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...

New Christmas Tradition- Breakfast Recipes

We've been considering what sorts of Christmas Traditions we want to set for our little family. As a huge fan of special breakfasts and celebrations with food, I knew a stellar breakfast line up was in order. With a freezer full of hand-picked wild blueberries and the need for a meal to tide us through Christmas Cookie temptations until the Christmas Dinner at 4pm, we needed to use blueberries and have a substantial meal. Here's what we found (and will probably incorporate into Christmas next year):

Christmas Morning Egg Bake
1 bag tater tots
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 lb bacon or sausage
8 eggs
2 cups milk
3 cups Cheddar or Colby Jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large casserole dish, lay out frozen tater tots in a single layer. Add salt and pepper to taste, then bake according to packaging. (Tots should be golden brown.) Remove dish and set aside.

Lower oven temp to 350. In large mixing bowl, mix 8 eggs, milk, and cheese and set aside.

In frying pan, cook bacon or sausage until done. Remove from pan and crumble or chop and set aside. Drain pan of grease, but do not clean out completely. Add onions and peppers to pan, return to medium heat, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add onion and peppers to top of tater tots. Add bacon or sausage to pan on top of onions and peppers.

Carefully pour the egg mixture evenly over the top.

Bake covered for 45 minutes then uncovered for 30 minutes.  Allow to sit for 10 minutes outside of oven before slicing to serve.

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tsp lemon zest
7/8 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups fresh blueberries (we used 3 cups of defrosted frozen berries)
1/2 cup buttermilk*

Preheat oven to 350 and grease 9x9 baking pan. Cream butter, lemon zest, and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

Toss blueberries with 1/4 cup flour. Combine remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the dry flour mixture to the batter, a little at a time, alternating with buttermilk. Carefully fold in the blueberries, avoid overmixing.

Spread batter gently into pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick in center comes out dry. Let cool 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.

*Homemade buttermilk by Jake. We put the remainder of our heavy whipping cream from holiday baking in an empty mason jar which Jake shook for about 15-20 minutes to form whipping cream, and then a solid glob of homemade butter and 1/2 cup of homemade butter milk.  While an exhausting process, the resulting buttermilk was delicious in this cake and we served the resulting fresh butter with Christmas dinner. Another new tradition!

Nectarine and Blueberry Clafouti

from Epicurious, Gourmet Magazine May 1999


Ingredients:
2 nectarines (white nectarines are delicious in this recipe)
1 cup blueberries (we used 2 cups...because we had a ton of wild blueberries that needed to be used)
1 cup fruity white wine, such as Riesling
5 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk (or 2 oz half and half and 6 oz skim milk)
1 T vanilla
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish.

Place washed blueberries in mixing bowl with 1 cup wine (we used enough wine to cover the fruit-- then made Sangria to go with dinner!).

 Slice nectarines into 1/4" wedges and place in wine with blueberries. Soak for about 15 minutes.

 Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, sugar, and salt.

 Slowly whisk in flour until well combined.

 Whisk in milk, butter, vanilla, and 1/4 cup of the white wine from the fruit bowl.

 Remove fruit from wine with a slotted spoon and arrange in bottom of baking dish (remember to grease the dish before adding fruit!)

 Carefully pour batter over the fruit.

 Bake in the upper third of your oven for 55-60 minutes, or until puffed and set in the center.

 Transfer clafouti to a rack to cool.

 Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar. Can be served warm or at room temperature. (This also makes an outstanding breakfast option!  If we had enough eaters in the house to warrant serving brunch, I would definitely include this dish.)

The Ole Stomping Grounds

About 48 hours spread over 3 days is all we could afford for a mid-summer escape to the north woods. After arriving late evening, we spent the early morning taking in our 40 acres in Bayfield county (and for my husband to get a collection of June berries-- which are beautiful but not my favorite flavor).  We explored new wild blueberry picking grounds along an old forest service road and picked nearly a gallon-sized bucket of huge, wild blueberries.  Lunch was breakfast-style at our favorite (the only, really) Delta, WI establishment: the Delta Diner.  We wrapped up the adventures with a brief stop into camp to chat with Mike and look for friends before heading south again.

Starting in urban Seattle, then moving to rural northern Wisconsin to small-town northern Wisconsin I have experienced life in a variety of settings, dabbled in living locals you could say. Back in Minneapolis now, my husband and I have had a few conversations about what sort of place we can see ourselves settling down in. Before I moved from small-town Wisconsin, I was pretty confident that urban was my setting.  Now that we've returned to urban life, I could see myself being content with a rural or semi-rural home. Perhaps this is "greener grass" syndrome, but I think it's just an instance of having my dreams clarified. Who knows where we'll end up. Right now, we're very flexible in that we're renting in Minneapolis at least until I'm through with my school program. After that, who knows.  It's nice to not have things set in stone, to not be painted into a corner.  Some days, when I spend time with folks who are established in home, career, activities, etc. I'm envious of their security.  For right now, though, I'm grateful for the open canvas that is our future.

What could, one day, be our driveway

On what could, one day, be our street

June berries that grow here-- not as good as wild raspberries, but not terrible

The view across the street

Wild blueberry-picking, one of my very favorite summertime activities, was very rewarding this year. We found a huge patch that seemed to have endless, large wild berries-- so much so that we picked for over 2 hours in one setting!

These beauties have already been used in breakfast for a week and in a dessert or two.  Not to mention the bags that were frozen to take us through the winter.  Yay for wild berries!