This super moist huckleberry cake is loaded with fresh (or frozen) huckleberries and lemon zest. Cream cheese gives the cake a sturdy, tender crumb, and a two-ingredient lemon glaze locks in moisture and adds delicious tangy flavor. This cake can also be made with other berries such as wild blueberries or raspberries.
Prep Time: 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Total: 1 hourhour45 minutesminutes
Servings: 8to 10 servings (one 8x4 or 9x5" loaf).
Ingredients
Cake
8tablespoons(113 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus a bit for the pan
6tablespoons(85 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ¼cupsgranulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
3large eggs, at room temperature
1teaspoonvanilla extract
1 ½cupsall-purpose flour
½teaspoonbaking powder
½teaspoonfine sea salt
1 ½cupsfresh or frozen huckleberries (or wild blueberries; if frozen, don't defrost first)
Glaze
½cuppowdered sugar (sifted if clumpy)
juice of ½ a lemon, or enough to make a thin glaze
Instructions
Cake
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325ºF. Line an 8x4 or 9x5-inch loaf pan with a sling of parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment and exposed ends of the pan. (Lacking parchment, you can generously grease the pan and dust it lightly with flour.)
Combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium until light and fluffy, 3 - 4 minutes, scraping down the paddle and sides of the bowl once or twice.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle as needed. (The mixture may break and that's ok.) Stir in the vanilla.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Fold the batter a few times with a flexible spatula, scraping the paddle and bottom of the bowl, to make sure the batter is thoroughly combined, and that any lemon zest clumps are distributed throughout the batter.
Gently fold in the huckleberries. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
Bake the cake until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs attached, 75-90 minutes.
Let the cake cool for 10 or 15 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a wire rack.
Glaze
While the cake is cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a runny glaze.
Brush the glaze all over the top and sides of the warm cake. Let the cake cool completely, at least one hour.
The cake keeps well, wrapped, at room temperature or in the fridge, for up to a week.