Blueberry Not-Quite-A-Pound Cake

13 Mar

Blueberries are not in season. Despite this undeniable fact, I couldn’t resist them when the grocery store had them for buy-one-get-one-free last week. I begin longing for berries long before the first ones roll around in June, so bear with me here. Obviously what we’re getting in the mid-Atlantic US right now aren’t the sweetest or plumpest berries, but the tartness does make them great for baking applications. That combined with a citrusy glaze make this humble loaf cake something special. Its texture and flavor closely resemble that of a pound cake, but the ratio of ingredients isn’t quite there, so let’s just call it something else.

Blueberry Not-Quite-A-Pound Cake

Cake:

4 oz. butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk mixed with ¼ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:

1 orange, for zest and juice
½ -3/4 cup powdered sugar

Grease and flour a 9×5 in. loaf pan and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the milk/sour cream and the vanilla extract.

Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a sifter. Gradually sift the dry ingredients into the wet and mix just until combined.

Gently fold in the blueberries. The batter will be quite thick.

Spread the batter evenly into the loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once removed from the oven, let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

To make the glaze, squeeze the orange (I used a seedless navel orange) into a bowl until you have about 3 tablespoons of juice. Then grate 1-2 tsp. of orange zest and add it to the juice. Mix in powdered sugar until a consistency is reached that will allow the glaze to ribbon when poured. Drizzle this over the cake while it is still warm. I’d wait about 40 minutes to cut into the cake so that it is sturdy enough to slice evenly without smashing.

It’s really good. How good? I’ve made two in the last week at super-fiance’s request and he refuses to share it with his coworkers (sorry EAB, I tried!).