Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

I'm always on the look out for great blueberry recipes. Blueberries aren't my favorite berry, but they are great fun to pick out in the woods!  Here's a great, if a little labor intensive, recipe for a desert-like blueberry bread.  Lemon-Blueberry Cake may be a more apt title!

Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt "Cake" Loaf
adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen blog


1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp four, divided
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt *we used vanilla, non-fat Greek yogurt*
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries *we used over 2 cups and it wasn't overwhelming*


Lemon Syrup:
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

Lemon Glaze: (Yes, it is different from the lemon syrup for this recipe. Are you getting the Cake vibe yet?)
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x5 loaf pan and dust with flour (be sure to shake it around to distribute evenly and then tap out any leftovers in the pan).

Sift 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. Combine yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla, and oil with a wire whisk. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients until well blended.

In separate bowl, carefully mix blueberries with 1 Tbsp flour (we used more flour as we used more berries). Very carefully, to avoid breaking the skin on the berries, fold coated berries into the cake- I mean loaf- batter.

Pour all batter into prepared loaf pan and bake 50-55 minutes. The ole toothpick coming out clean is the way to be sure the loaf is done. The cooked loaf should rest in the pan for 10 minutes before moving to it's syrup and glazing station (a wire rack on top of a baking sheet with edges to catch the drippings).

Prepare the syrup and glaze by juicing the 2 lemons used for zest. For the syrup, take 1/3 cup of the juice, add sugar, and heat in saucepan over medium heat for 3 minutes after the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes.  Poke holes in the top and sides of the cooked, cooling loaf. Brush the loaf with syrup repeatedly, letting it soak in after each application. I think I did this 5 times. Let the loaf cool completely (or else the glaze just runs right off!)

Prepare the glaze by mixing powdered sugar and 2-3 Tbsp lemon juice until the glaze is stiff but pourable-- the thicker the better, though. Pour the glaze over the loaf, encouraging puddles on the top of the loaf and juicy drips down the sides.  The original recipe calls for this to happen once...but I wasn't about the let the leftover glaze go down the sink.

 It's *almost* too sweet for breakfast!  Very lemony and very sweet-- the blueberries and cake/loaf seemed almost an afterthought. That said, it was delicious and would be a pretty pick for any morning potlucks or as a dessert on a summer night. I think it might even go well with ice cream...