Lemon-Blueberry Loaf

A classic lemon-blueberry quick bread is a thing of beauty: A plush lemon crumb studded with jammy, perfectly suspended blueberries, coated in a glossy, dripping lemon glaze. It’s a welcome addition to breakfast or brunch, or can be served with coffee as an after-meal treat. This recipe uses a reverse creaming method to ensure the lemon cake is as moist as possible. That simply means that instead of combining the butter and sugar first, all the dry ingredients go into the mixer along with the butter—flour and all. This helps prevent excess gluten from forming, creating a lemon-blueberry loaf that is tender and evenly crumbed. A big scoop of sour cream doubles down on moisture, while a generous amount of lemon zest (two tablespoons, to be exact) gives it bright and bold citrus flavor. Building the cake in layers to evenly distribute the fruit throughout helps prevent the dreaded disappointment of sunken blueberries, rendering each bite the perfect ratio of loaf cake to fruit. A simple powdered sugar icing made with lemon juice tops the cake in a tart-sweet varnish that ties it all together.

We prefer frozen, not fresh blueberries here—the latter, which are often larger, have a tendency to sink to the bottom of the loaf.