Limey Blueberry Loaf

I made this loaf in a 8×8 baking pan. Photo by PattyCooks.

Limey Blueberry Loaf

A great, moist loaf featuring fresh limes and blueberries.

Mise en Place

  • 1 spray olive oil (around the loaf pan)
  • 1 T Flour (to coat the loaf pan)

Dry Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 C flour (plus more for pan)
  • 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1/2 t kosher salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 1/2 C unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 1 C sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 C Greek plain yogurt (or sour cream)
  • 2 lime juice and zest
  • 6 oz blueberries (frozen is best, even homegrown frozen)

Icing

  • 1.5 C powdered sugar
  • 3 T lime juice and zest
  • 1 pinch kosher salt

Mise en Place

  1. Take one stick of unsalted butter from the fridge and onto the counter.

  2. Oven to 350F.

  3. Spray oil and 1T of flour to coat the inside of a loaf pan.

Dry Ingredients

  1. In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. You will be adding the dry ingredients to the wet.

Wet Ingredients in standing mixer bowl

  1. Using a standing mixer, combine the room temp butter and sugar into the glass bowl. Add the eggs and sour cream, and mix until fluffy. Then add the lime juice + zest.

  2. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and mix. Then remove the bowl from the mixer stand.

  3. Gently fold in defrosted blueberries using a spoon.

  4. Spoon or pour batter into the prepared pan and bake 60-65 minutes.

  5. If browning too soon on top: Cover the cake with a cut or folded sheet of parchment. (I do not let aluminum foil touch my food.)

Icing

  1. Combine the ingredients, powdered sugar, lemon, lime and a pinch of salt in a small bowl and whisk.

  2. For runnier icing: add teaspoons of water.

  3. For thicker icing: add more powdered sugar

Prep for serving

  1. Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool in the pan. Then run a knife or spatula along the sides of the loaf, turn it over, and carefully remove it from the pan and onto a cooling rack. Let it cool completely.

  2. Place the loaf on a serving plate, and pour 1/3 icing over top and let it drip down the sides. Wait for the icing to harden, then pour another third. Let it harden and then pour final part of the icing.

Notes on Icing: To reduce calories do not use the icing. In my icing, I tend to add lemon and/or lime zest so it sticks to the loaf. I do not find the plain white icing as inviting as the one with zest. I add the icing because the added sweetness can make the citrus shine in terms of its taste.

 

My reduced version: Frankly, in my house we prefer not to use icing so that the loaf has to succeed on its own. As you can tell from the photos I did not use icing and upped the amount of lime zest. I also used yogurt instead of sour cream to reduce the fat content and thus calories. What you cannot tell is I used only 2/3’s the sugar. The outcome was not sweet, but citrusy, and very flavorful.

 

Loafs can be frozen. I wrap them in parchment paper, then foil and place in a plastic freezer bag. Date and label the bag so you remember what it is. The loaf must be absolutely room temp before you wrap it up. Frankly making loafs can be such a mess I tend to make a few at a time and if not giving them away to friends and family, I freeze them.

 

Source: With all the limes my tree produces I looked online for any loaf recipes and found one at IWashYouDry. I just happened to have a container of blueberries from my bushes in the freezer so used those too. While I used her base recipe, I did change it a bit to meet my families tastes.