Glazed Cranberry Lemon Loaf

This delicious cranberry lemon loaf combines tart cranberries with lovely lemon cake. This is a lightly sweet and moist loaf, with a tangy lemon glaze.

Cranberries and lemon together are a winning flavour combination and a perfect way to celebrate fresh cranberry season! That said, cranberries freeze so beautifully, even when it isn’t cranberry season, just grab a bag from the freezer and you are all set.

This cranberry lemon loaf is perfect for the holiday season or gifts from the kitchen.

Ingredients and substitutions

A few notes about the key ingredients …

Cranberries – It’s hard to beat fresh cranberries in this loaf, so if it is fresh cranberry season, those would always be my first choice.

Cranberries freeze beautifully, though, so if you only have frozen cranberries, they would be a great 2nd choice. Simply use from frozen.

Finally, if you only have dried cranberries, you can use them, though the resulting loaf will be sweeter, with the sweetened dried cranberries.

Lemon – as you’ll need some lemon zest for this loaf, you’ll need to start with a fresh lemon. You should get the zest and the juice you need for the glaze from 1 medium-large lemon.

How to make cranberry lemon loaf

1. Start this loaf by creaming together the butter and sugar at medium speed.
2. Mix in the lemon zest.
3. Beat in the eggs.
4. Add part of the flour mixture.
5. Alternate the flour mixture with the milk, mixing just until combined.
6. Scrape down the bowl well.
7. Fold in the cranberries.
8. Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake.
9. Make the glaze and drizzle over the cooling loaf.

Storage and freezing

Store the loaf at room temperature in an airtight container, with the cut end wrapped with plastic wrap. It will keep well for a couple of days.

This loaf will also freeze well, though it is best frozen without the glaze, then glazed fresh when thawed. Keep in the freezer up to 3 months.

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Get the Recipe: Glazed Cranberry Lemon Loaf

This delicious cranberry lemon quick bread combines tart cranberries with lovely lemon loaf cake. This is a lightly sweet and moist loaf, with a tangy lemon glaze.

5 stars from 3 ratings

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Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 55 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Yield: 12 servings

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, reduce to 1/4 tsp if using salted butter
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• zest of 1 lemon, about 1 Tablespoon
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk, whole milk (3%) recommended
• 1 cup fresh cranberries, *see Note 1 for using frozen or dried cranberries

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup icing/confectioners’ sugar
• 2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice

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Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325F (regular bake/not fan assisted). Grease an 8×4 or 4×10 loaf pan and line the bottom and long sides with a sheet of parchment paper that extends over the sides by an inch or so (for easy removal). Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside about 2 teaspoons of flour to dust the cranberries later.
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar at medium-low speed, until lightened in colour, about 1-2 minutes. Mix in the lemon zest.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Add the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, mixing until well combined.
• Toss the cranberries with the reserved 2 teaspoons of flour, then gently fold the cranberries into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth top of batter.
• TIp! Baking times will vary! Baking times are guidelines only. I like to set a timer ahead of the suggested time, just to have a look through the window (never open the oven unless you think it's ready to test!). You can usually gauge how things are progressing. Watch for the loaf to dome slightly, pull away from the ends of the pan and be lightly golden in colour, then test with a long skewer in the centre of the cake. The skewer should come out clean. Always bake until your loaf gets to that point, no matter what the clock says :) Catching your baking when it is just cooked is the goal, as even a few minutes of over-baking can dry out loaves such as this one.
• Bake in a preheated 325F for 50-60 minutes, or until lightly golden in colour and a tester comes out clean. (mine took 55 min in light coloured 4×10 loaf pan.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, before lifting onto a wire rack using the parchment paper (allow to cool 10 minutes if not using parchment). Peel off parchment and allow to cool completely before drizzling the glaze over-top.
• To prepare the glaze, combine the icing sugar and lemon juice, adding enough lemon juice until you have a glaze that is just thin enough to pour off a spoon. Drizzle over cooled cake, then let stand 20-30 minutes to allow the glaze to set before slicing.

Notes

Note 1: Frozen cranberries will work fine. Use from frozen. Do note that the loaf may take a few extra minutes in the oven to bake thoroughly. Dried cranberries will technically work, though they are sweeter than either fresh or frozen cranberries. You may wish to reduce the sugar in the loaf slightly (by 2-4 Tbsp) to compensate. Don’t reduce the sugar too much, or it will affect the texture/moistness of the loaf.

Want more lemon flavour? – Add additional lemon zest to the batter. Lemon zest is preferable to lemon juice, as you have to add a good amount of juice to get more lemon flavour and the extra liquid in the batter would affect the texture of the loaf. Lemon zest just adds flavour without affecting the liquid content of the batter.

Planning to skip the glaze? – The glaze on this loaf provides a nice bit of extra lemon flavour. If you opt to skip the glaze, you may want to add additional lemon zest to the loaf part.

Be sure to read the notes above this Recipe Card for more tips on making this recipe. You’ll also find Step-by-Step photos there that you might find helpful.

Cuisine: American, Canadian

Course: Snack

Author: Jennifer Maloney

Serving: 1serving, Calories: 213kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 47mg, Sodium: 115mg, Potassium: 89mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 23g, Vitamin A: 244IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 37mg, Iron: 1mg

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