#1,815: Blueberry-Lemon Pound Cake

So I decided to make this one night so we could have it for breakfast the next day and realized it needed an hour to cook.  I was tired and didn't want to wait that long, so I put it in a larger size pan and cut the bake time down a little bit.  This got very mixed reviews.  Some of us loved it and others thought it had way too many blueberries.  (I was one that liked it a lot!).  Personally it would have been better with the glaze, but it was so moist, it really didn't need it.  Also, I intended to use ricotta cheese with this, but it went bad when I went to go use it and I really didn't want to run to the store at 10 pm...so I just subbed sour cream instead.  Still good, but I would try the ricotta next time. 

3/4 cup granulated sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 large eggs, at room temperature 

3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese (I used sour cream)

2 tablespoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice plus 1 teaspoon, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and beat in ricotta, lemon zest, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and vanilla until just combined. Sprinkle flour on top, then evenly sprinkle baking powder and salt over the flour. With the mixer on low speed, beat until almost combined. Add blueberries and gently fold into the batter. Transfer to the prepared pan.

Bake the cake until starting to brown around the edges and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake, then invert it onto the rack. Carefully turn it right-side up. Let cool completely.

I skipped this step.  We didn't need any more sugar.  :) Clean the bowl, add confectioners’ sugar and whisk in the remaining 1 teaspoon lemon juice until smooth. Brush the glaze on the cake.