Lemon blueberry pound cake

Soft, moist, and juicy, this lemon blueberry pound cake is perfect for any occasion. Serve it for breakfast, brunch, snack, or dessert after lunch or dinner.

The texture of this pound cake is out of this world. The crumb is perfectly soft and moist; the blueberries get melty and juicy as they bake and are irresistible.

The flavor of the crumb is light and lemony with notes of vanilla, and you can clearly taste the blueberries.

The icing, or glaze, is sweet yet refreshing and light, thanks to the lemon juice.

Best of all, you can make this cake with simple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. Also, this recipe does not contain eggs.

You can whip it up in literally 5 minutes, and it takes about 50 to bake in the oven.

Lemon

We use lemon juice and lemon zest to add a pleasant citrus aroma.

Blueberries

We prefer to use fresh blueberries. Frozen berries are okay but not great. If you use frozen ones, add them to the batter straight out of the freezer.

Milk

Any plant milk or dairy milk works for this recipe. We use soy milk or almond milk.

Sugar

Any sugar works for this lemon blueberry pound cake recipe. We use white sugar.

You can add a pinch of salt if you like, although that’s not necessary.

Oil

Any vegetable oil with a neutral flavor works for this recipe. We use either canola oil or sunflower oil. You can substitute butter or dairy-free butter for the oil if you prefer. In this case, multiply our oil amount by 1.25.

Flour

Most flours work for this pound cake recipe. We use all-purpose flour. To make the cake more wholesome, you can use half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour.

To make it gluten-free, use a 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour.

Baking powder

Baking powder is necessary to make the cake light and help it rise. Make sure your baking powder is not too old and hasn’t been open for too long, or it might not work.

Vanilla

This is optional; we like to add a mild vanilla aroma because it goes well with lemon and blueberries. You can use the seeds in a vanilla pod or vanilla extract.

Lemon icing

We make our finger-licking good lemon glaze with icing sugar, milk (we use soy milk), lemon juice, and vanilla extract.

Equipment

• Loaf pan 9 x 5 inches (23cm x 12cm). If you don’t have this size, see the chapter “How to scale this recipe” below.
  
• Electric hand mixer/beater/whisk or a hand whisk.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line your loaf pan with parchment paper.

To a large bowl, add grated lemon zest, lemon juice, milk, sugar, oil, and vanilla seeds or extract. Whisk together.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix with an electric or manual whisk for a few seconds until the ingredients are combined.

Tip: start whisking at low speed so that the dry ingredients don’t spill out of the bowl. Then scrape down the sides of the bowl and whisk for a few more minutes at medium speed. You can also use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.

Whisk for one minute max. Don’t over-mix, or the pound cake will turn out gummy.

In a separate medium bowl, toss the blueberries with a tablespoon of flour. This will prevent them from sinking in the cake batter.

Add the blueberries to the cake batter and fold them in with a spatula, then pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake the blueberry lemon pound cake at 350°F or 180°C for 50 minutes, then take it out of the oven and let cool down in the pan for 15 minutes before moving it to a wire rack to cool down completely.

Tip: Insert a skewer in the center of the cake, trying not to hit the blueberries. If it comes out dry, the cake is cooked. If it comes out wet, cook for a few more minutes.

For the lemon Icing

To a small bowl, add powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk, and vanilla seeds or extract.

Stir until the sugar dissolves, and you get a smooth, pourable consistency. Pour the glaze on top of the lemon blueberry pound cake.

Slice the cake with a serrated knife, and enjoy!

Variations

Vegan chocolate pound cake

An easy, rich, moist pound cake full of chocolate flavor and a light orange aroma. Delicious as a snack, breakfast, or as an easy dessert.

Check out our chocolate pound cake recipe.

Lemon and yogurt pound cake

If you don’t have blueberries, make this delicious lemon and yogurt pound cake instead. We combine dairy-free or greek yogurt and lemon zest to make a moist, soft, and nutritious cake.

Check out our lemon and yogurt pound cake recipe.

Store the lemon blueberry pound cake at room temperature, best if covered in a cake dome or plastic wrap. This way, it will stay moist for 4 to 5 days.

You can freeze it for up to three months. In this case, we recommend freezing it already sliced, so you can thaw the portion you want to eat when you feel like it.

Thaw in the refrigerator or microwave for a few seconds at a time.

How to scale this recipe?

This recipe is easy to scale. We calculated the scaling number for you.

Pick the loaf pan size you want to use for your cake, then multiply all the ingredients in our recipe box by the scaling number in this table.

We used a 9 x 5 inches loaf pan (23cm x 12cm).

Loaf pan size in inches	Scaling number
8 x 4	0.71
8.5 x 4.5	0.85
9 x 4	0.80
9 x 5	1
10 x 5	1.11
11 x 5	1.22

Don’t overmix it

We can’t stress this enough. Over-mixing will make your pound cake gummy and heavy. This happens because while mixing, you will activate the gluten in the flour, which will ruin your cake.

Add the baking powder last.

To ensure your lemon blueberry pound cake gets nice and tall, add the baking powder last, then bake soon after. That’s why it’s essential always to preheat the oven.

Once you add the baking powder and mix it with the wet ingredients, it will start its chemical reaction. You want as much of this reaction to happen in the oven so that your cake will rise and be light and fluffy.

Let it cool down

A cooled-down pound cake has a better texture and flavor. This cake is excellent 2 to 3 hours after it has baked, and even better the day after.

If you love light and easy desserts that are weekday-friendly, take a look at these sweet treats:

• Pear cake with tender pieces of pear inside
• Easy Apple cake packed with fresh apple pieces
• Blueberry cake with lemon, only 8 ingredients and 5 minutes prep time!
• Baked apples with nuts and cinnamon sugar
• 30-minute baked pears with walnuts and maple syrup
• Zucchini bread with freshly grated zucchini and chocolate chips
• Sweet potato muffins with easy microwave sweet potato
• Carrot cake: an egg-free and holiday-friendly cake with raisins and cinnamon