This blueberry lemon drizzle cake is an easy loaf cake that bakes up light and fluffy and full of juicy blueberries. Drizzled with a sweet tangy lemon glaze it's perfect for brunch or just with coffee in the afternoon.
This is essentially lemon cake with blueberries. Lots of blueberries. It gets made in one bowl and follows the traditional quick bread method of creaming the butter and sugar before adding in the eggs followed by gently folding in the dry ingredients.
This recipe is very much based on my traditional lemon drizzle loaf. If you love cakes baked in loaf tins then you need to try the orange drizzle cake or the chocolate banana loaf.
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Why This Recipe Works
- The creaming method- where the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy- incorporates air in the batter ensuring a light and fluffy texture.
- Self-raising flour is used instead of regular flour mixed with a raising agent. This means you need fewer ingredients.
- Ground almonds bring a richness to the overall flavour that compliments the sweetness of the blueberries and the acidity of the lemon perfectly.
Ingredients needed
- blueberries- fresh works best, but you can use frozen if that's all you have.
- lemons- the juice and the zest are required to make this soft blueberry loaf
- eggs- should be at room temperature for best results.
- self-raising flour- you can use plain flour and add-in baking powder. Add 2 teaspoons of baking powder for every 150g plain flour.
- butter- it's really important for your butter to be very soft before making this cake to ensure that it whips properly.
- caster sugar- granulated sugar is absolutely fine here too.
- ground almonds- brings richness and flavour to the cake.
- icing sugar- for making the lemon glaze.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Step By Step Instructions
1 & 2- Creaming the sugar and butter
- Start by preheating the oven and lining a 2-pound loaf tin with non-stick baking paper.
- Place the softened butter and the sugar in a large bowl. Use an electric hand whisk to cream the butter and sugar together until the butter is whipped and the mixture is very pale and fluffy.
*Creaming the butter and sugar traps air inside the butter. That air expands during baking and creates a light and fluffy cake.
3 & 4- Adding in the eggs
- Add in the eggs. You don't have to do this one at a time. You can add them all at once. Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Whisk until the mixture comes together. It may look split but it will come back together once the flour and ground almonds get added.
5 & 6- Mixing in the flour and blueberries
- Sift the self-raising flour and ground almonds or the flour and baking powder into the bowl and use a spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold in the flour.
- Add the blueberries into the cake batter and fold very gently.
- Place the batter into the lined loaf tin and bake.
6 & 8- baking the blueberry lemon drizzle cake
- Bake the cake for 15 minutes then gently scatter the top of the loaf with the remaining blueberries.
- This ensures that blueberries are throughout the cake in every bite and don't sink to the bottom.
- While the cake is cooling make the drizzle icing by whisking the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until the icing sugar has dissolved and the glaze is a drizzling consistency.
Recipe: FAQ
When a toothpick or a small knife is inserted into the cake and comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Most cake recipes will tell you that a toothpick should come out clean, but by that point, once the cake cools, it will be a little too dry and won't be its best. The cake continues to bake slightly as it cools.
Although self-raising flour is convenient, you can easily make your own at home with plain flour and some plain flour and baking powder. Simply add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to 150g plain flour.
You can gently soften the butter in the microwave and place the eggs in some warm water for a few minutes to get everything to room temperature.
There are two main reasons this happens.
1. The cake wasn't finished baking before it was removed from the oven and the underbaked center collapsed.
2. Too much raising agent was added to the batter causing the cake to rise more than the structure could support and upon cooling it has collapsed.
Top tips
- If you intend on using frozen blueberries don't defrost them. Add them to the cake batter frozen because thawed blueberries will bleed in the batter and turn the cake purple. * You may need to extend the baking time by about 5-10 minutes to compensate for the cold cake batter.
- To avoid your blueberry lemon cake (or any drizzle cake) from getting soggy, be sure to cool it on a wire cooling rack before placing it in any containers or wrapping in plastic wrap.
- Be sure to use softened (not melted) butter for making the cake. Melted butter will result in the batter splitting and the cake will become greasy.
Equipment
Storage
- Room temperature- blueberry drizzle will keep well at room temperature for about 2 days in a container with a tight-fitting lid.
- Fridge- When this lemon blueberry cake gets store in the fridge it takes on almost a pudding-like texture that is so delicious and addictive. It will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.
- Freezer- store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Wrap the cake well in cling film/ plastic wrap before freeing it. You can also slice the whole cake and freeze the pieces individually.
The Best Homemade Blueberry Lemon Drizzle Cake Easy Recipe
Ingredients
- 150 g butter room temperature
- 190 g caster sugar
- 2 lemons juice and zest lemons: finely grate the zest to get 2 tsp, then juice to get 2 tbsp
- 3 eggs
- 90 g self-raising flour* See notes
- 110 g ground almonds
- 200 g blueberries
Glaze
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180ºC and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
- Place the softened butter and the caster sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk for about 2 minutes until the butter is pale yellow and the mixture is fluffy.
- Once the butter and sugar mixture is light and fluffy add in the lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and the eggs. Add in the eggs all at once and whisk. The mixture may look split. This is perfectly normal and will come back together when the flour is added.
- Soft in the flour and ground almonds. Now switch to a wooden spoon or a spatula and gently fold in 150g the blueberries reserving the rest. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, then gently scatter the top of the cake with the remaining blueberries and continue to bake for a further 15 minutes, until the cake is golden. Cover it with some foil and continue to bake for a further 20 minutes until a toothpick or knife comes out with only a few moist crumbs.Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack in the tin for 15 minutes, before turning out of the tin and allowing to cool completely.
- Making the glaze-
- Make the glaze by mixing the icing sugar with the lemon juice in a small bowl, until the sugar has dissolved and the glaze has a runny consistency. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cake and leave to set for a few minutes before slicing.
Notes
- You need to use an electric whisk for this because a wooden spoon wouldn’t be able to incorporate enough air.
- If the glaze is too thin and won’t stick to the cake add in more icing sugar until you have reached the desired consistency.
Sandra
Is ground almonds the same as using almond flour?
Deborah Rainford
Absolutely! I'll amend the recipe to specify that. Happy baking! 🙂
Brian
What a simple and delicious cake. I’m an inexperienced baker and this was easy to follow and the cake tastes amazing. In fact so good that when I took it to a friend they cut me a slice and held on to the rest!
I’ll have to make it again
Deborah Rainford
Thanks so much, Brian! So happy it was loved by everyone!
Mavis
Absolutely love this recipe. It is perfect for bringing to my bridge game every week.
Deborah Rainford
Thanks so much, Mavis. So happy it's a hit!
Ursula Hartunian
oh, please, i need the ingredient amounts in cups . I do not know how to convert to grams.
Deborah Thompson
Hi Ursula here it goes
150g butter = 2/3 cup
190g caster (granulated sugar) = 1 cup
90g self-raising flour = 3/4 cup
110g ground almonds = 1 1/4 cup
200g blueberries = 2 cups
Any other questions let me know. And I'd love to know how it turns out. You're gonna love this recipe! Happy baking.
Colette
Hi, this sounds delicious! Is there a substitute for the almonds? I'd love to do it how it is but someone might be intolerant.
Deborah Rainford
Hi Collette, this recipe is a variation of my lemon drizzle cake. So, what I would do to skip the almonds, is to make the lemon drizzle cake batter and add blueberries to the cake mix before baking. Here's the link for it -> Lemon Drizzle Cake Hope you love it!