a small handful of blueberries from this mix to top the batter.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
- Grease a 9”x5” or 8.5”x4.5” loaf pan. I add parchment paper to the bottom of the cake pan for added insurance (see video).
- Place the batter into the pan, dotting the top of the batter with the remaining blueberries.
To Bake the Cake:
- Bake the cake at a true 325°F for 50-65 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reads 210°F-215°F. My preferred internal temperature for this cake is 212°F. Alternately, the cake is done with a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and a fingerprint indentation bounces back.
- Allow the cake to rest for ten minutes while you make the simple syrup.
To Make the Lemon Simple Syrup:
- Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Remove the simple syrup from the heat and add lemon juice. Stir until incorporated.
- After allowing the cake to rest for ten minutes, remove it from the loaf pan to a cooling rack.
- Using a pastry brush, gently brush the lemon simple syrup over the entire cake.
- Allow the cake to cool completely.
To Make the Lemon Mascarpone Whipped Cream:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the confectioner’s sugar, mascarpone cheese, and heavy whipping cream.
- Using the mixer’s whisk attachment, whisk on high speed (on a Kitchenaid, between 8-10) until the mixture reaches soft peaks. (~1 minute)
- Don’t walk away from the mixer while it’s working! Mascarpone whipped cream happens very quickly and you don’t want to over-mix. When it’s overworked, mascarpone turns to soup and it’s an irrecoverable error.
- Once the mixture reaches soft peaks, add the lemon juice. Continue mixing until the mixture reaches stiff peaks. (~30 seconds)
- Once the cake is cooled, add the mascarpone cream cheese to the top and enjoy!
Until next time, Friends!