Lemon and Blueberry Loaf
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!
Servings 10 slices
Calories 388kcal
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.
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.
Nutrition
Calories: 388kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Sodium: 89mg | Potassium: 155mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 106IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 106mg | Iron: 2mg