Lemon and Blueberry Loaf

This is a simple lemon loaf with blueberries tossed in, drizzled with lemon syrup for some extra tart flavour, and moisture.

I want people to be able to bake delicious bakes, without all the effort and fuss of having to use complex techniques and ingredients. Personally, I like challenging myself by trying new techniques but sometimes a simple bake which yields delicious results is equally rewarding.

This lemon and blueberry loaf is a simple pound cake using only four basic pantry staples. I wanted to make it a little extra special and so threw some blueberries into the mix. I have been seeing a lot of lemon and blueberry recipes on Instagram lately. Whilst this is a fairly common flavour profile, it is a classic one which never fails to disappoint.

What did initially disappoint me however, was the fact that my blueberries had sunk to the bottom. I baked this recipe three times, incorporating the berries in differently – tossing it in flour and adding it into the cake batter before going into the pan, layering the berries and the batter, placing all the berries right on top. Unfortunately, in all instances, they had sunk to the bottom. I have not solved this conundrum for now, but still think the cake tastes great. Also, there are no rules about all the blueberries needing to be dispersed throughout the cake.

As a side note, I did try a yogurt cake version which resulted in much more uniform blueberry dispersion, but I was not mad about the taste. I therefore decided to stick with this version for now, and see if I can solve this at a later stage.

If you are able to solve my blueberry conundrum, please let me know how – I promise to give you the credit for it 🙂

TIPS FOR MAKING THIS LEMON AND BLUEBERRY LOAF:

• Is it essential for my ingredients to be at room temperature? This is an “all-in-one cake” mixing method, where you just beat all the ingredients together, it is therefore crucial that the butter is really soft (not melted!) or you run the risk of overmixing. This will result in a dry cake.
• Can I change the blueberries in the recipe? The blueberries can be omitted, or swapped out for raspberies. Strawberries and Blackberries are too watery and will add too much moisture to the cake.
• Can I bake this in another tin? I personally have not tested this, so cannot say. I do not think it would be a problem, provided you change the baking time and the temperature.
• What happens if my cake is getting too brown on the top, but my cake is not cooked? Cover the top of the loaf tin with a piece of foil.
• How will I know when the cake is done? A skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean.
• How long will this cake keep for? This cake is best eaten on the same day, but will keep in an airtight container for three days.

IF YOU LIKED THIS BLUEBERRY AND LEMON LOAF, YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

• One bowl blueberry muffins
• Sweet and tart lemon squares
• Lemon curd cake
• Lemon meringue pie

If you make this recipe, please share it with me by tagging me on Instagram @adventureswithsugar or on Facebook at Adventures with Sugar. Also, I would really appreciate if you could leave a comment on my blog 🙂

FOR THE BLUEBERRY AND LEMON LOAF

• 150g butter, cut into 2cm cubes, softened to room temperature
• 100g self-raising flour
• 50g cake flour, plus a tablespoon for dusting the berries
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 150g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 50ml milk, at room temperature
• 1 tbs lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
• 180g blueberries

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celcius. Grease an line a 25cm by 13cm loaf pan with baking paper. Let the baking paper hang over the length of the pan, so that it is easy to lift out the baked cake.
2. Toss the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour and set aside.
3. Mix the eggs, milk and vanilla essence together, for about 30 seconds, until just incorporated.
4. Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda and sugar into a bowl.
5. Add in the lemon zest and softened butter to the flour mixture.
6. Pour in half of the egg mixture into the flour and butter mixture and beat for 30 seconds.
7. Then add in the remaining egg mixture and beat for another minute.
8. Pour in a third of the batter into the prepared pan, followed by half the blueberries. Repeat with batter, blueberries and finally the last third of the batter.
9. Bake the cake for about around 50 – 60 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. If you find that the top of your cake is getting to dark, but it is not cooked on the inside, then just cover it with a piece of foil and let it bake until done.

FOR THE LEMON SYRUP

• 125ml lemon juice
• 90g sugar

METHOD

1. When the cake has been baking for around 45 minutes, place the sugar and lemon juice in a pot and heat on medium heat.
2. Heat until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture just comes to a boil. Do not over heat it or the syrup my be too thick and not soak into the cake.
3. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour over the hot syrup to let soak in.
4. Let the cake cool in the tin for about 45 minutes, before turning out and letting it cool completely. This is important, especially if the blueberries has sunk to the bottom. If you turn the cake out whilst still very warm, the bottom of the cake will bulge as it is too moist with the fruit. I am talking from experience here 😉

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com