TO DIE FOR BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD

Let me say this first, this is by no means bread.  It is more like a wonderful lemony cake with nice fat blueberries inside.  Think lemon pound cake but 100 times better.  Then and only then will you understand how truly wonderfully delicious this bread is to eat.  Actually devoured is a better term to use when talking about this bread because it is normally devoured quickly.

I have no idea how I came about this recipe but I know I found it about 7 years ago.  I had just moved in with Scott the November before and all of a sudden it is June and we have tons upon tons of blueberries.  I was doing everything I knew to use up the blueberries.  I made blueberry jam, honey bourbon pickled blueberries, blueberry syrup, and blueberry butter.  I really did not need to can any more blueberries.  So somewhere around that time, I decided to look up baking recipes.  I have always made blueberry muffins which were out of this world.  I use to make them a lot when I was young.  Matter of a fact, my mom still uses my recipe and I am pretty sure she put it in one of the Chruch's recipe books.

Although Scott and I are not huge sweet eaters this recipe hits the spot.  Not only was I able to use some blueberries up, I was making something that was lemony.  Someone once pointed out to me, that I am not a person that really likes cakes, pies, cookies or even a lot of candy.  BUT if I were to eat something like that I would always choose something with lemon or lime added.  They hit it on the dot for me.  I never realized it until this was pointed out but yeah I love lemon squares and key lime pie.  So, yeah, this recipe was just up my alley.

Baking is an art form.  You need to pretty much go by a recipe because if you do not whatever you are making may not rise or it may fall when cooking.  Really, I guess, that makes it more like science.  

Cream your sugar and butter.

You want it light and fluffy.

Grate your lemon zest.

Add the lemon zest to your sugar and butter mixture and blend.  Keep your lemon because you are not done with it yet.

Add one egg at a time to the mix, blending well.

Put flour into another bowl.

Add baking powder.

Add salt and mix the dry ingredients together.

Add your dry mix, alternating it with milk.  Starting with dry and ending with dry.  Each time you add mix well before adding more.

After your batter is mixed together fold in your blueberries.  I dust mine with a couple of teaspoons of flour to help the berries not to fall to the bottom of the bread.

Pour the mix into a greased loaf pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for one hour.  After the hour is up, use a toothpick to see if the center is done.  If it comes out wet you need to bake your bread a bit longer.  I actually have a cake tester which is better to use than a toothpick because it is smaller.  However, you are not done with is bread so using a toothpick does not hurt this bread.  Because....

Do you see the glaze on the bread?  This is why I said keep your lemon.  You need to juice your lemon because you are going to make a lemon glaze to go on the bread. 

Add sugar and lemon juice to a pot and warm until the sugar melts.  

Once your glaze is ready, poke holes in the bread.  You want the glaze to go into the holes to make it even more lemony.  That is why it is fine to use a toothpick.  Again normally I use the tester so I do not have big holes in my cake but you want holes so the syrup can go into the bread.  Believe it or not, the holes kind of go away.  

TO DIE FOR BLUEBERRY LEMON BREAD

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• Zest from one lemon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Butter a loaf pan.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
• Cream together sugar and butter in a large bowl.
• Add 1 egg at a time, beating well each time.
• Add lemon zest and beat again.
• Mix in the dry ingredients, alternating with milk.  Start with dry ingredients and end with dry ingredients.  
• Fold in blueberries.
• Pour batter into a loaf pan and cook for an hour to an hour and 15 minutes.

To make syrup

• Juice lemon and take 1/3 cup sugar and pour both into a saucepan.  Heat till sugar has melted.  Poke holes into the hot bread and pour syrup over bread.  Allow to cool before serving.

I normally take this to pool parties or potluck parties and I have to say it really is devoured quickly.  While it is sweet, the lemon flavor makes it rather refreshing.  

Let me know what you think of this recipe.  If you make it please comment.  

ENJOY!!