Summer time and the baking is easy....

Lemon and Blueberry Loaf.

This cake is perfect for the summer months: it is quick and easy to prepare, so you don't have to spend warm evenings in a hot kitchen and are free to return to your gin and tonic outside while the cake bakes.

A hot summer means your baking should be light; lemons always seem to lift a cake. The burst of blueberries as you bite in adds to the fruity moistness of this loaf.

Once again, I have my old chefing pal Miss Katie Green to thank for introducing me to this recipe, which she found in the ever-inspiring Good Food magazine. This summer I have baked it to commemorate the first bbq of the summer in April, a birthday garden party in July, and then brought it to the office to celebrate a run of birthdays/leaving dos/general end-of-term levity.

I predict this beautiful summer to stretch long into september... so roll up your sleeves and enjoy.

Jules xxx

• Ingredients
• 175g softened butter , plus extra for greasing
• 500ml tub Greek yogurt (you need 100ml/3.5fl oz in the cake, the rest to serve)
• 300g jar good lemon curd (you need 2 tbsp in the cake, the rest to serve)
• 3 eggs
• zest and juice 1 lemon , plus extra zest to serve, if you like
• 200g self-raising flour
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 200g punnet of blueberries (you need 85g/3oz in the cake, the rest to serve)
• 140g icing sugar
• edible flowers , such as purple or yellow primroses, to serve (optional)
• 
• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with a long strip of baking parchment. Put 100g yogurt, 2 tbsp lemon curd, the softened butter, eggs, lemon zest, flour and caster sugar into a large mixing bowl. Quickly mix with an electric whisk until the batter just comes together. Scrape half into the prepared tin. Weigh 85g blueberries from the punnet and sprinkle half into the tin, scrape the rest of the batter on top, then scatter the other half of the 85g berries on top. Bake for 1 hr 10 mins-1 hr 15 mins until golden, and a skewer poked into the centre comes out clean.
• Cool in the tin, then carefully lift onto a serving plate to ice. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough lemon juice to make a thick, smooth icing. Spread over the top of the cake, then decorate with lemon zest and edible flowers, if you like. Serve in slices with extra lemon curd, Greek yogurt and blueberries.

Posted in: Midnight baking