Light and zesty this beautifully moist lemon and blueberry loaf cake made with ground almonds is packed full of blueberries and boasts not only refreshing lemon icing but delicious crumble topping too. Perfect summer bake!
Loaf cakes are great! They're easy, unassuming, everyday cakes and that's what I love about them. They are not the prettiest, often thrown together and banged in the oven in a hurry and without expectations but they feel homely and wholesome. What's not to like?
This lemon and blueberry loaf cake is all of those things. It is also perfectly summery and, during the season of delicious blueberry abundance, the one I find myself baking on repeat and I hope you will too!
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe
- No mixer needed, quick and easy recipe.
- Perfect summer bake, packed with blueberries and zesty lemon flavour.
- Enjoy it with afternoon tea, as a sweet snack or even for pudding.
- It's vegan, egg and dairy free so perfect for those with allergies or on special diets.
- It's delicious and very summery too.
- Cannot decide between crumble or icing? Go on, have both! Or you can choose one, it's entirely up to you.
🛒 Ingredients to make Lemon and Blueberry Loaf Cake
Here's what you will need to make my Lemon and Blueberry Loaf Cake:
Cake
Plain (All-Purpose) Flour - Simple cake flour is all you need here. You can swap it for self-raising flour if you wanted to and skip baking powder.
Ground Almonds - They give wonderful flavour and lots of moisture too. They do make cake more delicate but in my opinion it's worth it.
Cornflour - It helps to create that tender, delicate texture. You can substitute it with potato starch.
***Quick Tip*** If you don't have any cornflour or potato starch you can skip it altogether and use 2 tablespoon extra flour.
Baking Powder - Raising agent. You can skip it only if you're using self-raising flour.
Baking Soda - As there are no eggs in this cake we need all the help we can get for the cake to rise nicely. Thanks to acidic ingredients like lemon juice and yogurt it will create chemical reaction which will give our cake that extra lift.
***Quick Tip*** Don't skip baking soda even if using self-raising flour.
Blueberries - Use fresh blueberries if you can but frozen will work as well. If using frozen blueberries, there is no need to defrost them.
Light Olive Oil - My preferred oil for baking. Feel free to use any neutral oil of your choice.
Caster (Fine) Sugar - I use golden caster sugar but white is fine as well.
Soya Milk - My preferred plant milk for baking as it's high in protein and therefore similar to cow's milk which you can use here instead if that's what you consume.
Yogurt - Thick Greek style soya or dairy yogurt is best here.
Lemon Juice - Flavour and acidity.
Lemon Zest - Flavour. I use zest from two large lemons which provide subtle lemon flavour. You could use 1-2 teaspoons of lemon extract in the batter instead of zest.
***Quick Tip*** Do bear in mind that even though lemon flavour in the cake is quite subtle, the lemon icing definitely provides lots of lemony vibes.
Toppings
Crumble Topping
I make my crumble here using mixture of plain (all-purpose) flour and ground almonds. You can use all flour if you prefer.
Caster (Fine) Sugar - I use golden caster sugar.
Plant or Dairy Butter - I tend to use salted but unsalted will be fine too.
🍋 Lemon Icing
Icing Sugar + Lemon Juice - You can of course use water instead of lemon juice but the zesty icing ads another layer of lovely flavour.
🔪 How to make Lemon and Blueberry Loaf Cake
Ingredient quantities & detailed instructions to be found in recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180°/160°C(fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
Lightly grease and line 2lb loaf tin.
Start by making crumble topping. Put flour, ground almonds, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub them together until crumble starts to form. Put in a fridge until needed.
Step 2: In a large bowl mix together flour, cornflour, ground almonds, baking soda, baking powder and lemon zest.
Step 3: Wash and dry the blueberries and toss them gently in a tablespoon or so of flour or cornflour, just to coat them.
***Quick Tip*** It is supposed to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. I tend to do it anyway.
Step 4: In a large jug whisk together sugar, milk, oil, yogurt and lemon juice until you get nice and uniform mixture.
Step 5: Pour the wet mix over the dry ingredients and mix gently with a spatula until combined, don't overmix it.
Step 6: Add blueberries and fold them in gently and only just.
***Quick Tip*** Before folding in the blueberries you might want to pour a thin layer of the plain cake batter into prepared and lined loaf tin to act as a barrier for the blueberries and prevent them from going all the way to the bottom.
Step 7: Pour the remaining cake batter with mixed in blueberries into prepared and lined loaf tin and sprinkle over crumble you prepared earlier.
Step 8: Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hr or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean/without any uncooked batter on it.
Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes in a tin before gently removing it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Step 9: Once cake is completely cool, prepare the lemon icing by mixing icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and drizzling it over the cake.
Slice and enjoy!
🍽 Equipment
There is no special equipment needed here. A bowl, a jug, a spatula and a good zester are all you need.
As for the loaf tin I use my 2lb/900g non-stick loaf tin which I line with very handy tin liners but you could of course line yours with some baking paper cut to size instead.
***Quick Tip*** If using liners you can skip greasing the tin entirely.
🥡 Storing and freezing Lemon and Blueberry Loaf Cake
Store: This cake can be kept in the airtight container on the counter for a couple of days or in the fridge for up to 4 days.
I tend to keep it in the fridge from the get-go, especially in the summer when it's hot, to keep it fresh as long as possible.
Just make sure to take it out of the fridge to warm up for a bit before you eat it.
Freeze: This loaf cake is freezer friendly although, as it's quite a tender and fragile cake, I would freeze it in individual slices separated with some baking paper. Best frozen uniced. Defrost overnight in the fridge or on the kitchen counter for couple of hours.
💭 Pro tips
Use kitchen scales when weighing out ingredients. Accuracy in baking is everything.
Make sure you let the cake cool completely before slicing or it will fall apart. Replacing part of the flour with ground almonds and no eggs make this cake quite fragile.
Hold some blueberries back and put them on top (before crumble) instead of folding them all into the batter. Press them in ever so gently so they're only half suspended in the batter. This will ensure some of them will stay at the top.
Pour a thin layer of plain cake batter (before mixing in the blueberries) into the bottom of your lined tin. This will create a barrier preventing blueberries from sinking all the way to the bottom.
Keep checking on your cake. This loaf cake usually bakes for about an hour but as ovens differ so much I suggest you start checking after about 50 minutes if baking at 160°C (fan oven). You don't want any visible wet batter on the skewer.
Don't let the cake sit in the tin for too long. Make sure to take the cake out of the tin after the initial 10-15 minutes resting to prevent it from sweating and getting soggy.
Don't feel like you need to make both crumble and icing, pick one if you'd rather. Having said that, I would stick with both.
❓FAQ
Yes you can. Swap soya milk for 3 medium to large eggs instead.
I haven't tried making this cake without ground almonds but you could try swapping them for equal amount of flour.
No it's not as it contains regular wheat flour. You could try using your favourite gluten-free flour here instead though. Also make sure that your baking agents are certified gluten-free if required.
Have you tried my Lemon and Blueberry Loaf Cake?
Please consider giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in recipe card below and share your views or tips in the comments.
😋 More delicious blueberry bakes
American Style Blueberry Scones
Jagodzianki (Polish Blueberry Buns)
Mary Berry's Blueberry Muffins
📋 Recipe
Lemon and Blueberry Loaf
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 200 g plain (all-purpose) flour see notes
- 2 tablespoon cornflour see notes
- 100 g ground almonds
- 2 teaspoon baking powder see notes
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 150-200 g blueberries
- 1 tablespoon plain flour for coating blueberries
- 120 ml light olive oil or any other neutral oil
- 150 g caster (fine) or golden caster sugar
- 250 ml soya milk or dairy milk
- 50 g Geek style soya or dairy yogurt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 zest of two lemons see notes
Crumble topping
- 20 g plain (all-purpose) flour
- 20 g ground almonds or flour
- 30 g plant or dairy butter
- 20 g caster (fine) or golden caster sugar
Lemon icing
- 65 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°/160°C(fan)/350°F/Gas Mark 4.Lightly grease and line 2lb loaf tin. Start by making crumble topping. Put flour, ground almonds, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub them together until crumble starts to form. Put in a fridge until needed.20 g plain (all-purpose) flour, 20 g ground almonds, 30 g plant or dairy butter, 20 g caster (fine) or golden caster sugar
- In a large bowl mix together flour, cornflour, ground almonds, baking soda, baking powder and lemon zest.200 g plain (all-purpose) flour, 2 tbsp cornflour, 100 g ground almonds, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 2 zest of two lemons
- Wash and dry the blueberries and toss them gently in a tablespoon or so of flour or cornflour, just to coat them.***Quick Tip*** It is supposed to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake and sometimes it works but sometimes it doesn't. I tend to do it anyway.150-200 g blueberries, 1 tbsp plain flour
- In a large jug whisk together sugar, milk, oil, yogurt and lemon juice until you get nice and uniform mixture.120 ml light olive oil , 150 g caster (fine) or golden caster sugar , 250 ml soya milk, 50 g Geek style soya or dairy yogurt, 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Pour the wet mix over the dry ingredients and mix gently with a spatula until combined, don't overmix it.
- Add blueberries and fold them in gently and only just. ***Quick Tip*** Before folding in the blueberries you might want to pour a thin layer of the plain cake batter into prepared and lined loaf tin to act as a barrier for the blueberries and prevent them from going all the way to the bottom.
- Pour the remaining cake batter with mixed in blueberries into prepared and lined loaf tin and sprinkle over crumble you prepared earlier.
- Bake in preheated oven for about 1 hr or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean/without any uncooked batter on it. Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes in a tin before gently removing it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cake is completely cool, prepare the lemon icing by mixing icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and drizzling it over the cake. Slice and enjoy!65 g icing sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (based on 10 servings) with both crumble and icing and using plant based ingredients. It should be treated as a rough guideline only as it will differ depending on the ingredients used.
- You can use self-raising flour instead and omit baking powder. However, make sure to still use baking soda!
- Cornflour can be substituted with potato starch or you can use extra 2 tablespoon flour instead.
- Lemon zest can be substituted with 1-2 teaspoon lemon extract.
- For more details regarding ingredients and substitutions please see 🛒 Ingredients to make Lemon and Blueberry Loaf Cake
- Store in the airtight container for up to 2 days (if on the kitchen counter) or up to 4 days in the fridge. During particularly hot weather keep in the fridge and bring to room temperature before eating.
- Freezer friendly.
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