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–+ servings

Moist Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Pound Cake

Rebecca Eisenberg
The combination of tart lemons and plump fresh blueberries is basically a match made in dessert heaven, and this lemon-blueberry sour cream pound cake brings them together in perfect harmony. The sour cream makes the cake so soft and tender, but what truly sets this lemon-blueberry pound cake recipe apart is the crackly lemon sugar top.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

  • 227 grams unsalted butter (65°F, softened)
  • 227 grams sugar
  • 1½ lemons (zest only)
  • 227 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much of any other brand)
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 120 grams full fat sour cream (room temperature)
  • 113 grams blueberries (can add up to 113g more if you want)

Lemon Sugar Topping

  • 2 tablespoons sugar (divided)
  • ½ lemon (zest only)

Instructions
 

  • Mise en Place. Bring butter and eggs to room temperature (the butter should be cool, around 65°F, but soft to the touch, not melty or greasy). Measure sugar and lemon zest into one container. In another container, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. Remove any stems from the blueberries. Grease an 8x4" loaf pan and line with a parchment paper sling. Set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Combine the butter, sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat on low speed until there's no loose sugar in the bowl, then increase speed to medium and continue creaming for 3-5 minutes, pausing to scrape down the bowl and the beater at least 3 times. Properly creamed, the butter and sugar will have a fluffy, airy, and paste-like texture and pale yellow color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  • Add eggs. One at a time, crack each egg into a small bowl (to avoid getting shells in your cake!) then dump the egg into the mixer bowl, beating on medium speed for at least 60 seconds and scraping down the bowl again before adding the next egg. Scrape down the bowl again after the last egg has been added.
    • If the cake batter begins to look split or curdled as you're adding the eggs, don't sweat it too much. It will come back together when you add the flour.
  • Alternate adding dry ingredients and sour cream. With the mixer running on the lowest possible speed, add one third of the dry ingredients. When they are mostly combined, scrape down the bowl and beater. Add half the sour cream and mix on low just until combined, then stop and scrape the bowl and beater again. Repeat, alternating the remaining dry and wet ingredients — dry, wet, dry — until just a few streaks of flour remain. Scrape down the bowl and beater and finish mixing by hand with a spatula to prevent over mixing.
    • Mixing the dry ingredients on the lowest possible speed and stopping as soon as it's mostly combined is super important. Do not overmix. The goal is to avoid developing gluten in the cake batter, which would make it tough and dense.
  • Add blueberries. Before adding the blueberries, fill the bottom of the prepared loaf pan with 350g of plain cake batter (about an inch deep) smoothed into the corners of the pan using a mini offset spatula. Then add the blueberries to the bowl with the remaining cake batter and gently fold them into the cake batter until evenly distributed. Scoop the batter into the loaf pan and smooth it out, pressing it down into the corners and sides of the pan so that there aren't any trapped air bubbles. Level off the top with an offset spatula, covering any berries at the surface of the cake as best you can.
  • Lemon sugar topping. Use your fingertips to rub the zest of half a lemon into 1 tablespoon sugar. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon plain sugar over the top of the cake batter, tilting, tapping, and shaking the pan as needed to get an even layer of sugar on top. Then sprinkle the lemon sugar over top.
  • Bake. Bake in the center of a 350°F oven for 60-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs clinging to it.
  • Cool. Remove the pan to a cooling rack. Let cool 15-20 minutes, then use the parchment sling to lift the cake out of the pan to finish cooling. Let cool completely before slicing.

RECIPE NOTES

  • Temps: Pay close attention to the temperature cues given in the recipe — they're very important to how the final loaf turns out! 
  • Adding more blueberries: You can add 56 grams of additional blueberries without compromising the structure of the cake too much. If you really want a lot of blueberries, you can add 113 grams additional blueberries, but know that the cake may collapse a bit in the middle as it cools.
  • Using frozen blueberries: Defrost completely, drain, and pat dry thoroughly with a paper towel before using.
  • Storage & Freezing: This lemon-blueberry pound cake can be stored at room temperature with an airtight cover for 4-5 days. You can also refrigerate it in an airtight container for up to a week. The pound cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge and let come to room temperature for serving.
  • Preventing sticking: To keep the cake from sticking to the pan, spray the pan with non stick spray, then line with a parchment paper sling. The non-stick spray helps the paper stick to the walls of the pan. I use metal binder clips to help hold the paper in place, but this is optional.