Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Pound Cake

Use sourdough discard and yogurt to make this moist and tender Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Pound Cake that’s bursting with blueberries and zesty lemon tang.

Everyone loves these popular Sourdough Blueberry Yogurt Muffins, so I decided to make them into a quick bread with this sourdough pound cake recipe.

The loaf is incredibly tender, with a dense and moist crumb that has a melt-in-your-mouth feel. It’s studded with fresh blueberries so you get pops of fruit in every bite and topped with a lemony yogurt glaze.

Follow the detailed tips and instructions below to make the best lemon blueberry sourdough pound cake, accompanied by photos of every step.

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👍 Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Excellent summery dessert or sweet breakfast and way to use fresh blueberries and sourdough discard.
• Dense, yet moist crumb that’s buttery and sweet.
• Bakes in a standard loaf pan.
• Serves 8-10 people.
• Tastes light and refreshing with bright lemon zest and lemon yogurt glaze.
• Sweet and tart combination with pockets of bursting blueberries.

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🛠 Tools Needed

• Baking scale
  • Flour and sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients will help you replicate a recipe and be more accurate.
• Stand Mixer, optional but recommended
  • You can use an electric hand mixer as well.
• Spatula
• 9×5″ Bread Loaf Pan
  • Grease and line the bread pan with parchment paper to prevent sticking and easy removal.
  • My favorite USA Pan linked above is made of aluminized steel and bakes evenly.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

Please see below for my ingredient recommendations, the baking science behind their use, and potential substitutions.

For this recipe, I adapted my Sourdough Blueberry Yogurt Muffins for a sourdough pound cake.

Traditional pound cakes are made with one pound each of flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. Hence, why they’re called pound cakes!

• All-purpose flour
  • You can substitute some or all of the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour.
  • ½ cup of almond flour added would pair well with the lemon blueberry flavor.
• Salt
• Baking Powder: Helps the quick bread rise and keeps a soft, tender crumb.
• Lemons
  • Use the zest of two lemons in the batter and fresh lemon juice in the glaze.
  • Make these Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake, or Preserved Lemon & Rosemary Sourdough Bread if you love lemons!
• Unsalted butter, softened
  • Use softened, room temperature butter that will cream well for a light cake.
  • I cream the butter and sugar together first like making Sourdough Sugar Cookies or Sourdough Snickerdoodle Cookies.
  • For a richer flavor, use a European-style butter such as Kerrygold, like I do for Sourdough Croissants.
• Granulated Sugar
  • Assists with browning, sweetness, and aerating the cake during creaming.
• Light Brown Sugar
  • Hint of molasses for more flavor and moisture.
• Sourdough Discard
  • Discard is an incredibly versatile ingredient that tenderizes the cake.
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips and other sourdough discard recipes.
• Eggs: For structure, richness, and moisture.
• Yogurt
  • Use plain whole-milk yogurt for the most flavor and richness.
  • Substitute with sour cream.
  • Depending on the thickness of your yogurt (such as Greek yogurt), you may need to add ⅓ cup of whole milk to the recipe.
• Vanilla Extract
  • Can substitute with ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
• Blueberries
  • I recommend fresh blueberries for this recipe. Frozen fruit can leak extra juices and require longer baking time.
  • Coat in flour before adding to prevent sinking.
  • Another favorite blueberry recipe are these Sourdough Discard Blueberry Scones.
• Powdered Sugar, for the glaze

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🍋🫐 How to Make Lemon Blueberry Sourdough Pound Cake

Follow this detailed recipe guide as you make the best lemon blueberry sourdough discard pound cake.

1. Cream the Butter and Sugar

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Grease and line a 9×5″ bread loaf pan with parchment paper with a few inches of overhang.

Add the sugars and lemon zest from two lemons to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugars to release oils and become fragrant.

Now, cream the softened butter and sugar together for a few minutes, until light and fluffy, and the sugar no longer feels grainy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times while mixing to ensure it gets fully creamed.

Then, add one egg at a time until each one is fully incorporated into the batter.

2. Mix the Dry Ingredients

In a separate mixing bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

3. Whisk the Wet Ingredients

In another mixing bowl or large liquid measuring cup, whisk the yogurt and sourdough discard together.

If you’re using a very thick yogurt like Greek yogurt, you may add ⅓ cup of whole milk to the wet ingredients if it seems too thick.

4. Mix the Batter

To prevent overmixing pound cake, it’s best to alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients. This prevents gluten development, maintains an emulsion so it doesn’t separate or curdle, and ensures even mixing.

First, mix ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the batter. Then add half of the wet and mix.

Repeat and finish with the remaining last third of dry ingredients.

Toss the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour and gently fold them into the cake batter with a spatula.

5. Bake

Pour the lemon blueberry sourdough cake batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth to the corners of the pan so it bakes evenly. Dot the top with a few more fresh blueberries if you like.

Bake for 1 hour and 15-25 minutes or until the top browns, shrinks a bit from the sides of the pan, and a wooden skewer, cake tester, or long toothpick inserted into the middle only is mostly dry with a few moist crumbs on it.

Check the loaf after an hour. If it’s browning too quickly, tent with aluminum foil.

Cool for 15 minutes in the pan and use the wings of parchment paper to lift the loaf out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely before glazing and serving.

6. Glaze

Before making and glazing the loaf, it’s vital that the cake is completely cooled so the glaze doesn’t melt.

Mix powdered sugar, lemon juice, and yogurt in a bowl until you have a thick, but pourable glaze. Finally, pour or spoon on top of the cake, letting it slowly drizzle down the sides.

Adjust the thickness by adding more powdered sugar if it needs to be thicker, or yogurt/lemon juice if it needs to be thinner.

For a drip glaze like this that hardens slightly after it dries, it’s better to keep the glaze thicker than you may initially think.

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How to Store and Serve

The beauty of this lemon blueberry sourdough pound cake is that it’s incredibly moist and can last for 4-5 days at room temperature!

Wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and keep in an airtight container. You can even store it longer in the refrigerator for up to a week. Once glazed, store in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage since it has yogurt in it.

The sourdough pound cake freezes well, but it’s best to leave the glaze off until you’re ready to serve it to avoid sogginess. 

Freeze the entire loaf or slices and wrap in plastic wrap for 3 months. To thaw, unwrap and let it thaw at room temperature for a few hours and refresh in the oven if needed.

This is an excellent summer dessert for BBQs and cookouts, that you can serve along with my Sourdough Brioche Hamburger Buns, Sourdough Hot Dog Buns, or this Sourdough Panzanella with Peaches & Burrata.

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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

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Other Sourdough Dessert Recipes You May Enjoy

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