Iced Blueberry Loaf

Iced blueberry loaf tastes like a slice of sweet heaven! A tender loaf cake with a hint of lemon, bursting with blueberries, and a tangy iced glaze. Perfect for breakfast, tea time, dessert, or a snack anytime!

My goodness. I feel like I say this with every post - but honestly, if I posted a recipe and didn't go on and on and on and rave endlessly about it - should it be trusted?! 😜

I am so thankful to be able to share recipes with y'all. And not just any recipes - FREAKING AMAZING RECIPES!

I have been testing this recipe all year and finally got it just right. And boy! Let's just say - currently at this moment (June of 2022), I am tagging along with Justin on one of his work trips (yay for remote working and being able to take work wherever with me!) - and we packed leftovers of this iced blueberry loaf up with us to eat in the hotel room haha.

It is that good!

Tender. Sweet. A little bit lemony. Bursts of blueberries....and that tangy glaze. Man, this is good! Perfect to have a slice with coffee, for a brunch or shower, for an afternoon snack, or this makes for a great dessert. Anyway, you will enjoy it you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients

You just need a couple of standard baking ingredients for this blueberry loaf cake.

• butter
• sugar 
• eggs
• vanilla
• lemon
• flour
• salt
• baking powder
• sour cream
• blueberries

For the lemon glaze

• powdered sugar
• lemon juice and zest
• cream

How to Make

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, add the room temperature butter and sugar. Beat with a hand mixer for 3-5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. This can also be done in a stand mixer if preferred.
3. Add in the eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and juice. Beat for about 1 minute.
4. In another bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
5. Slowly add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Add in ½ of the sour cream next and mix until just barely combined. Continue with this by adding another ⅓ flour, the last ½ of the sour cream, and then finally the last ⅓ of the flour. Mixing until just combined each time, making sure not to over-mix.
6. To a small bowl, add the blueberries and 1 teaspoon of flour. Toss to coat the blueberries completely. Add the blueberries to the batter and gently mix them with a spatula until evenly distributed.
7. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
8. Once the hour and 30 minutes are up, check the middle of the loaf with a toothpick. If it comes out clean with just a couple of crumbs on it, the loaf is finished baking - remove from the oven and let cool. If it comes out with wet batter on it still, place it back to bake for 10 minutes at a time until the toothpick comes out clean.
9. Let the loaf cool for 10-20 minutes in the pan, then remove and let finish cooling on a cooking rack.

Lemon Glaze

1. In a bowl, add all of the ingredients. Whisk until smooth. If the icing is too thick - add more lemon juice or cream. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.
2. Pour over the cooled blueberry loaf and spread to all the edges.
3. Slice and enjoy!

Pro Tips for Baking

These are a couple of pro tips that I have found helpful when making an iced blueberry loaf.

• Frozen vs. fresh blueberries. I like you use fresh always but you can certainly use frozen. Just make sure not to thaw them! Take them straight from the freezer, toss in flour, and add to the batter while still frozen!
• Toothpick test. I use this with baking any sort of cake or loaf. When the baking time is up, check the middle of the loaf with a toothpick. If it comes out clean with just a couple of crumbs on it, the loaf is finished baking - remove from the oven and let cool. If it comes out with wet batter on it still, place it back to bake for 10 minutes at a time until the toothpick comes out clean.
• Freezing. DO IT! This freezes beautifully and is great to have on hand when you need a dessert and don't have time to bake anything. Bake and let cool completely. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap 3 times and store in a freezer-safe zip-top container. Freezer for up to a year. Place in the fridge to thaw overnight when ready to eat, and let come to room temp before adding the lemon glaze and serving. You can also freeze leftover individual slices. Place the slices on a baking tray and freeze for 30 minutes so they are somewhat solid. Wrap and store like the whole loaf and thaw the same as well. 
• Do not overmix. With each step, mix until just combined. You do not want to overmix or beat - it will lead to a tough and dense loaf, which is no good. 
• Alternating wet and dry ingredients. This loaf is somewhat similar to a pound cake. With pound cake when it comes to adding the dry ingredients and the sour cream, I alternated in this pattern: ⅓ flour - ½ sour cream - ⅓ flour - ½ sour cream -⅓ flour. This helps not to overmix and get everything mixed well and right. 

Print

Recipe