This soft and fluffy vegan blueberry lemon loaf cake is so easy to make. Moist lemon cake is studded with juicy blueberries and topped with a buttery lemon streusel topping and thick lemon icing.
Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan-forced 160°C/320°F or conventional 180°C/356°F.Lightly grease a 1-pound loaf pan with some oil and line it with a sling of parchment paper - leaving an overhang on the sides.
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, yogurt, 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 dry 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.