Glazed Blueberry Lemon Loaf

Those who regularly read my blog know that I don't often bake. If I am completely honest, I find baking a bit intimidating. I think it is the precision required in measurement and the fact that if you leave important ingredients out like baking powder your creation can fall flat! That doesn't happen in a stew!

About 10 years ago I did take two baking courses at George Brown College, which is where a lot of chefs get their training in Toronto. We did amazing things like hand-pulled Apple Strudel, Opera Cake, real Black Forrest Cake and puff pastry from scratch. So basically, I am competent just maybe a little out of practice.

Also I don't bake often because if I bake we have to eat it and I am sure I really don't need to consume yet more butter and flour than I have been since I started working on this blog. Nothing like a little Opera Cake on a Tuesday night after dinner to ensure that you can't do up those skinny jeans.

But the Teen has started "cooking" as he calls it in high school and it seems to have made a connection for him so I figure I'll encourage it in whatever manner I can if it gives him some direction. Maybe one day he can catch up to his 10 yr old brother in terms of culinary skill and knowledge!

When trying to decide what to make I thought I'd let the contents of my fridge lead the way. For some reason I seemed to have purchased two huge containers of blueberries this week which now desperately need using lest they go bad. Can't have that. And I have a few lemons in the fridge and I like the pairing of blueberry and lemon, so it is Blueberry Lemon Loaf with a lemon glaze.

Glazed Blueberry Lemon Loaf

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup fresh blueberries (I think I used 1.5 cups whoops)
zest of 1 lemon (about 2 teaspoons)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Oil a 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan and set aside until you are ready.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder.  Pour your west ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.  If the batter seems a little thick, add small amounts of milk to loosen it until it reaches the desired consistency.  Gently fold in blueberries. 

Pour intothe greased loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely

Lemon Glaze:

2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Put the sugar in a small bowl. Add lemon juice and whisk together until smooth and well blended.  Set aside.

Place your cooling loaf on a baker's wire rack and slide a cookie sheet under it to catch any glaze that drips off.  Using a wooden skewer, poke holes all over loaf, then drizzle glaze over the cake.  Leave to set before slicing.