This strawberry lemon loaf cake is packed with sweet, fresh strawberries and tart lemon. It’s moist as heck, basically tastes like strawberry lemonade in cake form, and is as beautiful as it is delicious.
The only thing better than lemonade, to me, is strawberry lemonade. I love the way sweet strawberry balances tart lemon and vice versa. And over the summer, strawberry lemon loaf cake is truly the best of both worlds.
This strawberry lemon loaf cake is moist as all heck and filled with lemon and strawberry flavor. We use lemon zest and juice in the batter before folding in finely chopped fresh strawberries. And we top the cake with a lemon glaze that I can’t stop thinking about, fresh strawberries, extra lemon zest and optional crushed freeze dried strawberries if you have them.
I’ve gotten rave reviews from friends who have tried this cake and I’m stoked for you to make it for people you love, too.
Get ready for strawberry lemon loaf cake.
Strawberry Lemon Loaf Cake
What is a loaf cake? What makes it different from regular cake?
A loaf cake is essentially a cake baked in a loaf pan. If you’ve ever had banana bread, Starbucks lemon loaf, or pumpkin bread, those are all loaf cakes (sometimes called quick breads). They can range in texture. Some are more dense (usually the ones ending in “bread”) and others are lighter (usually the ones ending in “loaf” or “cake”). They also range in toppings — some are naked and others have a glaze, crumb or frosting.
The big pro of a loaf cake is that it’s less fussy than a multi-layered cake. The batter all goes into one pan, you can make a simple glaze instead of an intricate frosting, and it’s easier to transport. You also don’t have to wait until the cake is completely cool to glaze and eat it — the best part in my opinion.
Another huge pro of a loaf cake is that you can eat it any time and for any occasion. You can make it for a birthday or a Tuesday afternoon. You can eat it for breakfast, an afternoon snack or dessert. The world is truly all yours with a loaf cake.
What makes this strawberry lemon loaf cake so delicious
The deliciousness of this cake comes down to two factors: texture and flavor.
When I started developing this recipe, I knew I wanted a cake that was light but not airy. And it had to be incredibly moist. To get this perfect crumb, we use a combination of butter, oil and sour cream. I checked out Pancake Princess‘ test of different lemon loaf cake recipes, and her results showed this combo really led to the most moist, tender crumb.
The other thing that makes this strawberry lemon loaf cake so delicious is the flavor. This cake really lets both the lemon and strawberry shine, without one overpowering the other. To get lemon flavor in the batter (a notoriously tricky thing to accomplish), we rub zest from two full lemons into the granulated sugar to draw out the essential oils from the zest into the sugar. For strawberries, we finely chop them so we get strawberry in each bite, and macerate them in sugar to draw out the liquid before adding them to the cake. Macerating them is important here because without it, the strawberry juice would make the cake quite soggy.
To knock the flavor over the edge, we top the loaf cake with a lemon glaze, lemon zest, fresh strawberries and crushed freeze dried strawberries if you have them.
Ingredients
- Fresh, ripe strawberries
- Ripe lemons
- Unsalted butter
- Vegetable or canola oil
- Milk (whole milk preferred as it has a higher fat content and will give you a more moist cake)
- Sour cream
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Coarse salt (I use David’s Kosher Salt)
- Powedered sugar
- Freeze dried strawberries (this is optional, but we crush them up and put them on top of the cake for extra strawberry flavor and because it looks pretty)
How to make strawberry lemon loaf cake
This strawberry lemon loaf cake does require a little more care to make than a dump-it-all-together kind of loaf cake, but the batter still comes together in a half hour and it’s a great way to practice your cake skills. Not to mention pulling it all together is much easier than with a multi-tiered cake. I think of this as a mise en place cake. You prep a few of the parts that go into the batter, and then when you’re ready to make the batter, everything comes together smoothly.
I recommend using a stand mixer if you have one. You can use a hand mixer or mix by hand if you really need to.
First we finely chop the strawberries and let them sit in a bowl with sugar to draw out the liquid and make sure we don’t get a soggy cake. Then we mix together our dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix our milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a mug or cup.
Now we’re ready to get the batter rollin’. We rub the lemon zest into the granulated sugar to bring out the lemon flavor, and then beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically to make sure you don’t miss any butter. You want to stop right when the butter and sugar are pale in color and fluffy, but not overmixed. We want air in the batter, but excessive beating can add too much air that will make the cake sink a bit in the oven.
Next we’ll turn the mixer to medium-low and add the eggs in one by one, mixing after each addition. We’ll slowly stream in the oil and sour cream so we don’t knock the air out of the batter. To finish it off, we alternate between adding a the dry ingredients and milk mixture you prepped earlier. By going back and forth, we keep the batter from separating when we add the milk. When the last of the flour is almost fully mixed in, we’ll squeeze the liquid out of the finely chopped strawberries and add them in batches so they’re evenly spread throughout the batter.
We bake the cake in a 9×5 inch (1.25 pound) loaf tin for 50-65 minutes until the top is golden brown and a knife stuck in the center comes out clean. While the cake cools, make the glaze by whisking a little lemon juice, melted butter, milk and powdered sugar. Spread the glaze over the cake when its slightly cooled, add some fresh strawberry slices, lemon zest and crushed freeze dried strawberries if you have them. And dig on in!
Tips for the best strawberry lemon loaf cake
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. Having your ingredients at room temperature means you don’t have to mix as long for them to get incorporated. This is important as we want to maintain the air we get from beating the butter and sugar and get a nice, tall cake. Less mixing means you won’t knock out that air.
- Opt for quality, organic lemons. I’ll muster my best Ina Garten impression and tell you to get GOOD lemons. We’re using a ton of lemon zest here, so you want lemons that are vibrantly yellow and preferably organic for the best flavor.
- While we’re at it, opt for quality, organic strawberries, too. We want flavorful strawberries to really bring through that sweet strawberry flavor. Go for strawberries that are red, ripe and organic.
- Properly measure your flour. I include this tip in every recipe for a reason 🙂 I always measure my ingredients by weight and included both the cups and grams below so you can, too. You can get a pretty cheap scale on Amazon (I used a $12 scale for years and now use a $28 KitchenAid scale). If you’re using a cup measure, first fluff the flour in its bag, then use a spoon to place it into your measuring cup. Level the flour off by scraping the flat backside of a knife across the top of the cup measure.
Strawberry Lemon Loaf Cake FAQs
- What type of baking tin should I use? I tested this recipe entirely in a 9×5 inch (1.25 pound) loaf tin and that’s what I recommend using. You can give it a go in a smaller 8.5×4.5-inch pan, but I’d put a little bit of the batter in a small ramekan to make a mini-cake and ensure the batter doesn’t overflow.
- Do I need freeze dried strawberries? Where do I get them? Freeze dried strawberries are optional here. I like crumble some on top of the cake for extra strawberry flavor and because it looks pretty. You can find freeze dried strawberries at Trader Joe’s, some grocery stores or on Amazon.
- How do I store strawberry lemon loaf cake? You can keep this cake on the counter for one day before transferring it to the fridge. Since it has fresh fruit inside and on top of the cake, it’s best to keep refrigerated. The cake will keep for about one week in the fridge (if it lasts that long!).
Looking for more great summer recipes? Check out campfire banana boats, dipped strawberry chocolate chip cookies and single serve raspberry-filled brownie skillet.
If you bake this strawberry lemon loaf cake, be sure to tag me on Instagram or TikTok at @loaves.and.such and please leave a review below!
<3 Maddie
Strawberry Lemon Loaf Cake
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Ingredients
- For the Strawberry Filling
10 ounces strawberries (you can eyeball half of a pint and then add two more strawberries)
1 1/2 TBS. granulated sugar
- For the Cake
2 cups (240 grams) all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/4 tsp. coarse salt
1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 TBS. lemon juice (about half a lemon)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
Zest of two lemons
6 TBS. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- For the Lemon Glaze
2 TBS. unsalted butter, melted
1 TBS. + 1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. milk
2/3 cup + 2 TBS. powdered sugar
3 strawberries, sliced
2 tsp. crushed freeze dried strawberries (optional)
Lemon zest to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×5-inch (1.25 pound) loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it.
- First, prep the strawberry filling. Pluck the stems out of the strawberries and finely chop them so they’re the size of a pea or just slightly larger. Opting for this size helps get more juice out of the strawberries so the liquid does not make the cake soggy.
Sprinkle the sugar over the strawberries and toss to coat them. Set aside so the strawberries can macerate. - Next we’ll prep the dry ingredients and milk mixture. First, add the flour, baking powder and salt to a medium sized bowl and whisk until fully combined. Set aside.
Next, add the milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice to a cup or mug. Stir and set aside. - Now we’re ready to make the batter. Add the sugar and lemon zest to the bowl of your stand mixer and rub the zest into the sugar. Add the butter and mix — using the paddle attachment — on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until the butter/sugar is fluffy and lighter in color.
- Turn the mixer to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition.
With the mixer still on medium-low, slowly stream in the oil and then add in the sour cream. Stir until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. - Now we’ll alternate adding the dry ingredients and milk mixture. Turn the mixer on low and add one-third of the dry ingredients. Let the mixer fully incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter, then add in half of the milk mixture and let mix until it’s incorporated. Then add another one-third of the dry ingredients, mix, add the rest of the milk mixture, mix. Finish with the last one-third of the dry ingredients, stopping when there are just a few streaks of flour left.
- With the mixer still on low, squeeze the juice out of the macerated strawberry filling and add the strawberries into the batter in batches. Mix until they’re just spread throughout. Reserve the strawberry juice for a strawberry lemonade or cocktail. Then detach the bowl from the mixer and use a spatula to scrape down the sides and make sure the strawberries are all folded in.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50-65 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a knife in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for at least 15 minutes. Make the lemon glaze as it cools.
- To make the lemon glaze, mix together the butter, milk and lemon juice in a small bowl. Add the powdered sugar and mix until there are no lumps of sugar.
Pour the glaze over the cake, add strawberry slices, lemon zest and crushed freeze dried strawberries if you have them. Slice and enjoy! Transfer to the fridge after 24 hours.