This vegan lemon blueberry bread is the perfect easy bake for blueberry season. It is loosely based on my popular vegan lemon loaf, with the addition of plump blueberries and zesty lemon crumble.
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📖 Recipe Overview
- Easy to Make. This simple lemon blueberry cake is easy enough for even a novice baker to tackle but tastes fancy enough for a tea party.
- Made With Basic Ingredients. Aside from berries, lemons, vegan yogurt, and non-dairy butter, all of the ingredients you’ll need to make this lemon blueberry pound cake recipe are probably already in your pantry.
- Light & Bright. Laced with juicy berries, a zesty lemony crumble, and sweet lemon glaze, it’s like a little slice of sunshine on your plate!
Looking for more ways to use up fresh blueberries? Try some of my other blueberry desserts such as lemon blueberry cookies, blueberry cheesecake, and no-bake blueberry bars.
🧾 Ingredients Needed
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this bright and beautiful lemon blueberry pound cake from scratch:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Fresh Blueberries - I prefer using fresh berries here since they are less likely to leave blue streaks through the cake. That said, if you can’t find any good fresh ones, feel free to swap in frozen blueberries instead — no need to defrost them first.
- Fresh Lemons - You’ll definitely want to use fresh here so you can get the double citrus whammy of zest and juice. Make sure to wash and dry them first before zesting to remove any dirt, pesticides, and bacteria.
- Soy Milk - This curdles best due to the protein content making it perfect for vegan baking. However, you can also use almond milk or oat milk if needed.
- Vegan Greek-Style Yogurt - This makes for an incredibly moist cake. I use Alpro Greek-style, but you can also use vegan sour cream or vegan skyr.
- Melted Vegan Butter - This adds a delicious buttery flavor to the loaf as well as a rich texture.
- Olive Oil - While adding this aromatic oil to a cake might seem strange, it’s often used in Italian desserts to enhance fruity flavors. Feel free to swap in a light-flavored substitute like avocado or grapeseed oil instead.
- Powdered Sugar - This fluffy white sweetener is the only way to achieve a silky, grain-free glaze. If you’re fresh out, you can easily make your own using granulated sugar, cornstarch, or potato starch, and your trusty food processor.
🥣 How To Make Vegan Blueberry Lemon Cake
Remember, the detailed full printable recipe card is at the end of this page, but here are the step-by-images that you can use as a guide:
Step 1: For the lemon streusel, rub the lemon zest into sugar then rub in the flour and butter until you achieve a crumble consistency.
Step 2: To maximize the lemon flavor of the cake, lemon zest is also rubbed into the sugar using your fingertips. This releases the natural oils in the zest.
Step 3: Whisk the vegan yogurt, olive oil, and vanilla extract into the sugar until smooth.
Step 4: Mix the soy milk and fresh lemon juice in a separate jug and let it curdle for a couple of minutes to form a vegan buttermilk substitute. Then whisk it into the bowl with the other wet ingredients.
Step 5: Carefully fold half of the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt) into the batter using a rubber spatula. Stop while there are still some visible streaks of flour.
Step 6: Combine the blueberries with the remaining dry ingredients and fold them into the batter until evenly mixed. Transfer the mixture to a prepared loaf pan that's been lightly greased and lined with a sling of parchment paper.
Step 7: Top the loaf with some more fresh blueberries, then sprinkle the crumble on top before baking. Once baked, let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting it onto a wire rack to continue cooling.
Step 8: Once completely cool, top the cake with sugar glaze, more fresh berries, lemon slices, and mint or blueberry leaves.
🫐 Variations
- Swap Your Berries - If you can't find tasty seasonal blueberries, you can swap them for another variety. Raspberries or blackberries will make a delicious loaf too!
- Use Almond Extract - A splash of natural almond extract will help bring out the natural flavor of the blueberries and a slightly nutty undertone.
- Switch Your Crumble Flavor - Instead of lemon zest add a half teaspoon of cinnamon, ground cardamom, or rub in the seeds from a freshly scraped vanilla pod.
- Add Nuts - Add some chopped pecans or walnuts to the streusel topping. In this case, keep an eye on the top of your lemon blueberry bread as it bakes. If it appears to be browning more than desired, cover the loaf in foil at the 30-minute mark.
💡Recipe Tips
Invest in a kitchen scale. I have included cup measurements for your convenience but I always recommend a scale when baking for accurate results. Not only will it give you the most precise measurements (and therefore the most repeatable results), but it’ll also cut down on needing to wash as many measuring cups and spoons.
Use only the bright yellow part of the zest. Once you get down into the white pith, the flavor turns bitter.
To get the most juice from your lemons, give them a firm roll on the countertop for 10-15 seconds before slicing them open.
Sift your dry ingredients. Not only does this help remove any grit or impurities from the flour, it also incorporates air into the mixture giving you a lighter fluffier cake.
Don't open the oven door during baking. This causes a rush of cold air which can prevent your cake from rising.
Don’t overmix the batter, or you’ll risk a tough, dense cake.
Let the vegan lemon blueberry bread cool completely before transferring it into a storage container. This will help prevent any condensation from forming and causing the cake to become soggy.
💬 FAQs
Mixing the blueberries with half of the dry ingredients before adding them to the batter gives them a little extra “grip” and helps them stay suspended.
You can also reserve a few to stud the top of the batter before adding the crumble topping.
Nope! It should keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days.
However, if you’d like to extend the shelf life of your lemon blueberry yogurt cake, you can pop that container in the fridge where it’ll keep for 5-6 days.
Absolutely! After cooling, wrap it well in plastic wrap, then transfer it to a zip-top bag or freezer-safe container.
It should keep well for up to a month. When you’re ready to serve, simply allow it to defrost at room temperature for a few hours.
Yes, you can. Although, I do recommend fresh berries if possible for the best result. If your berries are frozen, do not thaw them out first, simply add them to the batter straight from the freezer.
🥧 More Loaf Cakes
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Description
Equipment
Ingredients
Lemon Crumble Topping
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest , freshly zested *see note 1
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
Blueberry Lemon Cake
- 150 ml (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) soy milk, *see note 2
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed *see note 3
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, freshly zested *see note 1
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar, use organic if in the US
- 75 g (⅓ cup) vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil, or light-tasting oil such as rapeseed or sunflower
- 120 g (½ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt or Skyr, or plain soy or coconut yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 260 g (2 ¼ cups) all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 tablespoon baking powder, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda, sifted
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 230 g (1 ½ cups) fresh blueberries, washed and dried, plus extra for garnish
Lemon Glaze (Optional)
- 120 g (1 cup) powdered sugar , (icing sugar)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, *see note 3
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Make the crumble topping: Rub the lemon zest into the sugar using your fingertips until fragrant. Rub in the flour, and then the butter until it resembles a crumb consistency. Set aside.
- Make the cake: In a jug, mix together the soy milk and lemon juice, stir, and set aside for 10 minutes (this makes vegan buttermilk).
- Flavor the sugar: Add the sugar and lemon zest to a large mixing bowl and use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar.
- Add wet ingredients: Add the melted butter, olive oil, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine. Then add the vegan buttermilk (soy milk and lemon juice mixture), and whisk again.
- Sift dry ingredients: To a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add dry ingredients: Add half of the wet ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and fold with a spatula until just combined but there are still a few visible streaks of flour.
- Mix in the blueberries: Add 180g (≈ 1 cup) of blueberries to the bowl with the other half of dry ingredients and mix. Then fold this into the wet ingredients until combined. Be careful not to over-mix the cake batter, instead mix only until there are no visible packets of flour.
- Assemble: Transfer the cake batter to the prepared loaf pan. Top with the remaining 50g of blueberries, and sprinkle the lemon crumble on top.Place the pan on top of an aluminum tray or baking sheet.
- Bake in the center of your preheated oven for 55-65 mins. Check the cake is ready by inserting a knife or toothpick into it, which should come out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before carefully lifting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and olive oil until smooth. Add more sugar for a thicker glaze, or less sugar for a runnier consistency.
- Garnish: Once the cake has cooled, place a sheet of parchment paper under the cooling rack to catch any icing. Pour the glaze on top of the cake and decorate with more fresh blueberries, lemon slices, and mint or blueberry leaves.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 5-6 days. You can also freeze this cake in an airtight container and defrost it a couple of hours before serving.
Notes
- Lemon Zest: Use only the bright yellow part of the zest. Once you get down into the white pith, the flavor turns bitter.
- Soy Milk: Swap for almond milk or oat milk.
- Lemon Juice: To get the most juice from your lemons, give them a firm roll on the countertop for 10-15 seconds before slicing them open.
Nutrition
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*This recipe was originally published in May 2023. The recipe has since been improved with simplified instructions and ingredients.
