A delicious lemon and blackberry loaf with a tart lemon glaze. A lovely blackberry quick bread to enjoy any time of day.
Lemon and blackberries have always been one of my favourite flavour combinations. They meet beautifully in this quick lemon and blackberry quick bread. The tart lemon glaze tops it all off perfectly. You’ll have a hard time leaving this one alone on the counter!
Ingredients and substitutions
A few notes about the key ingredients …
Blackberries – I think fresh blackberries produce the nicest loaf. You could use frozen blackberries, but they may add additional moisture to the loaf. You can also expect a loaf made with frozen blackberries to require a bit of additional baking time. Be sure to test with a skewer and allow the loaf to bake as long as needed until it tests as done.
Lemon – Fresh lemons are needed for this loaf, as you will need both lemon zest and lemon juice. Be sure to pack the measuring spoon well when measuring the zest. If you enjoy an extra lemon-y loaf, round it up a bit.
Sour cream – For a perfectly textured loaf that will stay moist for days, opt for full-fat sour cream. It makes more of a difference than you probably think. In a pinch, full-fat plain Greek yogurt could be used, but the lower fat content will affect the finished loaf to some degree.
How to make lemon blackberry loaf
This is a visual summary of the steps to make this recipe. Always refer to the complete instructions in the Recipe Card below when making the recipe.
- Start by creaming together the butter and sugar for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and beat in.
- Add the flour mixture to the batter alternately with the sour cream and combine well.
- The finished batter should be the consistency of cake frosting.
- Scrape down the mixing bowl well.
- Add the blackberries to the batter.
- Fold the blackberries into the batter gently.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan (either 8 1/4 x 4 1/4 or 4×10-inch).
- Level the batter in the pan and bake. Once baked and completely cooled, spoon the lemon glaze over the top of the loaf.
Recipe tips!
- I’ve tried several things to keep the blackberries from sinking into the loaf, including flouring them and adding them after putting half or 2/3 of the batter in the pan. No luck. They’re just going to sink to some extent. It’s just a matter of the larger, heavier blackberries and a batter that thins out as it bakes.
- Room temperature butter, eggs and sour cream make a big difference in the quality of the finished loaf, so the bit of extra time needed for them to rest on the counter before starting the recipe will be rewarded!
- Be sure the loaf is completely cooled before adding the glaze. Even the slightest bit of warmth in the loaf will soften and thin the glaze, causing it to run off the loaf.
- You can skip the glaze if you like, but keep in mind that it brings a nice hit of additional lemon flavour to this loaf. If you plan to skip it, consider adding a bit more lemon zest to the loaf. I don’t recommend adding additional lemon juice as the additional liquid can alter the texture of the loaf.
- This loaf would also be great with raspberries!
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Get the Recipe: Lemon Blackberry Loaf
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113 g) butter, salted, or unsalted, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest, well packed, from about 1 large lemon
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups (185 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
- 1/4 teaspoon fine table salt, increase to 1/2 tsp if using unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/3 cup (75 ml) sour cream, full-fat recommended, at room temperature
- 6 oz (170 g) blackberries, fresh or frozen
Icing:
- 1/2 cup (65 g) icing/confectioners' sugar
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, plus more, as needed
Instructions
- Tip! Room temperature butter, eggs and sour cream will make a significant difference in the finished texture of your loaf, so I do recommend setting them out on the counter early before starting the loaf.
- Preheat oven to 325 F. (not convection/not fan-assisted). Spray an 8 1/2 x4 1/2-inch loaf pan or a 4 x 10-inch loaf pan with baking spray, then line with a piece of parchment paper that covers the bottom and long sides, with an inch or so extending past the top of the pan along the long sides (these will be the "handles" to lift the loaf out of the pan). Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar at medium speed (about "4 or 5" on a KitchenAid mixer) for 3 minutes, until light coloured and fluffy. (Don't skimp on this process!) Add the eggs one at a time and beat in well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl, as needed. Beat in the lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together well the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream, starting with 1/3 of the flour, 1/2 of the sour cream, 1/3 of the flour, last of the sour cream, then finally the last of the flour.
- Tip! If using frozen blackberries, rinse well in a colander with cold water until the water runs clear. Pat dry with a paper towel before adding to the loaf. Frozen blackberries may increase the baking time slightly.
- Remove the mixing bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to gently fold the blackberries into the batter.
- Scrape into prepared 8×4-inch loaf pan and level batter. Bake in preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean. It is important to test the loaf with a skewer in the centre of the loaf, inserting it several inches into the loaf. Allow the loaf to bake until the tester comes out clean, however long that takes. The finished loaf should look domed, dry and lightly golden and will usually have a crack down the center. Every oven and different coloured pans bake at different rates. Testing rather than time is the best indicator that the loaf is done.
- Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then run a knife along the short ends and use the parchment paper edges to lift and remove from pan. Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before glazing.
- For the icing, stir together the icing sugar and lemon juice until you have quite a thick icing. It should just barely run off the spoon. A good test is to stir the icing, which should leave small peaks, then let it sit. Those peaks should melt back into the icing and flatten within 30-45 seconds. Adjust the icing sugar and lemon juice amounts until you achieve this consistency. Spoon the glaze in a line down the centre of the loaf and then use the back of a spoon to spread it over the top and pushing it over the edges a bit here and there. The icing should be thick enough that it won't run off the top without coaxing by the spoon.
- Allow the icing to stand about 30 minutes to firm up before slicing the loaf.
- Store the glazed loaf at room temperature for up to 3 days. This loaf will also freeze well for up to 3 months.
Notes
More blackberry recipes to love!
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
Thank you for sharing this bread recipe. It is so delicious and moist, also very easy to make! I did not add the glaze on top because I don’t like the tart lemon taste.
So glad you enjoyed it, Diana! Thanks so much :)