A quick bread with simple ingredients, similar to a light pound cake (less fat and a tad less sweet) that bakes to a golden brown and is covered with the most eye-catching pink icing. The flavors are amazing together, you can use fresh or frozen fruit, the crumb is soft, and the cake keeps well. It's one of our favorite recipes to make for Easter and Mother's Day brunch.
Stunning and delicous
This moist blackberry loaf is an easy quick bread to make whenever you crave berries. Besides the striking color, it's irresistible once you taste it.
Great texture and flavor: You'll love how soft and perfectly dense this quick bread is. The flavors pair very, very well together.
It keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator and also freezes well. Always keep it well covered in plastic wrap and a Ziploc bag or airtight container.
It's versatile: use fresh or frozen blackberries and vary the type of liquid for the powdered sugar glaze, like orange juice (instead of or in addition to the lemon), creme de cassis liquor or bottled blackberry juice.
Blackberry season doesn't last long, and this blog has several blackberry recipes to take advantage of these unique berries.
We even have beautiful blackberry tea cakes made with almond flour. They're more rustic yet perfect for afternoon tea—and so delicious!
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Blackberries: You can use fresh, juicy blackberries or frozen ones directly from the freezer; no need to thaw them. Wild blackberries can also be used.
- Lemon: Fresh lemon juice and fresh lemon zest deliver the best results.
- Yogurt: Use a plain, natural, unsweetened one, such as Greek yogurt.
- Brown sugar: Light or dark.
Variations & substitutions
- Replace the yogurt with sour cream.
- Replace the butter with vegetable oil, same volume (cups).
- Citrus: orange goes very well with blackberries.
- Berries: blackberries can be swapped for or used together with raspberries.
Steps to make the lemon batter
This is a butter-based recipe.
Using a hand-held electric mixer or stand mixer with a paddle attachment makes mixing much easier.
Blackberries: add them whole and last. Don't use the electric or stand mixer to mix them, as they will crush the fruit. Use a large silicon spatula to lightly incorporate them into the lemon batter.
- The batter might look curdled when the flavorings are added, but it will smooth out after the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Sifting the flour mixture creates a fluffier texture and helps integrate the dry ingredients better.
You can sift the dry ingredients before adding them in a separate bowl or have them measured and sifted as you add them, as I do.
- The loaf pan should not be filled more than ⅔ of its capacity (¾ at the most). This allows the batter to grow during baking without overflowing.
- As it bakes, this blackberry bread will rise and crack in the middle, which is fine.
⭐️ Kitchen Tip
To remove the loaf more easily, line the pan with a strip of parchment paper as wide as the pan, covering the bottom and two short sides. The tow longer sides will be unlined but greased. When ready to unmold, run a smooth-bladed knife around the edges to loosen up any bit that might be stuck, and carefully lift the loaf with the help of the paper.
Blackberry glaze
This pink icing adds an eye-catching, dramatic color to this blackberry lemon bread! It's a simple powdered sugar glaze, so you know it's incredibly easy to prepare.
- Blackberry juice: crush some berries through a colander set over a small bowl and collect the juice. Or use bottled blackberry juice.
- Put powdered sugar in a medium bowl and mix with the juices until you have a smooth, pourable, but not runny mixture; it should be similar to thick honey.
Pour the glaze over the cool loaf down the middle and let it drip down the sides. Let dry before cutting and serving.
Kitchen Notes
Organization: Read the recipe first and ensure you have the ingredients at the correct temperature, the 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.
Creaming: this step is essential to achieving a light and soft crumb. The butter must be at room temperature; otherwise, it won't integrate well with the rest of the ingredients.
Berries: add the blackberries last. Don't use an electric or stand mixer to incorporate them, as the fruit will be crushed. Use a spatula to lightly incorporate them into the lemon batter.
Pan sizes: make it in a loaf pan, double the recipe and use a tube pan. For muffins, it will yield about 12, maybe more, depending on how large your blackberries are.
Glaze: you can also use lemon glaze by using lemon juice instead of blackberry. It will be white and not pink. Also, if you like a boozy touch, use creme de cassis liquor instead of berry juice which will also render a pinkish icing.
Flavor variation: orange juice and orange zest can be substituted for the lemon. As we already know from the Orange Blackberry Muffin loaf, it's a wonderful pairing. I'm still partial to lemon, but it is a great option. A mix of both works well too.
Troubleshooting common issues:
- Texture: overmixing the batter can result in a tough, dense bread, while undermixing can result in a crumbly or dry texture. To avoid this, it's essential to mix the batter just until the dry ingredients are incorporated and then gently fold in the berries.
- When is the bread done? If the bread is underbaked, it may be too moist and dense, while overbaking can result in a loaf of dry and crumbly bread. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick or cake tester into the center - if it comes out clean, the bread is ready.
- Flavor: Achieving the right balance of lemon and blackberry flavor can also be challenging. Using too much lemon juice or zest can overpower the delicate flavor of the berries, while using too few can result in a bland bake. Start with the amounts given in the recipe and adjust in future bakes. Or if you're used to baking lemon cakes, use those amounts to guide you.
- Storage: homemade loaves can dry out if not stored properly. To keep it fresh, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days, or frozen for up to two months.
Related recipes you might like:
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Lemon Blackberry Bread (with blackberry glaze)
Ingredients
For the bread:
- 2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅓ cup white granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose or cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup Greek yogurt, at room temperature (see Notes for substitutions)
For the glaze:
- 6 or 7 blackberries
- ½ tablespoon blackberry juice
- ½ tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- extra fresh blackberries and lemon zest, optional to decorate
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. The long sides will remain unlined. This will make it easier to remove the cake.
- Wash and dry 2 cups blackberries if they are fresh, or use them directly from the freezer, but make sure they are not clumped.
For the cake:
- Beat ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature for 20 seconds in a large bowl with electric beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Add ⅓ cup white granulated sugar and ½ cup brown sugar gradually while you continue beating at medium speed, and then beat for 2 more minutes after adding all of it. The mixture should be light in color, fluffy and the sugars will have partially dissolved.
- Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl regularly.
- Add ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and mix. It might look curdled, but don't worry.
- Sift the dry ingredients (2 ¼ cups all-purpose or cake flour, 1 teaspoon baking powdert and ¼ teaspoon salt) together in a bowl, or have them measured and sift them directly over the cake batter (how I do it).
- Add them in 2 parts, alternating with ½ cup Greek yogurt in 1 part. That means you start and end with the dry ingredients. Mix and integrate everything well, but don't beat much at this point. After adding the last part of the flour mixture, don't incorporate it fully so you have dry spots when you add the berries. After adding the flour, cake batters should be beaten on low speed *just* until integrated, but not overmixed, as that will develop gluten and toughen the baked loaf.
- Add the blackberries and lightly fold them into the batter with a spatula. Make sure everything is incorporated and try not to crush the fruit. But make sure there are no flour spots. You should have a thick, smooth batter with berries. If some of them break and color the batter, that's fine.
- Pour 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 cake tester or toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. If the top is browning too quickly but the middle is not done, cover the top of the bread loosely with a piece of aluminum foil and continue to bake.
- Cool on a wire rack and remove carefully from the pan, removing the strip of paper.
- Drizzle the glaze (instructions below) over the completely cooled loaf and let it drip down the sides. Add some extra fresh blackberries and lemon zest before it dries out if you want to. Let it dry before cutting and eating.
- Add some blackberries and lemon zest before it dries out if you want to. Let it dry before cutting and eating.
- Let it dry before cutting and eating.
- Keep leftovers at room temperature for a day or in the refrigerator for several days, with plastic wrap in both cases or in an airtight container. Or frozen for a month, also well wrapped.
For the glaze:
- Place a small bowl with a colander on top, add 6 or 7 blackberries and crush them with a fork. The juice will be collected in the bowl. Measure it in a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon and add enough lemon juice to make 2 tablespoons. Alternatively, use 1 ½ tablespoon blackberry juice from a bottle with ½ tablespoon lemon juice to make the needed two tablespoons.
- Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with the liquid in a small bowl until smooth. Check the consistency. It should be like thick honey. Add more juice if needed to adjust the consistency.
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