Soft & fluffy Lemon Blueberry Loaf. Loaded with juicy, fresh lemon, studded with blueberries and drizzled in lemon glaze. Made in one bowl and no mixer required!
Nothing says spring like a Lemon Blueberry Loaf. It's fresh and zingy with bursts of juicy blueberry in every bite!
And the lemony glaze? That's there just because. Mostly because I like glaze on cake, and also because I asked on Instagram and 61% of you agreed with me.
You can easily omit it though. The loaf is sweet enough and moist enough without it, but if you do, instead, I recommend a small handful of granulated sugar sprinkled over the top, just as it goes in the oven, to make a super yum, crunchy crust.
A big, thick slice of this vegan loaf cake, with or without some of my vegan butter is like springtime eating perfection and I should know because I've eaten about 3,000,052 slices this week.
We're talking:
- AMAZING spring infused cake made with fresh lemons and beautiful bluebs. I can die happy.
- Crunchy outsides ...literally my favourite bit of loaf cakes
- Fluffy, soft sponge inside
- Bursty bluebs in every bite
- Cornmeal for depth of flavour, colour and texture
- Fragrance like no other at all stages from prep to baking to eating
- Zingy lemon glaze drizzled ALL OVER the top to make it look like you know what you’re doing with cake decorating ..
And the beauty of the glaze is that it has just 2 ingredients for you to mix up, then you just drizzle it all on haphazardly. It looks good however it lands!
Don't worry if you are gluten-free because I've got you covered too. I've tweaked this recipe to make you your very own Gluten-Free Lemon Cake with Blueberries!
Here's what you need to make my Lemon Blueberry Loaf:
And here's what you need to make the simple lemon glaze:
How To Make Lemon Blueberry Loaf
SEE MY VIDEO FOR A VISUAL GUIDE. FOR INGREDIENTS & FULL INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE SEE THE RECIPE CARD AT THE END OF THIS POST
- Add the dry ingredients, except the sugar, to a mixing bowl and whisk them together
- Zest your lemons like a boss. Yes, I hate zesting citrus fruits too, but that's where all that lovely flavour is so don't skip it, then add them to a jug with all of the wet ingredients and the sugar and give them all a good stir up
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together then add the blueberries
- Fold them through
- Then spoon into a loaf pan and bake
Vegan Loaf Cake Success Tips
1. Follow the recipe closely and as always with recipes involving flour, I highly recommend you use a kitchen scale.
Cup measurements are not accurate enough to get the best and consistent results, but if you do need to use them, spoon the flour into the cup then level off the top with a knife without compacting it or shaking it down. By doing it like this you will get roughly the correct amount.
If you scoop the flour up into the cup, you will end up with much more than is needed and it will affect the outcome of the recipe.
Digital scales are available at most big superstores now and you can pick one up for around $10. They are a great investment and are so worth having! I have this one:
2. Even if your loaf pan is non stick, I recommend lining the bottom of it with a strip of parchment paper. One long strip that goes along the bottom and overhangs the ends is fine, then it can act as handles for you to easily lift the loaf out once it's baked.
My favourite loaf pan is this one from USA Pan:
3. How can you tell when it's cooked properly? You can use the toothpick test. Stick it in the centre and if it comes out clean (apart from a little sticky blueberry juice), then its done, or gently press down on the center of the loaf. If it bounces back completely, it is done. If your finger leaves a dent in the loaf it needs more time.
4. Let the loaf cool completely before you cut it. I know it's tempting to break into it when it's still warm, but if you let all of the steam inside escape, you will affect the quality of the crumb. It won't be as moist and it won't keep as well.
5. If you are glazing it, you must wait until it is completely cool.
Some ways you can adapt this Lemon Blueberry Loaf recipes are:
- Swap the cornmeal for shredded coconut
- Use raspberries instead of blueberries
- Use vegan cream cheese frosting instead of the glaze
- If you can get them, vegan white chocolate chips would be a lovely addition!
For more lemon-y springtime treats, check out these great options:
- Sticky Lemon Strawberry Sweet Rolls
- Earl Grey Vegan Cake with Lemon Frosting
- Luscious Lemon Cheesecake Smoothie
And if you love this recipe, please do check out my cookbook, and subscribe to my email list for a fabulous FREE eCookbook featuring my top 10 recipes. Being on the list means you will be first to see my new recipes and you’ll be kept in the loop on all things new and exciting too!
Lemon Blueberry Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 cups / 250 g all purpose flour , (in the UK use plain flour)
- ½ cup / 75 g cup fine or medium grind cornmeal , unsweetened shredded coconut can be used as an alternative
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda , (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- ½ cup / 120 mls melted coconut oil (measured after melting) , use refined coconut oil if you prefer no coconut flavour. Any other neutral tasting liquid oil can be used instead, Extra Virgin Olive Oil also works amazingly well, but you need t love that distinct olive oil flavour
- ¾ cup / 150 g cane sugar or white granulated sugar
- ¾ cup / 180 mls unsweetened milk of choice
- 2 medium lemons worth of zest , (zest them first then juice them after)
- ¼ cup / 60 mls freshly squeezed lemon juice , (usually about 2 medium lemons)
- 1 cup / 130 g fresh or frozen blueberries , plus another small handful for decorating the top(fresh will give the best flavour
For the frosting
- ¾ cup / 95 g powdered sugar
- 2 - 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice , the amount needed will vary. Please take note of my directions below
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190 *C), then grease a standard 1lb loaf pan ( 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75 inches) with some coconut oil, or any other neutral oil you have. Place a long strip of baking parchment along the bottom and up either end to act as handles which will allow you to lift the loaf out easily once it's baked.
- To a large bowl, add the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk them together to combine.
- In another bowl or jug, add the melted coconut oil, sugar, milk, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisk or stir them all together really well until thick and gloopy.
- Make sure everything is ready to go, oven at temperature, loaf pan ready and at your side, before you continue. Then, pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. With a spatula or wooden spoon, fold them together. Do not beat it or whisk it really hard as that will affect the texture of the loaf. Be gentle, but work quite quickly. As soon as you can no longer see any dry flour, pour in the blueberries and fold those in too.
- Immediately spoon the batter into the loaf pan, smooth out the top, and sprinkle over a few extra blueberries (not essential, it's just for looks!). If you don't intend on glazing the finished loaf, a handful of granulated sugar sprinkled all over the top is nice as it will bake up to give a lovely crunchy top.
- Get it into the oven without hanging around (we want to really take advantage of the reaction of the baking soda with the lemon juice for maximum fluffy texture). Bake for 47 - 55 minutes. If you use frozen blueberries it might take a couple of minutes longer. Check it at about 47 minutes, by poking it in the centre with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, except for perhaps a little blueberry juice, then it's done. Or press the centre with your finger. If it bounces back it's done. If it leaves a dent put it back in the oven for a few minutes.
- Use the parchment paper handles to gently lift the loaf out of the pan and place on a cooling rack. Remove the paper from the base and leave on the rack until completely cool.
- Once the loaf is completely cool, in a small bowl, add the powdered sugar. Gradually add the lemon juice 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring really well between each addition. It will feel like there is not enough liquid, then all of a sudden it will come together into a thick, smooth glaze. You shouldn't need more than 4 tablespoons. The amount needed will vary depending on humidity though.
- Once the glaze is completely smooth and drizzle-able, use a spoon to drizzle it all over the top of your loaf. Leave it for at least 10 minutes to set up a bit before cutting.
Cynthia Lafromboise says
Just had to share that my husband is raving about this cake. I used the sugar and blueberry topping and he says the crunch just makes him so happy. Thanks for sharing such an awesome recipe, you make me a better cook.
A Virtual Vegan says
Ah that's lovely Cynthia. I'm so pleased you're both enjoying it! I share your husband's love of crunchy sugar on cakes!
Annie says
I made this the other day and it tasted delicious! It looked great coming out of the oven and the toothpick was clean. However, the loaf sank in the middle - what did I do wrong? Any recommendations on how to prevent that?
A Virtual Vegan says
That's such a shame. I'm glad it tasted good regardless though! There are a few reasons this might have happened:
1 - Did you weigh the ingredients with a digital scale and use measuring spoons for the baking powder/soda etc? If there is too much raising agent it can make cakes sink. Using cups and regular teaspoons not measuring ones can be really inaccurate and you will almost always end up with the wrong ratio of ingredients. Sometimes you can get away with it but in a cake like this with all of the acid in it problems will be more pronounced.
2 - Is the temperature of your oven off perhaps? If you put a cake in an oven that hasn't heated fully to temperature it can make it sink. The same if the oven is too hot when it goes in. Most ovens do run slightly off. The only way to know is to use an oven thermometer.
3 - Opening the door at any stage in baking before the cake has set.
4 - Accidentally slamming the oven door
5 - Expired or opened for a while baking powder or soda. Once opened it starts deteriorating after about 3 months.
6 - Batter sitting too long before going in the oven. Especially with this cake, it is really important it goes in immediately after mixing.
7 - Overmixing the batter. It needs to be just mixed so you can't see any dry flour and no more. Beating/mixing it really hard incorporates too much air which can make a cake sink when baking.
8 - Incorrect pan size
9 - Cooling too quickly.
10 - Using self-raising flour which would mean you would end up with way too much raising agent.
11 - Using silicone bakeware - My pet hate! They never produce good results.
I hope that's helpful for you to work out what might have happened so it doesn't happen again.
Annie says
Thank you for the tips! It could be a variety of the reasons you listed out - I did use measuring cups/spoons, so I will definitely be investing in a digital scale. Also, my oven temperature is off. And I probably didn't let it cool enough (couldn't resist!). It looked great when I took it out of the oven but over time, it just sank. I tried not to overmix, but I probably did that, too. But thank you for the suggestions - it only improves my baking game! I will definitely try this one again because the hubby demands more :-)
Anmoal Gill says
I've made this recipe 3-4 times now (once as muffins, shortened bake time to about 20 minutes) and I absolutely love it! I'm the only vegan in my friend/family circle, and all the non-vegans loved it. I've always just put sugar on top instead of making the frosting and I like it that way because then the loaf is not too sweet.
Negatives: I don't like that the recipe calls for the zest of 2 medium lemons because honestly how big is a small? medium? large? lemon, I don't know? Accordingly, sometimes the lemon flavour isn't very strong so I've just made sure to add a bit of lemon and vanilla extract to make sure the lemon flavour comes through, no matter how much zest I use!
Would recommend this!
A Virtual Vegan says
So pleased you're enjoying it!
I've included the exact amount of lemon juice needed for the recipe because that's really important, and for the required 1/4 cup of lemon juice you generally need 2 medium lemons so it works out perfectly for the amount of zest. Giving an exact amount of zest tends to do more harm than good because then people end up having to use part of a lemon to get it right. It makes more sense to just use the zest from the lemons you're juicing. Hope that helps!
Lola says
Great recipe! Thank you. I used the shredded coconut as suggested and lime zest and lime juice instead of lemons because that’s what I had on hand. The lime and coconut flavors went perfectly together. Delicious. Perfect crumb texture, fluffy and just the right amount of sweetness.