This mug by Kate Spade succinctly expresses how I feel about this gluten-free glazed lemon blueberry loaf. ?
But really, you could have it for tea, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, snack time, and it totally works for dessert, too! (So basically all teh meals.)
The sweet blueberries beautifully balance with the tartness of the lemon, and the powdered sugar glaze is juuust enough. It’s an irresistible, ideal partnership of sharp and sweet.
Oh, and the texture?! A lot of gluten-free cakes and loaves have a dense, tough crumb, but this one’s light and fluffy.
What’s the secret?
It’s the sour cream! It makes each bite so silky that it yearns to melt in your mouth.
This cake is divine, but I have to warn you… There is a strong chance you’ll be bombarded with requests to bake it again and again and again. And again. I know this because when I first served it to El Hub and Connor Claire, they took a few bites and, with cake still stuffed in their cherub cheeks, asked me to make it again!
Gluten-Free Glazed Blueberry Loaf
DESCRIPTION
Topped with a powdered sugar glaze, this loaf’s plump blueberries and tangy lemon notes create a perfect balance of sharp and sweet. It’s especially lovely as an afternoon treat with tea, but it works extremely well for breakfast too (I can attest to this!). If you don’t have any gluten-free 1-to-1 flour around, no worries. It’s just as delicious with full-gluten all-purpose flour.
- Prep time: 25 minutes
- Bake time: 50-65 minutes
- Total-ish time: 2 hours (including cooling time and glaze prep)
- Yield: 1 loaf (makes 8-10 nice slices)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE LOAF
- 1-1/2 cups (213 g) gluten-free 1-to-1 flour (I like King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure, or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup (71 grams) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (225 g) sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature (out of the fridge is fine, but they’ll take longer to incorporate)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) sour cream
- 1 cup (142 grams) blueberries
INGREDIENTS FOR THE GLAZE
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar (115 g)
- 1 tablespoon evaporated milk (you may not need all of it, and you can substitute with whole milk)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a 9 X 5-inch loaf pan, and then line it with parchment paper.
- Prep your dry ingredients by whisking the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Prep your wet ingredients by creaming the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4-5 minutes with either a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with a paddle. When it’s pale in color and you can easily push a spatula into the mix with little resistance, you can move on to the next step.
- Add the first egg to the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients, and mix at medium speed until well combined. Repeat with the second egg and mix. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice, and mix until incorporated.
- Grab your bowl of dry ingredients, and use a spoon or a scoop to lightly score three lines into the flour to separate the mixture into thirds. Add one third of your dry ingredients into your mixing bowl, and mix on low speed until it’s barely just incorporated (you don’t want to over-mix). Add half of the sour cream, and mix again, also on low speed. Add another third of your dry ingredients and mix. Scoop in the other half of the sour cream and mix. Add the last third of the dry ingredients and mix.
- Fold in the blueberries with a spatula.
- Pour your batter into your loaf pan, and then spread it evenly with a spatula.
- Bake for 20 minutes, and then flip the loaf pan so the side that was facing the back of the oven now faces the front. Bake for an additional 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If you find that the top is getting too brown, loosely cover the top with aluminum foil.
- Cool the loaf inside the pan for about 20 minutes, and set it on a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the loaf is cooling, prepare the glaze by combining the confectioners sugar, and half of evaporated milk with a wire whisk. If the glaze still isn’t thin enough to pour, then add the other half of the milk. At that point, if it’s still too thick, add a little bit of milk at a time, until it’s thin enough to drizzle atop the loaf. Set aside.
- Set a baking sheet or a plate underneath the wire rack. While the cake is still warm, pour the glaze over the top. Let it set for 10 to 15 minutes.
- You can store the yummy loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. If you have any extras after the third day (which I highly doubt will happen), stick the rest in the fridge.
- Enjoy! ?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict
Karen
The glazed lemon blueberry loaf looks so good, Thanks for the recipe. I make an apple bread pudding a few weeks ago. Baking rather does help with the stress of this situation.
I agree, Melody! It’s comforting and also a fun distraction. You know, I’ve never made a bread pudding before. Is it just a very moist cake? It sounds delicious!
It’s made with bread you break up and add other ingredients to it.
This is the recipe I used https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/222103/healthier-bread-pudding-ii/
This looks delicious. I would’ve guessed buttermilk as the tenderizer, if not sour cream. (Or is using buttermilk in All. The. Things. mostly Southern?) Hmmm, I think we have both lemons and blueberries in the house…
I was inspired by your Clinique-based look yesterday and did a similar one using the LM Caviar Stick in Rose Gold and the Clinique Chubby Stick in Lots ‘O Latte, with Chubby Stick for Cheeks in Rosy Poly Rosy. So easy!!
Ooh, let me know if you try it. I’m guessing buttermilk might work, but of course it would have to be the full-fat stuff. 🙂
BTW I have both LM Rose Gold and Lots O’Latte so I’ll have to try your combo ASAP!
Ok I’m going to be the dummy who asks, can you use regular flour? That way I can use ingredients I already have! Looks delicious!
You totally can. Just sub the gluten-free for regular and you’ll be good! I can’t wait for you to try it. 🙂
Yes! I made lemon bars this week so I’ll continue on my lemon kick. I always get a big bag of them when I go to Sams Club because I like a squeeze in my water. If I lived in California I would totally have a lemon tree!
I wish I had a lemon tree! I walk by one in my neighborhood all the time and it’s practically dripping with lemons and I wonder all the time why the owners just don’t pick ’em all off and turn them into THANGS TO EAT.
P.S. I’m all about that Meyer lemon life!
Thank you Karen for another delicious looking gluten-free recipe! It’s like you know my tastes exactly. Today was Teacher Appreciation and we drove through a parking lot and our principals gave us donuts from an amazing local bakery. It was torture to not eat it. Now I can make my own decadent treat. Thank you!
What a nice thing to do for the teachers! Love it. 🙂
Also I hope you enjoy this recipe. Please let me know how it turns out!
Yum! What a good flavor combo. There’s a local ice cream place that does a lemon curd blueberry ice cream that’s amazing.
I have some bananas that are ready for banana bread though.
Well that flavor sounds all kinds of amazing.
Do you have a banana bread recipe that you like, btw?
I don’t have a go-to! I’m looking for one that uses maple syrup because I like the combo of banana and maple.
Oh and I also like to replace some flour with oats because it gives a nice texture.
I’m gaining so much weight sheltering in place. And I think I just gained another five pounds looking at this recipe. It looks so yummy!! Blueberry baked goods are one of Dear Husbands favorites. Except for the name, this is one of his favorites. https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/blueberry-boy-bait/
Wonder if it would work in GF flour.
I just read through that recipe and OH MY HEAVENS TWO STICKS OF BUTTER! ?
BTW I put on my grubby jeans yesterday to do some gardening and let’s just say a few things have “shifted.” LOL! I’ve decided that I’m going to start running again. I think it’s time.
BTW are you still meeting with your trainer?
Yeah, still meeting my trainer. Today she sat at the top of the bleachers and told me what to do while I worked out at the bottom. My knees have been killing me, so running is out of the picture for now. (Did something while running downhill. Sigh.)
Been trying to garden but as usual, something is eating my efforts as they sprout.
It’s really not fair that Dear Husband can eat that and anything else he wants and he still has the same waist size in jeans and slacks as when we first got married 30 years ago. Sigh.
That’s great! I haven’t had an in-person exercise experience since March. Been doing videos and although it’s nice getting my workout done without having to drive anywhere it’s just not the same. It’s better than nothing though!
What are you growing in your garden? We have tomatoes (beefsteak and cherry), lettuce and squash on the lower deck. In the upper deck (the lady sanctuary) I’ve got some flowers (gerberas) and a strawberry plant. I also have a very two very sad aloe veras.
And yes, it’s so not fair… El Hub could fall asleep with a bag of Cheetoes in his mouth every day for a year and still stay slim.
Lol, I’m imagining a guy asleep on a sofa at 2 am. with the TV on some test pattern with Cheetos falling out of his mouth. Definitely not fair. Also Dear Husband has great hair and super long eyelashes, too. Grrr.
Been trying to grow parsley, basil, tarragon, cilantro and other herbs and lettuces and kales. So far it’s been a bust. I tried to grow tomatoes one year but every time one would get close to being ripe something would come along and eat it from the bottom, so I wouldn’t notice it until I would go to pick it and it would be half gone. Sigh.
I have a volunteer strawberry plant in my front yard this year. No idea where it came from, but we decide to leave it be and see what happens.
The one success, my chives, garlic and onions are doing well. And I have a curry leaf tree that I thought I killed three times over and it’s now 7 ft. tall.
Seriously he could do that and get away with it. AND GET THIS. The man would not even get one cavity. NOT ONE. And his gums would probably be in semi-decent shape too.
Sigh…
Good luck with the strawberry plant! I hope you grow enough for at least a spinach salad with some balsamic vinegar (that’s my goal).
Funny that you mention garlic because I’ve been looking into drought-resistant and deer resistant plants, and just put “society garlic” on the list of things to plant in the front yard! Just have to decide if I’m going to go with white or purple flowers (maybe both). Anyway, I’ve never had home-grown garlic. How does it compare to the stuff you buy in the stores?
The garlic I planted last season was decent. Not sure if it’s my soil being so clay like and compact or lack of nutrients but my bulbs didn’t get as big as farm grown garlic. I would also help if some critter wasn’t digging it up before it fully matures. I’m guessing we either have skunks or raccoons digging things up, or the squirrels accidentally dug some of it up as they were burying acorns from the neighbors oak.
Garlic, onions and generally anything in the allium family prefers steady, moderate moisture and full sun. My chives are gorgeous and I love the purple blossoms.
I replanted some ramp bulbs that I had left over after making ramp pesto. Those like part sun to woodland shade so those when in the backyard.
My favorite video about growing garlic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcShBujgsIQ
OK, thank you for the tip on the full sun for the garlic plants. There are only certain parts of my front yard which get full sun (the biggest areas are semi-shaded), so I’ll have to be mindful of where I put it. 🙂