It’s been a while since I baked bread or cake of sorts! However, I did try baking cakes in the Instant Pot. I originally made this really soft, and fluffy vanilla cake using a bundt pan. But when I tested that same recipe in my 7-inch springform pan, let’s just say it was a disaster. Bummer! I didn’t feel like venturing into baking another cake in the Instant Pot. It was interesting to note how the same recipe does not work well for different sized pans in the Instant Pot, even though the quantity is the same. I know, I know, there is probably some science, surface area and maybe hundreds of things, but it didn’t work out well for me.
Anyway, I am not the kind to give up so easily if you know me by now. So I will definitely try making a cake in the IP later and share a recipe that I feel confident about, so you don’t have to go through the trials! For now, I just didn’t feel like sparing any more ingredients, even though it was a basic vanilla cake.
Enough of ranting I guess! Coming to this post, I had picked up fresh blueberries the other day since they were on sale. So I didn’t have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I was going to bake, moist lemon blueberry loaf it was going to be! We all love blueberry treats and this delicious quick bread has the right balance of sweetness with a hint of lemon flavor. It goes down well with the kids too, especially if it is topped with the sweet lemon glaze, that is reminiscent of the popular Starbucks lemon cake!
Summer is not far off anyway, but really who needs to wait for summer to enjoy this blueberry lemon bread? Although it is good to make this delicious loaf when lemons and blueberries are in season, I really see no reason why you can’t enjoy this bread all year round. Especially if you manage to find blueberries on sale as I did! It would be the perfect opportunity to bake this beautiful lemon loaf studded with blueberries. As gorgeous as this lemon blueberry bread is to look at, it is equally delicious as well. The lemony notes scream summer! You don’t even need those ready-made boxed mixes to make this blueberry lemon bread, it is much more flavorful when made from scratch! For a change, you can top it with some crumb or streusel topping and bake. Yumminess all the way 😀
You may also enjoy these fruity bakes
Eggless Orange Cupcakes Eggless Mango Loaf Moist Banana Bread Eggless blueberry crumb bars
How to make lemon blueberry bread – Step by step instructions
Step 1: Prepare the loaf pan
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper with an overhang to remove the bread with ease. {My loaf pan dimensions- 25.5 cms x 11.5 cms (10 x 5 inches), height of 7 cms}.
Step 2: Whisk dry ingredients
In a medium mixing bowl, sieve 1.5 cups flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp baking soda. Add 1/2 tsp salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
Step 3: Coat blueberries with flour
Coat 1 cup of blueberries with 1/2 tablespoon of flour, set aside.
Step 4: Cream butter and sugar
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat 1/2 cup unsalted butter and 1 cup sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
Step 5: Add eggs
Add in the eggs one at a time, continue beating on medium-high speed.
Step 6: Vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice
In goes 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tbsp lemon zest, and 3 tbsp lemon juice. Beat on medium speed for another 30 seconds.
Step 7: Add dry ingredients and milk alternately
Now reduce to the lowest possible speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and 1/2 cup milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. (DO NOT OVERMIX).
Step 8: Fold in blueberries
Sift the blueberries to remove excess flour. Add the blueberries. Fold it gently in the batter.
Step 9: Bake
Transfer the batter to the baking pan. Gently tap it on the counter 2-3 times to remove the air bubbles. Bake on the middle rack for 60 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. If the bread is browning quickly, cover the tin loosely with an aluminum foil after 40-45 minutes and continue baking until the bread is cooked.
Step 10: Cool the loaf on a wire rack
Transfer the bread to a cooling rack. Let it cool down in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on the rack completely.
Step 11: Lemon glaze
For the lemon glaze: Add confectioner’s sugar and lemon zest (if using) in a bowl, add the lemon juice, little at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. If it’s too runny, add a little confectioner’s sugar, if it is too thick, add some more lemon juice. Drizzle over the cooled loaf. Enjoy a slice of this lemon blueberry quick bread with tea or coffee!
Notes
This recipe has the right sweetness and lemon flavor for us. If you like a less sweet lemon blueberry bread, reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup. If you want more lemon flavor, add 2 tbsp lemon zest in total. You can also skip the vanilla extract and use 1 tsp of lemon extract instead. Double the lemon glaze if you want to cover the entire cake with the glaze.
★ If you try this easy lemon and blueberry loaf recipe, I would love to hear from you! I’d appreciate it if you could rate and leave a review below in the comments. Your reviews help others know the recipe better too. Feel free to share your feedback and suggestions at [email protected]. Thanks so much 🙂 You can also follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter
