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This cherry loaf cake is a buttery sour cream cake packed with fresh sweet cherries and lemon zest, drizzled with a two-ingredient lemon glaze. Only 15 minutes of prep! I bake it in a standard 9x5 loaf pan. It's the simplest cherry cake with no layering and no frosting.
Fresh Cherry Loaf Cake with Lemon Glaze (15 Minutes of Prep!)
Cherry season is short in Colorado, and I treat those few weeks like a deadline. Every summer I work my way through a pile of sweet cherries: French cherry clafoutis when I want something elegant with almost no effort, cherry pie bars when I need a dessert I can cut into squares and carry somewhere, and cherry peach lattice pie when I want to show off a little.
This loaf is the one I bake when I don't feel like showing off at all. It's a quick bread at heart, closer to a pound cake in texture, and it all goes in one bowl, plus a small bowl for the dry ingredients. Let me show you how simple it is.
Why You'll Love It
- Only 15 minutes of prep, and the oven does the other hour
- One loaf pan, no springform, no layers, no piping
- Real fresh cherries, a full 1 ½ cups in a single loaf
- Buttery, tender crumb from sour cream and creamed butter
- Double lemon flavor: zest in the batter and fresh juice in the glaze
- Keeps beautifully for 4 days and freezes for up to 2 months
- Works for breakfast, afternoon coffee, or dessert with ice cream
You'll Need These Ingredients
This photo shows everything you need for a moist, buttery, and incredibly tender cherry loaf cake and the tangy-sweet lemon glaze:
How to Make Cherry Loaf Cake (Step-by-Step Photos)
This is a recipe overview. Scroll down for the complete instructions and ingredient amounts in the recipe card below.
- Prep the pan: Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment, leaving an overhang on both long sides. Preheat to 350°F (175°C).
- Cream the butter, sugar, and lemon zest: Beat 3 to 4 minutes until pale and fluffy.
- Add the wet ingredients: Eggs one at a time, then sour cream and vanilla.
- Fold in the dry ingredients: Whisk them together first, then fold gently until no flour streaks remain.
- Add the cherries: Pat them dry, toss with 1 tablespoon flour, and fold in carefully.
- Bake: 55 to 60 minutes at 350°F (175°C), until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool and glaze: Cool 15 minutes in the pan, lift out by the parchment, cool completely, then drizzle with the lemon glaze.
3 Success Tips
- Pat the cherries dry. Sweet cherries release a surprising amount of juice once they are halved. If they look wet, blot them with paper towels before flouring. Extra liquid is the main reason a fruit loaf turns gummy in the center.
- Stop mixing when the flour disappears. Fold the dry ingredients in with a spatula, not the mixer. Overworked batter gives you a tough, tight crumb instead of a tender one.
- Let it cool all the way before glazing. If the loaf is even slightly warm, the glaze soaks in and vanishes instead of setting into that white drizzle on top. Give it a full hour on the rack.
Variations
- Cherry almond loaf cake. Swap ½ teaspoon of the vanilla for almond extract and scatter sliced almonds over the glaze. Cherries and almonds are a classic pairing for a reason.
- Chocolate cherry loaf. Fold in ¾ cup of dark chocolate chips with the cherries, the way I do in my Chocolate Cherry Cake.
- Sour cherry version. Use pitted sour cherries and increase the sugar in the batter to 1 ¼ cups.
- Mixed stone fruit. Use ¾ cup cherries and ¾ cup diced peaches, similar to my Cherry Peach Cake.
- Skip the glaze. Dust the cooled loaf with powdered sugar instead. Still lovely, a little less sweet.
- Make it a bundt. Double everything and bake in a 10-cup bundt pan for 50 to 55 minutes, the way I do with my Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake.
Fresh Cherry Loaf Cake with Lemon Glaze (15 Min Prep)
Sweet cherries, lemon zest, and sour cream baked into a buttery loaf, then drizzled with a two-ingredient lemon glaze. This cherry loaf cake takes 15 minutes to pull together, bakes in one pan, and slices beautifully for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Ingredients
Cherry Loaf Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick / 113 g) softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
- 1 large lemon zest
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- ⅓ cup sour cream (80 g) at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour (208 g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups sweet cherries (225 g), pitted and halved
- 1 tablespoon flour for dusting the cherries
Lemon Glaze
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (90 g) sifted
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9x5-inch (23x13 cm) loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the two long sides. The overhang is what lets you lift the cake out cleanly after baking.
- Cream the butter, sugar, and zest: In a large bowl or a stand mixer, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest on medium-high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl so everything is evenly mixed.
- Add the eggs and sour cream: Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition until combined. Scrape the bowl again to keep the mixture smooth. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Fold in the dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a spatula, gradually fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Fold gently until no streaks of flour remain. Do not overmix.
- Add the cherries: Pat the pitted and halved cherries dry with paper towels if they are very juicy. Toss them gently with 1 tablespoon of flour, then carefully fold them into the batter.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it evenly. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and let the loaf cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Lift it out using the parchment overhang and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Glaze and serve: While the cake cools, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth. Drizzle over the completely cooled cake. Slice and serve with a dollop of whipped cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a spoonful of Greek yogurt.
Notes
- Cherries: I recommend using fresh sweet red cherries (Bing or Rainier). Frozen pitted cherries will work too. Do not thaw them; just halve them frozen and add 3 to 5 minutes to the bake time. Whatever you use, pat the cherries dry and toss them with the tablespoon of flour so they stay suspended in the batter.
- Can I use sour cherries? Yes, but add 2 tablespoon of extra sugar to the batter and pat the cherries very dry first.
Room temperature ingredients: I take the butter, eggs, and sour cream out about an hour before I start. Cold ingredients cause the creamed butter to seize, and you lose the light, tender crumb. - Measuring flour: Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off, or weigh it. Packed flour makes a dry loaf.
- If the top browns too fast: Tent the loaf loosely with aluminum foil after about 40 minutes and keep baking.
- Glaze consistency: For a thicker drizzle, add powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. For a thinner one, add lemon juice ½ teaspoon at a time.
- Glaze only when fully cool. A warm loaf will melt the glaze straight into the cake instead of setting on top of it.
Storage & Make-Ahead Tips
- Room temperature: Store the glazed loaf in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Fridge: Up to 5 days in an airtight container. Let slices come to room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
- Freezer: Freeze the unglazed loaf for up to date 2 months, wrapped in 2 layers of plastic wrap and 1 layer of heavy-duty foil. Thaw overnight at room temperature and glaze before serving.
- Make ahead: Bake the loaf a day early and glaze it a few hours before serving. It tastes even better on day two.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information
Fresh Cherry Loaf Cake with Lemon Glaze (15 Min Prep)
Amount per Serving
Calories
327
% Daily Value*
Fat
12
g
18
%
Saturated Fat
7
g
44
%
Trans Fat
0.4
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
3
g
Cholesterol
85
mg
28
%
Sodium
154
mg
7
%
Potassium
121
mg
3
%
Carbohydrates
51
g
17
%
Fiber
1
g
4
%
Sugar
32
g
36
%
Protein
5
g
10
%
Vitamin A
428
IU
9
%
Vitamin C
8
mg
10
%
Calcium
52
mg
5
%
Iron
1
mg
6
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I use frozen cherries? Yes. Do not thaw them. Halve them while frozen, toss with the tablespoon of flour, and fold them in. Add 3 to 5 minutes to the bake time.
- Can I use canned or jarred cherries? Drain them very well and pat them thoroughly dry. They are softer and sweeter than fresh, so the loaf will be a little sweeter and denser.
- Why did my cherries sink? Either they were too wet or they missed the flour toss. Blot them dry, coat every piece with flour, and fold them in at the very end.
- Can I make this dairy free? Yes. Use a plain dairy-free yogurt in place of the sour cream and a good stick-style vegan butter for the butter.
- My toothpick keeps coming out wet. Is it done? Check in two spots. Hitting a cherry gives you a false reading. You want a few moist crumbs on the toothpick, not wet batter.
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