Lemon + raspberry = classic combination, am I right? So why not make it into a quickbread loaf? (Heck yes I will..) The only problem is that you need a great lemon loaf recipe to complement the raspberries perfectly. Luckily Averie Cooks has already accomplished this feat so I snagged her recipe (and tweaked it just a bit, of course), to create the best raspberry lemon loaf known to man.

Seriously though, it’s that good!

I actually tried making this recipe a few months ago and used Ina Garten’s recipe for lemon loaf, but I didn’t end up liking the results. Hence it was not blogged about. The texture was a little off and I suspected this was due to using actual lemon juice in the recipe (Averie’s recipe calls for lemon extract). I have no scientific backing for my statement, but I think that the acidity from the lemon juice makes the batter a little funky. The extract gives the perfect lemon flavor, and maintains a perfectly tender crumb. Look at that perfectly golden brown loaf. Yum! It just screams “eat me now” doesn’t it? The other secret to making this bread is to make sure you dust the raspberries slightly with flour to allow them to be better suspended in the batter and not just sink to the bottom. To glaze or not to glaze? Averie’s recipe calls for glazing the bread with a lemon sugar glaze. I opted out of this just because I typically find glazed desserts a little overbearingly sweet. However, if you enjoy a nice glaze on your lemon loaf, likely you will enjoy a glaze on your raspberry-lemon loaf as well. Have at it, my friends! Serve garnished with fresh berries. Also whipped cream or powdered sugar would be good accompaniments as well.

Enjoy!