Blueberry Basil Loaf



Remember years back, when I made that lemon pudding cake with candied basil and a basil simple syrup? I was so much more daring back then......

I have simplified my life since, making easier, more straight forward recipes for everyday living.

This is a summer cake at its finest.....so pretty, with streaks of sweet green basil running thru, and luscious blueberries, which are so yummy right now.

This one is super moist, from the sour cream and the olive oil.

And yes, Virginia, the blueberries will most definitely sink, no matter how hard you try....they just will.

Even by laying them on top of the cake....they will sink. So get over it. It tastes delicious, and no one will care.

The Lemon Apron makes this in a bundt pan, but you know my relationship with bundts. It's over.

I adapted it for a standard loaf pan, yielding wonderful results.

Here's how:


Blueberry Basil Loaf (adapted from The Lemon Apron):

3/4 cup white granulated sugar
zest from 2 lemons
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil packed
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup fresh blueberries that have been rinsed and dried

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 6-7 cup bundt pan (you can also use a 9x5 loaf pan).

Combine the granulated sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and rub together well. Set aside to let the oils flavor the sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the basil and toss to coat evenly with the flour.

In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon zest-white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs.

Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

With a rubber spatula, fold the olive oil into the batter, making sure it’s completely incorporated.

Toss the blueberries in 1 tbsp of flour to coat well.

Add the blueberries with the flour to the batter, and fold in gently. ( I always save some of my berries for the top.)


Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and give it a gentle tap to get rid of any air bubbles.

Bake for about 50-55 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean. The size of your pan will affect baking times.

Check the cake at the 45 minute mark, mine was becoming too dark (like the Ottolenghi lemon blueberry loaf did), so I covered it with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.

(If you are baking these up as muffins, start checking at the 30 minute mark).

Once out of the oven, let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Pour icing/glaze and let it get drippy. I garnished mine with some sliced almonds while the glaze before the glaze hardened.


This is one nice loaf!

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Comments

Katie C. said…
Now that looks good!
Joey Merritt said…
I have a million blackberries coming ripe. Blueberries are a fairly dry fruit. If I wanted to use blackberries, how would you suggest I compensate?
Stacey Snacks said…
Joey
I think blackberries would be just fine in this recipe. Today I made my Fourth of July berry cake that usually has blueberries and strawberries. I posted it on Instagram, using raspberries, blackberries and figs. It’s all summer fruit and it’s all delicious.
Joanne said…
I love the blueberries and the basil together!!
Trigirlpink said…
I had a hard time not eating the batter and even the icing... sweet and tart. So good. We ate ours at breakfast :-)
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Gail said…
From one Jersey girl to another, this blueberry loaf is a hit. I am making it a second time in a week!