Great for breakfast or as an afternoon snack, this loaf is light and not too sweet—more like a muffin in flavour than a cake. Adding a thin layer of plain batter to the bottom of the pan means the fruit won’t stick to the bottom. Use half whole-wheat flour for added fibre and texture, or sweeten by adding a glaze (see Tip, below). For an extra-lemony loaf, use the zest of two lemons.
Lemon-Raspberry Loaf
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt (not non-fat)
Zest of 1 large lemon
1½ cups raspberries (see Tip, p. 91)
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan well.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Reserve.
3. Beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl until well combined. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in yogurt and lemon zest.
4. Add butter mixture to flour mixture, and stir until fully combined. Spoon about ¼ of this mixture into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Stir raspberries into the remaining batter until just combined. Spoon into loaf pan on top of the plain layer.
5. Bake 65–75 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Cover loosely with foil if the loaf is browning too quickly.
6. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a rack, and place right-side-up to cool completely. serves 12.
Tip To make a glaze, stir 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice into 1 cup of icing sugar until smooth. Drizzle over the warm loaf right after taking it out of the pan.
You can use fresh or frozen berries. If using frozen, keep them in the freezer until just before you stir them into the batter.
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