Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake Loaf
This Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake Loaf is the best summer dessert around! It’s a simple box cake recipe bursting with the flavors of blueberry and lemon then drizzled with a tart lemon glaze. Grab a slice of this blueberry lemon cake loaf and meet me by the lake!
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Yummy. Yum. Yum. I can’t even begin to explain how delicious this lemon blueberry cake loaf recipe is. And don’t even get me started on how easy it is to make. It’s seriously the best!
As you might be able to tell, I’m slightly obsessed with this lemon blueberry cake recipe. I made it yesterday afternoon for the three of us and the entire loaf was completely gone by this morning. I had two pieces and Zach and Patrick had 3 each. We honestly couldn’t control ourselves…
I’ve been dying to make a lemon and blueberry dessert for some time now. There have been so many amazing recipes floating around social media lately with this flavor duo and I have truly been craving it.
A few weeks ago, Publix was running a BOGO sale on Duncan Hines cake mixes so I snagged myself a couple of them including the lemon supreme variety I used for this recipe. As much as I love making desserts from scratch, I equally enjoy the simplicity of a cake mix.
My favorite cookbook of all time is this Cake Doctor book. It’s loaded with hundreds of cake recipes that are all made using cake mixes as the base. The cookbook shows you how to take a simple mix and turn it into a bakery-caliber dessert by “doctoring” it up.
Using a cake mix saves a ton of time! I’ve already shared these Kahlua and Amaretto infused cupcakes I made a few years back. I baked them for Patrick’s birthday party and was pressed for time with a million things needing to be done for the big event. It was an evening party so I added a little liquor to the cake mix because why not!
I wanted to make something homemade for him but I knew I wouldn’t have too much time to pull off something extravagant. So I busted out the cake mixes and got to work! There’s no shame in taking a little shortcut from time to time, my friend.
So now that I’ve pleaded my case on why cake mixes are so great, and hopefully have you eager to try your own box cake mix desserts, let’s get to baking this scrumptious lemon blueberry cake loaf recipe. This perfectly sweet and tart cake loaf recipe is one you’ll fall in love with at first sight. I can definitely promise you that!
Before we get started, there are a few things I’d like to share with you about this recipe.
- I used a 9 x 5 loaf pan for this recipe. If you’ve ever used a loaf pan this size to make something else like banana bread, you might already know that it takes a good hour to fully cook your cake or bread all the way through. The problem you usually run into when trying to bake your dessert for this long is the top starts to burn way before the cake is done in the center. To avoid the top from burning too much, I placed a piece of aluminum foil over the top of it after 45 minutes of baking.
- If you’re using a smaller loaf pan, an 8 x 4 size, I recommend checking your lemon blueberry cake loaf at around 30 minutes to see if it has fully cooked. The easiest way to do this is to place a toothpick in the center of the cake loaf and if it comes out clean with no batter on it you know your cake is done.
- There was just a teeny bit too much batter for my loaf pan and I had some spillage in my oven. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world but definitely had my nose tricking me into thinking I had burned my blueberry lemon cake. To fix this issue, you can do one of two things. First, you can leave a little of the batter out and only fill the loaf pan ¾ full. The second option is to just place a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil under your loaf pan so it catches any cake that might come over the side. The choice is completely up to you!
- Don’t worry about any imperfections on the top of your loaf cake. In the end, you will be drizzling a lemon glaze over the top of the entire cake erasing any “boo-boos” you might have. I know because I had a few I needed to cover up on my own loaf cake!
Easy Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake
1 (15.25 ounce) Lemon Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Perfectly Moist Cake Mix), 3/4 cup sour cream (full fat or light variety, not fat-free), 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 3 large eggs (at room temperature), 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, 1 tbsp flour, Zest of 1 – 2 lemons depending on size
Lemon Glaze recipe
1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 – 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, ½ tsp of vanilla extract
Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
Spray or line your loaf pan with parchment paper and place it to the side.
Add your cake mix into a bowl of a standup mixer. Note: You can use a hand mixer or good old elbow grease too.
Next, you’ll want to add the zest of one to two lemons to your bowl. I zested one extra-large lemon for my cake loaf. Remember to be careful and only remove the yellow part of the lemon. The white layer below tastes bitter and will ruin your dessert.
From there, add your 3 room temperature eggs and sour cream to the bowl.
Pour in your vegetable oil next.
Finally, add your ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice. I used 1 and ½ lemons to get that right amount of juice.
Turn on your mixer and combine all your ingredients for about 2 minutes.
Add a tablespoon of flour to your blueberries and give them a good coating. This step is very important! If you forget to coat your blueberries with flour they will sink to the bottom of your dessert while baking.
Fold in your coated blueberries into your lemon cake mixture.
Place your finished lemon blueberry cake batter into your loaf pan and add to your preheated oven to bake.
I used a 9 x 5 loaf pan so the cooking time was about an hour. At the 45 minute mark, I draped a piece of aluminum foil over the top of my loaf cake to prevent over-browning. If using an 8 x 4 loaf pan, I suggest checking for doneness at 30 minutes.
Remove the loaf pan from the oven when the cake has cooked all the way through. You can check that the loaf cake is done by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf and then pulling it out to see if any batter is left on the toothpick. If it comes out clean, the cake is done baking.
Place your lemon blueberry cake loaf still in the pan onto a wire rack to cool for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, remove the cake from the loaf pan and let it continue to cool on the rack.
While the cake is cooling, you will want to put together your glaze.
With your cup of powdered sugar already in a bowl, add a tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk it all together.
Add your ½ tsp of vanilla extract next. You want your glaze to easily pour over the top of your cake loaf without being too runny. If you find your glaze is too thick, add a little more lemon juice. If you find it a little too runny, add some more powdered sugar.
All that’s left to do is drizzle that delicious lemon glaze over your lemon blueberry cake and let it harden.
I got to tell you, this easy lemon blueberry cake loaf recipe is one of the best desserts I’ve made in a long time. I can’t wait to head back to Publix so I can get another round of ingredients for my second batch. It’s definitely going to be a summer staple in our house!
Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake Loaf
This Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake Loaf is the best summer dessert around! It’s a simple box cake recipe bursting with the flavors or blueberry and lemon then drizzled with a tart lemon glaze. Grab a slice of this blueberry lemon cake loaf and meet me by the lake!
Ingredients
- 1 (15.25 ounce) Lemon Cake Mix (I used Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Perfectly Moist Cake Mix), 3/4 cup sour cream (full fat or light variety, not fat-free), 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 3 large eggs (at room temperature), 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, 1 tbsp flour, Zest of 1 – 2 lemons depending on size
- Lemon Glaze recipe
- 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 - 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, ½ tsp of vanilla extract
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray or line your loaf pan with parchment paper and place it to the side.
- Add your cake mix into a bowl of a standup mixer. Note: You can use a hand mixer or good old elbow grease too.
- Next, you’ll want to add the zest of one to two lemons to your bowl. I zested one extra-large lemon for my cake loaf. Remember to be careful and only remove the yellow part of the lemon. The white layer below tastes bitter and will ruin your dessert.
- From there, add your 3 room temperature eggs and sour cream to the bowl.
- Pour in your vegetable oil next.
- Finally, add your ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice. I used 1 and ½ lemons to get that right amount of juice.
- Turn on your mixer and combine all your ingredients for about 2 minutes.
- Add a tablespoon of flour to your blueberries and give them a good coating. This step is very important! If you forget to coat your blueberries with flour they will sink to the bottom of your dessert while baking.
- Fold in your coated blueberries into your lemon cake mixture.
- Place your finished lemon blueberry cake batter into your loaf pan and add to your preheated oven to bake.
- I used a 9 x 5 loaf pan so the cooking time was about an hour. At the 45 minute mark, I draped a piece of aluminum foil over the top of my loaf cake to prevent over-browning. If using an 8 x 4 loaf pan, I suggest checking for doneness at 30 minutes.
- Remove the loaf pan from the oven when the cake has cooked all the way through. You can check that the loaf cake is done by inserting a toothpick into the center of the loaf and then pulling it out to see if any batter is left on the toothpick. If it comes out clean, the cake is done baking.
- Place your lemon blueberry cake loaf still in the pan onto a wire rack to cool for ten minutes.
- After ten minutes, remove the cake from the loaf pan and let it continue to cool on the rack.
- While the cake is cooling, you will want to put together your glaze.
- With your cup of powdered sugar already in a bowl, add a tablespoon of lemon juice and whisk it all together.
- Add your ½ tsp of vanilla extract next. You want your glaze to easily pour over the top of your cake loaf without being too runny. If you find your glaze is too thick, add a little more lemon juice. If you find it a little too runny, add some more powdered sugar.
- All that’s left to do is drizzle that delicious lemon glaze over your lemon blueberry cake and let it harden.
Want to remember this? Post this Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake Loaf Recipe to your favorite Pinterest board!
WELCOME TO THE WEDNESDAY LINK PARTY! MEET YOUR HOSTS:
Jaclyn from Coffee, Pancakes, and Dreams
Brittany from Dreams and Coffee
Mary Leigh from Live Well Play Together
Tiffany from Lake Life State of Mind
Lindsay from Lindsay’s Sweet World
Keri from Cultivate an Intentional Life
Holley from Simply Holley Marie
Love this! And love that old cookbook! I am going to be making this recipe soon! Thanks!!
I love the cookbook so much. I honestly can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve made from it! There’s no shame in a little cake mix from time to time 😉
That cake looks divine, and that cookbook sounds fabulous!!
Thank you so much, Danielle! And yes, I’m obsessed with the cookbook for sure.
You had me at easy-I love cake mix recipes!!
Me too! Sometimes I just don’t have the time for anything more 😉
Oh my this sounds delicious! Lemon and blueberry are quite possibly the best flavor combination <3
I totally agree! It’s right up with there with chocolate and peanut butter for me.
Yum! This is amazing! I can’t wait to try it
Thank you, Keri! You’ll love it. We finished it in a day!
This sounds so dang good. I would eat it for breakfast! I’ll be trying this one since we all love lemon so much. I have a recipe for blueberry lemon cookies that’s similar and those are divine, too!
We totally ate it as a dessert and then had the rest the following morning for breakfast. It didn’t even last 24 hours…embarrassing!
First–my favorite flavor is lemon and I love blueberries–so this is a perfect recipe! And, I’ve got to get that cookbook you recommended. I grew up with baking everything from scratch–but in my “old age’ –I would love the ease of using a cake mix. I love that you use sour cream–probably keeps the cake moist. And thank you for all your great tutorials–fabulous–as always! And, I hope you get to go to the Caribbean next year! (we’re all going stir-crazy!)
I’m definitely going stir crazy here too! I think we might head to Europe on a cruise next year actually because it’s a big year for Zach since college will be beginning for him. On another note, if you love lemon than you most definitely need to try this loaf cake. It’s seriously amazing. We ate the whole thing in less than a day!