A classic flavor pairing, this buttery pound cake is sweet and perfectly dense, with a lot of lemon flavor and bursting with juicy blueberries. The top will bake to a golden brown, rise and crack slightly, as good loaf cakes do. It keeps well, can be frozen, used in trifles, and is also wonderful eaten plain, without the glaze.
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I'm a fierce lover of simple bakes in this blog, and this is a fantastic addition to our pound cake recipes.
I love their simplicity and that dense, amazing, and unparalleled crumb that is expected in a classic pound cake recipe.
This lemon loaf cake is our star recipe, and the strawberry pound cake comes second. This lemon blueberry loaf today is a mix of both.
Why make this recipe
- Flavor: the combination of blueberries and lemon is amazing and a crowd-pleaser. And this is a recipe you can make year-round. Use fresh or frozen berries, and add a little lemon extract if your citrus lacks flavor.
- Texture: it's a dense but moist cake, with that wonderful tight crumb that is characteristic of traditional pound cakes.
- Pan size: this recipe can be baked in a loaf pan. Or double the cake batter and bake it in a bundt pan.
- Make ahead: it keeps well in the refrigerator for a week, always wrapped in plastic. And can be frozen for a month.
- Serving it: eat it as a snack cake, plain or glazed. Freeze it for later and use it in a trifle. Add a dollop of whipped cream and fresh blueberries to a thick slice on a plate for a dessert-like presentation. So many possibilities.
Step-by-step VIDEO
Ingredient list
- Lemon: this pound cake uses fresh lemon juice and lemon zest to achieve the best possible lemon flavor.
- Blueberries: seasonal, fresh blueberries are always the best, but, as explained before, this recipe works perfectly well with frozen ones.
- Cream cheese: the regular type, full-fat cream cheese is needed for consistency and creaminess. I always use Philadelphia original cream cheese, but other premium brands work fine. It adds moisture and helps create a fantastic crumb.
- Unsalted butter.
- Eggs: fresh, large.
- Flour: all-purpose flour or cake flour, both work. The difference in texture is subtle.
- Salt: I like using kosher salt when baking. But regular table salt works just fine.
- Baking powder: make sure it hasn't expired.
- Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla paste when available, but a good vanilla essence (artificially flavored) also works and is infinitely cheaper.
Steps to make a blueberry pound cake
It's a simple butter cake, but using an electric mixer and a large bowl, or the stand mixer (with the paddle attachment), is encouraged. Otherwise, you'll need a lot of arm muscle to beat this properly.
All ingredients must be at room temperature for proper mixing.
- Creaming. The soft butter is beaten with the sugar until fluffy and creamy (hence the name creaming method) and then the eggs are added. Add the sugar slowly as you beat the butter for best results, and mix well after adding each egg. It should all take 4-5 minutes. This will incorporate air and help the cake rise and be as fluffy as possible.
- Alternate the cream cheese and dry ingredients: the reason we do this is to better integrate them. Baking is all about leveling temperatures with textures when mixing different preparations.
- Don't beat much after the dry ingredients are added, as it will make the cake tough. Use the mixer at a low speed and stop when the batter is *just* smooth.
Adding the flavorings: the vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest are incorporated with the wet ingredients because they produce a better flavor.
Sifting the flour mixture is necessary to prevent the addition of clumped dry ingredients that are harder to integrate.
Adding the blueberries: add them at the end with a rubber spatula to avoid crushing them. Don't use the electric mixer. Mix them with a tablespoon of flour first so they don't sink to the bottom of the cake.
Smoothing the batter: use the spatula to carefully even out the mixture so the cake bakes more evenly.
Sweet lemon glaze
I am a huge fan of simple icings for pound cakes.
This quick & easy glaze has only 2 ingredients and adds another layer of sweet lemon flavor. We love it so much there's a whole post about powdered sugar glaze.
- Cooled-down cake: it's essential before drizzling the glaze. Otherwise, it will thin out due to the heat.
- Make it ahead: keep it refrigerated in an airtight container or tightly covered bowl. A thin shell will probably form on the top. Simply beat it again before using it. If needed, add another teaspoon or two of liquid.
Kitchen Notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, utensils and equipment needed, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer(like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend keeping track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Different pans: one recipe is perfect for a medium loaf pan, but it can be doubled and made in a tube pan or simple bundt pan with 10-12 cup capacity. Don't be tempted to use intricate patterned pans, as the blueberries might stick, and the baked cake will be difficult to remove. The baking time will vary, of course, and will probably be about 1 hour. You might want to reference this Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt cake.
- Serving it: I love it plain, at room temperature, with lemon glaze or without. But this is a great recipe for a trifle (layers of whipped cream, more fresh blueberries and lemon curd). Or serve a thick slice with whipped cream and more fresh berries.
- Blueberry pound cake: omit the lemon zest and make a blueberry loaf. Use orange juice and zest for a different flavor combination.
Yes, absolutely! In fact, I make blueberry cakes year-round using frozen berries. There is no need to thaw them; you can add them directly to the batter.
It does after a day or two, especially if the room is not cool. Fruit starts to ferment at some point, and though it can take a few days and depends a lot on environmental temperatures, it will make the baked thing go bad in a short time. So I wrap the cakes and refrigerate them after two days at the most.
Use cream cheese as this recipe does, sour cream or oil. And don't overbake it; keep it in plastic wrap if not eaten the first day it's baked. Refrigeration will start to dry any cake after a few days, so you might want to freeze it if you are not eating it. Always well wrapped.
Related recipes you might like:
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Glazed Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ½ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose or cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup cream cheese, at room temperature (see Notes for substitutions)
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- A tablespoon or more of lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F(180°C).
- Butter or spray a 9x4 inch (10x24 cm) loaf pan and, if you want, add a strip of parchment paper to cover the bottom and two shorter sides. This will make it easier to remove the cake.
- Wash and dry the blueberries if fresh, or use directly from the freezer but make sure they are not clumped.
For the cake:
- Beat soft butter for 20 seconds in a large bowl with electric beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Add sugar gradually while you continue beating at medium speed, and then for 3 more minutes after adding all of it. The mixture should be light in color, fluffy and the sugar will have partially dissolved.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl regularly.
- Add vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice and mix. It might look curdled, but don't worry.
- Remove and reserve 1 tablespoon of the flour. Sift the rest with the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking powder) together in a bowl, or have them measured and sift them directly over the cake batter.
- Add them in 2 parts, alternating with the cream cheese in 1 part. That means you start and end with the dry ingredients.
- Mix and integrate it well, but don't beat much at this point. After adding the last part of the flour mixture, you should have most of it not incorporated when you add the berries. After adding the flour, cake batters should not be beaten too much as that will develop gluten and toughen the baked cake.
- Toss blueberries with the reserved tablespoon of flour, add to the batter and combine with a spatula. Make sure everything is incorporated, but try not to crush the blueberries. There should be no flour spots, but some specks around the berries are fine. You should have a thick, smooth batter with berries.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake in the middle rack for about 45 minutes, until it rises, the top cracks and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Pound cakes are dense so make sure it's fully baked. If the top is browning too quickly but the middle is not done, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum paper and continue to bake.
- Cool on a wire rack and remove carefully from the pan, removing the strip of paper.
- Drizzle the glaze over and let it dry before cutting and eating.
- Keep leftovers at room temperature for a day or two or in the refrigerator for several days, with plastic wrap in both cases, or frozen for a month, well wrapped also.
For the glaze:
- Put the powdered sugar in a bowl and add half the lemon juice.
- Check to see the consistency. It should be like thick honey. Add more juice if needed to adjust the consistency.
- Pour over the cooled cake and let drip down the sides. Let dry before cutting.
Hannah M says
Yum! I made mine with a leftover blueberry compote and it was great!
Eli Watson says
Great recipe
Rebekah Prewitt says
Hi Paula thank you for making this recipe available. I tried it last night and it came out great! I made a couple of small minor adjustments by using a little less sugar and omitted the blueberries. Thank you for posting this.
Patricia Lamb says
Best ever super moist. I bake double batch in bundt pan it took 90 minutes.
Teresa Wilensky says
Loved this recipe. The texture was dense and very "pound-cakey", moist, and delicious. Would absolutely make again.
Paula Montenegro says
So happy to hear this Teresa!
sandra m peters says
Why did my cake break apart when I removed it from the pan?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Sandra, it might have to do with overbeating or removing it while still very hot.
Cassandra Wright Fields says
Baking soda or baking powder?!
Paula Montenegro says
Baking powder
Carol says
This is a wonderful cake? Do you have a recipe for mini-bundt cakes?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Carol, most regular bundt cake recipes can be baked in mini bundt pans. The baking time will be less, maybe half, so check carefully.
karla C miller says
Where does the cream cheese go?
Paula Montenegro says
Hi Karla, you add it alternating with the dry ingredients.
Diane says
This recipe looks. Very good I am going to try it. I like blueberries. Thanks for the recipe.
Paula Montenegro says
Thanks for letting me know Diane! Hope you like it.
angiesrecipes says
I love that tender pound-cake like texture! Wish I could have a slice with my afternoon tea 🙂