Raspberry Lemon Loaf

This Raspberry Lemon Loaf is the best possible combination of fresh raspberries and lemons in a sweet loaf cake. It is tangy, bright, and citrusy.

It is made from scratch and uses simple ingredients, no special equipment or techniques, and it comes together quickly. I provide easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions as well as plenty of tips and tricks. I have made this loaf cake dozens of times perfecting the steps and ingredients along the way to ensure a moist, flavorful dessert every time.

Raspberry and lemon are two of my favorite flavors when it comes to dessert, and they go so well together. This Raspberry Lemon Loaf Cake has taken many, many tries over many years, and more recently many months to get this just right, but it is perfect. When I am craving a lemon treat, I also love these Lemon Blueberry Poppyseed Muffins, or this Old Fashioned Lemon Pie.

This perfect treat comes with an optional lemon cake drizzle and lemon glaze. They both add to the cake but can be left out to minimize the total time it takes to make the cake.

Below is a list of all of the things that I tried that did not work - and I tried a lot. Then further below is a list of the reasons why this specific recipe works so well. After so many variations with lots of different ingredients, I have written up the final perfect version below! I hope you love it as much as I do!!

What Didn’t Work

Full Fat Plain Yogurt: I have tried making a lemon loaf using a full cup of plain full-fat yogurt as the key ingredient along with eggs and vegetable oil, and it was quite good, but not incredible. In the final version, I use only ¼ cup of plain full-fat yogurt.

Sour Cream: I’ve tried switching out the yogurt for sour cream, but the sour cream was just too intense and too creamy (if that's possible) and not in a good way.

Lemon Extract: I’ve tried using more lemon extract and less lemon juice and zest, but the lemon extract, while good, still tastes a bit manufactured. The final version uses only lemon zest in the loaf.

Cream Cheese: One variation that I made included swirls of cream cheese for extra tang, but it just didn’t make sense taste-wise in the loaf. It didn’t meld well with the other ingredients.

Extra Lemon Juice: Increasing the lemon flavor by drizzling lots of lemon juice over the final loaf didn’t work either. The juice by itself in a larger quantity was too acidic and off-putting. It tasted too sour. In the final version, I only use ¼ cup for the lemon drizzle.

Modeling after my Banana Bread: When all else fails I go back to my banana bread and see if I can model a recipe after my tried and true banana bread made without a loaf pan. But this didn’t work either! I replaced the mashed bananas with plain yogurt and a small amount of lemon juice, but it was pretty boring.

What Did Work:

Using a little bit of everything was really the trick. In this recipe, I use butter, vegetable oil, plain full-fat yogurt, and whole milk along with eggs and two heaping tablespoons of lemon zest. Then I top the loaf with lemon drizzle and lemon glaze. Though, if you skipped both the drizzle and the glaze it would still be excellent.

It is using a little bit of everything that makes it work. In general, I try to avoid using too many ingredients because it can just be a bit too much to buy everything needed at the store, and sometimes it doesn't make the end result all that much better. But in this case, each ingredient listed below is really necessary, which I've verified with all of the different versions of this raspberry lemon loaf that I've tried.

Raspberry Lemon Loaf Ingredients:

Below are the ingredients needed to make Raspberry Lemon Loaf.

• Butter: The fat in the butter gives the loaf plenty of flavor so that it’s not boring.
• Granulated sugar: The recipe calls for ¾ cup, it can be reduced to ½ if you prefer the loaf to be less sweet.
• Lemon Zest: One of the big keys here is to include 2 large heaping tablespoons of lemon zest. This is where a lot of the lemon flavor in the loaf itself comes from. This is the zest from 3 regular or 2 large lemons.
• Eggs: Gives the loaf richness, and helps it to look yellow/lemony. Use room temperature eggs if possible.
• Vegetable oil: Creates a moist fluffy loaf cake.
• Whole Milk: More fat in the milk adds flavor and thins out the batter.
• Plain Full Fat Yogurt: This gives the loaf extra flavor, moisture, and tang.
• Flour: Use all-purpose unbleached flour.
• Salt: To bring out the other flavors, and contrast the sweetness.
• Baking Powder: For leavening.
• Raspberries: Adding fresh berries in the middle makes each bite taste so intensely raspberry and lemony at the same time.

It’s the combination of all of these things that make this Raspberry Lemon Bread not just good, but SO good.

I learned this trick from the book, Salt, Fat Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat.

Below are the ingredients for the Lemon Drizzle and Lemon Glaze.

• Lemon Drizzle: Fresh lemon juice and granulated sugar: Drizzling a small amount of lemon juice combined with ¼ cup sugar gives the loaf that bright lemony taste, ensuring that it tastes like fresh lemons.
• Lemon Glaze: Lemon juice and powdered sugar: To top it off and to ensure that it is not boring, but rather full of bold lemon-y-ness, I added a simple lemon glaze on top.

Lemon Zest and Fresh Raspberries:

The biggest thing that gives this loaf cake its bright flavor is the lemon zest and the fresh raspberries. Lemon zest adds lots of lemony flavor without adding any lemon juice, which would add too much acidity. Adding two full tablespoons of lemon zest allows you to avoid adding lemon extract, which can sometimes not taste as real as fresh lemons.

Lemon Drizzle:

This is a combination of lemon juice and sugar to make lemon syrup. It is drizzled over the top of the cake while still warm adding moisture and extra lemon flavor. Rather than making the syrup on the stovetop, I microwave it in a bowl for 30 seconds, give it a quick stir, and add another 30 seconds. This saves you the hassle of cleaning a saucepan later.

Lemon Glaze:

For another layer of lemon on this Raspberry Lemon Loaf cake, make a quick lemon glaze with lemon juice and powdered sugar. It's extra tart and sweet and the perfect topping.

Variations

• Other Berries: You can use blueberries or blackberries instead of raspberries, or use cranberries and switch out the lemon zest for orange zest.
• Frozen Raspberries: You can replace fresh raspberries with frozen raspberries. However, add the frozen raspberries directly to the loaf pan as you add the batter to prevent the berries from bleeding into the batter (i.e. add some batter to the loaf pan, then drop a few berries in, then add some more batter, then some berries, and so on.)

How to Make Raspberry Lemon Loaf Cake

Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Raspberry Lemon Loaf Cake.

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350℉. Butter a loaf pan, then line it with parchment paper. This helps the parchment paper stay firmly in the pan. Then butter and flour the paper and pan once again.

Step 2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest.

Step 3. Add the eggs and beat until combined. Add the vegetable oil, milk, and yogurt and mix until combined.

Step 4. In a separate bowl combine the 1 ½ cups of flour, salt, and baking powder.

Step 5. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients a little at a time, mixing as little as possible, just until the dry ingredients are no longer dry.

Step 6. Gently fold the fresh raspberries into the batter.

Step 7. Gently pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Lemon Drizzle: While the Raspberry Lemon Loaf is in the oven, make the Lemon Drizzle. Combine ¼ cup lemon juice (about the juice of 1 lemon) and ¼ cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, then microwave again for 30 seconds.

When the Raspberry Lemon Loaf comes out of the oven, slowly pour the lemon drizzle over the loaf so that it soaks into the still-hot loaf.

Lemon Glaze: To make the lemon glaze combine 2 tablespoon lemon juice with the powdered sugar. Once the loaf has fully cooled (you can place it on a wire rack to speed up the process), pour the lemon glaze over the top of the loaf.

How to Store Leftovers:

Because this Raspberry Lemon Loaf includes fresh raspberries it is best eaten the same day it’s made or the day after. Though you likely won’t have leftovers after your first bite. I store this on the counter wrapped in plastic wrap or tinfoil, but you can also place it in an airtight container.

Don't Over Bake

The best way to ensure a moist loaf cake is to not overbake the loaf. Set your timer for a few minutes before the allotted baking time and check back frequently to make sure that it does not get overdone.

If you are using a metal 9x5 loaf pan you may need to reduce the bake time by 5-10 minutes.

For an 8x8 square baker, reduce the baking time by 10-15 minutes (35-45 minutes total).

If you're looking for more quick bread recipes, you may love these below:

If you make this Raspberry Lemon Loaf or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!