Blueberry Lemon Cake

Right now I'm out in Connecticut for Thanksgiving, staying with my fiancé's family. I thought I'd try winning their love by making this bread for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning (haha). Anyway, everybody loved it, it was super delicious, and definitely a good appetite-whetter for the big meal to come this afternoon. (PS Sorry these pictures are crummy, I took them with Sam's phone after half the loaf had been eaten. And we were watching Star Trek, so maybe I was a little distracted by my visceral connection to Zachary Quinto's eyebrows.)

I made it the night before and it was still scrumptious by morning. I'd also like to thank my fiancé Sam for his help in doing the little tedious bits like zesting lemons and coating pans and such. Gracias!

Blueberry Lemon Cake

From Sweet Pea's Kitchen

For the Loaf:

1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided (the 1T is to coat the blueberries later)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (Pace I think makes yogurt cups just this size)

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons) (When Sam was zesting, he got through less than one lemon and was like "Ok, that's enough," and my citrus instinct kicked in and I said "NO!!! WE MUST HAVE MORE! CONTINUE THE ZEST! WE SHALL NOT BE CONQUERED!!!"...or something. So he did two whole lemons, we had lots of zest, and it turned out super lemony and delicious. You're welcome, family)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup vegetable oil (we used corn oil)

1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed (we had about half that or less, because the blueberries were unknowingly munched on throughout the day. Oh well. It was still berry good.)

For the Lemon Syrup:

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

For the Lemon Glaze:

1 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.

5. While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.

6. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf. Brush the top and sides of the loaf with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cake cool completely. (Don't be overly methodical about this. I started out poking holes in a grid pattern and ended up just going to town poking it wherever. And there was no brush available, so we used an old painting sponge, complete with the remnants of dried red tempra paint. And it was fine and dandy.)

7. To make the lemon glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving. (Or overnight. Whatever.)