Blueberry, Lemon, and Almond Loaf

This cake is so good, my family ate the whole loaf in one day! It is light and has a delicate lemon flavor with blueberries laced throughout. The almond flour gives this cake a delicious texture that isn’t dense like pound cake. I made this version of the loaf after making the original recipe from Ottolenghi. I thought it could be less oily and have stronger flavors. I also changed the baking technique a little to make it more simple.

Ingredients

For the cake:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

⅔ cup all-purpose flour

1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

1 cup almond flour (ground almonds)

1 ½ cups fresh blueberries

For the icing:

⅔ cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice + a little extra

Optional: 4-5 blueberries for color

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9- or 8-inch loaf pan with butter, line it with a parchment paper sling. Set the pan aside.

Place butter, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, almond extract, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light, then lower speed to medium. Add eggs in three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times as necessary. The mix may split a little but don’t worry - it will come back together once you add the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and almond flour. With the stand mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, mixing just until no white specks remain. Fold in 3/4 of the blueberries by hand, then scoop batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle the rest of the blueberries on top. Bake another 15 minutes then cover loosely with foil and continue to cook for another 25 to 30 minutes (less for a 9-inch pan, more for an 8-inch pan), or until risen and cooked, and a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside in its pan to cool for 10 minutes before removing cake from pan and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.

When cake is cool, make the icing: Add lemon juice and icing sugar to a bowl and whisk together until smooth, adding a bit more juice if necessary, just until the icing moves when you tilt the bowl. If you want, you can mash in 4-5 blueberries to get a purple color. Strain the icing before using. Pour over the cake and gently spread out. Slice and serve.

Enjoy!

Note: This cake tastes so much better the next day! If you can, wait to eat it the day after you make it, it’s worth it!