Blueberry Lemon Tea Loaves

As soon as the weather starts to get warmer, I become very focused on fruit.  Pies, cakes, muffins, and so on.  These small loaves are perfect for sharing over a cup a tea, thus the name. Like my blueberry muffins (recipe is on eyummykitchen.com) this batter calls for buttermilk which keeps the loaves moist.  Blueberries are super versatile so when they are in abundance, I usually over buy them so I am always looking for ways to use them (although I would never complain about blueberry pie on rotation!).  The sweetness from the blueberries pair well with the tartness of fresh lemons.  The batter has lemon zest and freshly squeezed lemon juice but the thing that sends these over the top for me is the lemon glaze on top. Oh my!  

One of the things I try to avoid when I bake with blueberries is having purple batter.  When fresh blueberries are added to a batter the blueberries can fall apart which makes a messy, purple batter.  I like to see the blueberries in the muffins so I freeze the fresh blueberries (after they are washed and picked over for stems) and keep them in the freezer till I am ready to mix them into the batter. 

You can make the batter the night before, minus the blueberries, and then combine both before you pop the loaves in the oven.

Ingredients

3 c        Flour

4 tsp     Baking powder

½ tsp   Salt

1 c        White sugar

¼ c      Whole milk

½ c      Buttermilk

2 c        Frozen blueberries (I freeze fresh blueberries)  

2/3 c     Vegetable oil    

2          eggs

1 tbs     Lemon zest

1 tbs     Freshly squeezed lemon juice

            Raw sugar for tops

For the glaze:

½ c      Powdered sugar

2 tbs     Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 400°.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and white sugar together in a large bowl. Stir together milk, buttermilk, oil, eggs, lemon juice and zest in a separate bowl. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until everything is mixed.  Fold in frozen blueberries (the batter will be thick) but be careful not to over mix or your blueberries will start to defrost and pop.   

Fill your small loaf pans about 3/4s full and sprinkle each loaf generously with the raw sugar.  This recipe should yield 4 or 5 small loaves.

While the loaves bake, mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice.  The consistency should be thin enough to pour.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until tops are golden and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool on a rack.  Immediately prior to serving, drizzle about two tablespoons of the lemon glaze over each loaf or slice.