Again and again, I find myself taking the average and amping it up big time. Case in point, an already amazing lemon blueberry loaf, like the one over here ... a classic, a favourite, a much-appreciated snack whether you pack it in your kids' lunch or bring it to work. But surely one shouldn't rest on their laurels because this is what happens when you don't ... a lovely crumb exterior that, combined with the lemon glaze, makes this a drool-worthy treat.




If you'd like to make it in a 9x13 pan, I've got a similar recipe here, that makes kinda like a one layer cake version of this. Works for smaller bite-sized treats.


I made these loaves with fresh blueberries, though I'm sure frozen ones would work in a pinch when not in season. Give it a try, I'm sure you'll be hooked.

Ingredients:
480 g (4 cups) all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
225 g (1 cup / 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
300 g (1-1/2 cup) granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 lemons, zested and juiced
2 tsp essential lemon oil (optional)
240 ml (1 cup) Greek yogurt
1-1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Crumble:
120 g (1 cup) all purpose flour
200 g (1 cup) sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder
55 g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted, at room temperature

Lemon Glaze:
120 g icing sugar
30 ml (2 tbsp) freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:
1. Place the crumble ingredients in a medium bowl, mix with a fork, refrigerate until needed.
2. Preheat the oven to 170C or 340F.
3. Butter and line 2 4x10 inch loaf tins.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl, and set aside.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer, on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until incorporated before adding the next one. Scrape the bowl down as necessary.
7. Reduce the speed to low and stir in the lemon juice, zest and oil (if using).
8. Alternate adding the flour (in 3 additions) and the yogurt (in 2 additions), beginning and ending with the flour.

9. Pour batter into the loaf tins, run a skewer through it to remove air bubbles, then tap on a towel-lined counter for good measure.
10. Place the blueberries on top of the batter, then sprinkle the cinnamon crumble on top.

11. Bake for 55-60 minutes until a skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf runs clean.
12. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

13. In the meantime, make the glaze by whisking together the icing sugar and lemon juice. You may need to adjust the consistency to allow for a good 'drip'.
14. After the cake has cooled, pour the glaze on the loaf in a zigzag motion.

As usual, I signed up for dessert. Well, I volunteered, actually. And after finding out the menu was sushi, I thought a light tea cake, maybe a fruity kind, would be ideal.


Berries were in season, so that was settled, and blueberries are my favorite because they hold up in loaves and become so moist and ooze out their sweet juices when baked. And paired with lemons, it's a match made in the oven. Swoon!



Still to decide was the form this lemon blueberry delight will come in. A loaf wasn't going to cut the aesthetic part of it. Great for home, but not so for a plated dessert. Not muffins or cupcakes... It would have to be a sheet cake. More like squares. But not just blueberry bars like this. I wanted some 'cake matter' as well.



And so this blueberry tea cake came to be. A bar cum sheet cake and who can resist the lovely crunch from the crumb topping? Well, that was it! A Blueberry Crumb Tea Cake. Because after sushi, we would be having matcha, not coffee... hence the 'tea' cake.


Happy to say that it was such a hit with the host and her guests, and my troop of food critics at home.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (reduce to 1/2 cup if using the lemon drizzle)
3 eggs, room temperature
3 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
Scant 1/4 cup Blueberry Liqueur (or blueberry juice)
1/2 tbsp lemon zest
3 cups blueberries, washed and dried

Crumb topping:
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cups flour
4 tbsp butter, softened

Lemon drizzle (optional):
1/2 cup icing sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice

Directions:
1. Make a sling for a 13x9 inch baking pan by lining it with 2 sheets of parchment paper (one in each direction) with enough overhang to lift from the sides.
2. Combine the crumb topping ingredients, either whirring them in a food processor, or pinching the butter bits into the dry ingredients, until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set this aside.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set this aside.
4. In a bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
5. Now would be a good time to start preheating the even to 350F.

6. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
7. On medium low speed, add the yogurt, liqueur or juice, and the lemon zest.
8. Fold in the flour mixture in 2 batches, taking care not to deflate the batter by overmixing.
8. With a wooden spoon, gently fold in the blueberries.

9. Place the batter (will be slightly thick) into the prepared pan, and with a small spatula, even it out in the corners.
Tip: I like to drop thick battered cakes like this onto a towel lined counter. About a 4 inch drop will do. A few times, if needed. Gets rid of air pockets and you don't need to wash the spatula. Ahaaa! Light bulb moment :)
10. Sprinkle the crumb topping on the batter.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a skewer comes clean (unless you punctured a juicy berry in there), all you are looking for is no wet dough, anyway.

12. While cake is baking, whisk the drizzle ingredients and pour into a ziplock bag.

13. When the kitchen smells of blueberry goodness and the cake is done, cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes before enlisting a family member to help lift up the cake (via the sling you deftly made) and placing it on the cooling rack to cool completely.
Of course yours truly had to rush to brunch so we just grabbed the cake straight from the oven onto the cooling rack. It was so moist, so soft. yumm! And more importantly, it held up. I do not recommend, but let's just say its good to know it can be done ;)

14. When slightly cooled (again, couldn't wait), snip off the end of the ziplock bag and drizzle the fragrant icing onto your perfectly crumbed coffee ... oops! ... tea cake.

Bring to brunch, please the host, and give in to the rave reviews of the other guests. Another recipe for keeps! Another cake successfully pulled off for the blog! Another portable treat for the kids! Hmmm... I wonder which is more gratifying.

After so many many years, I am finally in a place where I do feel there are seasons. It is summer and I see berries aplenty, so I am taking advantage of it all. 3 weeks here and we've brought home strawberries 5 times from the markets. Yes.. there are markets here. Nice ones too.

So one one of my berry sprees, we got blueberries. It stayed in the fridge for almost a week when I stumbled upon Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything - the basics. Joy brought it home for herself but I got inspiration as well. This recipe was just shouting out at me.


Funnily enough when G found out that blueberries were going into the muffins, and not chocolate chips, he tried to consume the whole box of berries and encouraged all to do the same, so I'd have to use chocolate chips. Nice try!

These muffins turned out great and not too sweet, so we had it with cream and a sprinkling of icing sugar. The recipe is adapted from Smitten Kitchen and makes about 24 muffins

Ingredients:
150 grams unsalted butter , softened
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3 cups (380 grams) flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 to 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Directions:
1. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
2. Whisk and aerate flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well.
5. Next goes the yogurt and lemon zest.

6. On a low speed, add the combined dry ingredients in two batches, folding just to combine.
7. On the lowest possible speed, or with a wooden spoon, fold in the blueberries.
Don't worry if your dough looks like cookie batter.

8. Fill muffin liners about 3/4 full.
9. Bake for 30-35 minutes until it passes the skewer test.
10. Let cool a bit before devouring. Just because you don't want to burn your tongue with the scorching blueberries.