This beautiful and fresh lemon blueberry poppy seed cake is the perfect spring bake. It’s ultra moist and ready in 45 minutes with the most delicious lemon glaze. This blueberry lemon poppy seed cake is also naturally suitable for a plant-based diet.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here is everything you’ll need to make this recipe – the exact quantities are listed in the recipe card at the bottom of this page. If you don’t have a certain ingredient, I’ve also included some substitution ideas for you in the next section.

• Butter: To make this recipe suitable for a vegan diet, use a vegan butter (I like the plant-based Flora brand but any will work). I wouldn’t recommend substituting butter with oil as this makes the cake too dense.
  
• Golden caster sugar: Golden caster sugar adds a lovely texture, sweetness, and color to this recipe.
  
• Flax egg or egg: A flax egg is literally ground flax seed mixed with water and then left to set for a couple of minutes. This mixture acts as a binder, doing the same job in this lemon blueberry cake as a standard egg. If you are not vegan, you can use an egg instead.
  
• Baking powder
  
• Plain all-purpose flour: Use any standard plain all-purpose flour for this cake. If you are gluten-free, feel free to use a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
  
• Blueberries: I used fresh blueberries in this recipe. You could also consider using frozen blueberries or even freeze-dried blueberries for similar versions.
  
• Poppy seeds: If you would prefer not to use poppy seeds, you can simply omit them from this recipe for an equally delicious lemon blueberry cake! They do add a delicious texture and flavor to this recipe, though.
  
• Milk: Use whatever milk you prefer for this recipe. If you want to make this lemon blueberry poppy seed cake suitable for vegans, using almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk are all great options.
  
• Lemon: You’ll need the zest and juice of a fresh lemon for this recipe.
  
• Icing sugar: This is for making the icing that tops this cake.

Possible Substitutions & Variations for This Recipe

If you can’t find a particular ingredient or want to adjust this recipe, here are a few substitutions that could work:

• To make this recipe vegan-friendly, use vegan butter, plant-based milk, and a flax egg instead of their non-vegan counterparts.
  
• If you can’t find fresh blueberries, frozen blueberries could also work. You could also use raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries instead (although of course, this will change the taste of your cake!)
  
• To make this recipe suitable for a gluten-free diet, use gluten-free all-purpose flour.

How To Make This Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Cake

For full details, scroll down for the exact ingredients and instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

Here is an overview of baking your lemon blueberry poppy seed cake.

Step 1) Prepare Your Flax Egg

To make this loaf cake, you’ll start by making a flax egg by mixing flax seed and water and leaving it to sit for 5 – 10 minutes. This gives the flax seeds a thicker consistency, making it the perfect egg alternative for baking where you need a binding ingredient.

If you are not plant-based, you can substitute the flax egg for an egg instead!

Step 2) Mix the wet ingredients

First, combine your plant-based milk with lemon juice in a jug and also set aside. This makes vegan buttermilk, which reacts with the bicarbonate of soda in the batter to give your cake a light and airy texture.

Next, you’ll combine vegan butter with sugar, vanilla essence, and the flax egg.

Step 3) Add the dry ingredients

Then add the dry ingredients before slowly stirring in the buttermilk and finally adding your blueberries which you’ll have dusted in flour to avoid them sinking to the bottom.

Step 4) Bake your cake

This lemon blueberry poppy seed cake needs about 45 – 50 minutes to bake in the oven, but keep a careful eye on it – if the top of the cake is brown but a skewer doesn’t come out clean when inserted, you may need to cover the cake with foil until it is baked through to avoid the top burning.

How To Make Your Simple Lemon Icing

To make the simple lemon icing that tops this lemon blueberry loaf cake, you simply need to combine icing sugar with lemon juice until you have your desired consistency. Be frugal when adding your lemon juice to the icing sugar, as it doesn’t take much to create a thick and glossy icing.

Only drizzle the icing over your cake once it has completely cooled! Otherwise, you’ll just end up with a melted icing mess.

Storing Your Lemon Blueberry Poppy Seed Cake

This cake will store beautifully at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

You can also freeze this cake (wrap it in clingfilm or tinfoil). I would recommend freezing it in individual slices. Simply defrost each slice in the refrigerator for 24 hours before eating (make sure your cake is fully defrosted before eating).

Other Cake Recipes You Might Like:

• Applesauce Cake (With A Sticky Maple Cinnamon Glaze)
• Vegan Raspberry Muffins
• Blueberry Rhubarb Crumble Bars
• Jamaican ginger cake
  

FAQs

Why are my blueberries sinking to the bottom of the cake?

Make sure you toss your blueberries in a spoonful of plain flour before mixing them into the cake. This coats the blueberries and helps them remain spread evenly throughout your cake batter rather than sinking straight to the bottom.

How to tell when my cake is cooked?

The best way to tell if your cake is fully cooked is to insert a skewer into the cake at the end of the recommended cooking time (or when the cake looks golden on top). If the skewer comes out clean, your cake is done. If it comes out coated in cake batter, continue cooking your cake and test at 5 minute intervals.

Feel free to cover the top of your cake in tin foil to avoid the top burning.

What to decorate this cake with?

I topped my lemon blueberry poppy seed cake with fresh blueberry and lemon slices. This is optional (especially if you’re just making this cake for yourself!) but does add a nice aesthetic to your cake if you’re serving it for others.