Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Hey y'all! It would appear it has been well over a year since I wrote anything up. Sorry about that! In 2011 I finally got a job that occupied all of my brain space, and in 2012 I followed it up with the purchase of our first house and the creation of our first baby (due June 2013). So it was a little busy! But now that the house has been (somewhat) repaired and the nausea has (mostly) subsided, I wanted to get back in the kitchen. I got an extra kick in the pants from our lemon tree. We moved to Orange, California, original home of the Sunkist Orchards and the provider of much delicious fruit. While our 1954 ranch-style home is on the small side, it has a lovely back yard! We are in the process of figuring out how to maximize the vegetable garden and the orchard space. While it will be a few years before our apples and peaches come in, we have mature citrus trees that produce massive amounts of fruit every few months - namely, Valencia oranges (a subject for another day) and this week's theme fruit, LEMONS! You can see how many we have to kill off below.

This week, I'm trying to use lemons in all of our dinners and some extra desserts. I could tell you about the Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup I made tonight, but let's face it, cake is way more exciting. I began the week with my first-ever blog post, Lemon Yogurt Cake. But I wanted a better-looking version with a bit more pizzazz for my husband to take to his (brand new) job this week. So I found this one! As my friends and family have referred to me as Martha Stewart for many years, it should hardly come as a shock that her recipes appeal to me. This one appealed to me precisely because a) it looked nice without being complicated and b) it had a lot in common with the aforementioned Lemon Yogurt Cake! Yogurt in cakes is pretty much always a good idea. I made a chocolate yogurt cake with chocolate yogurt frosting last week - still good. The texture of these cakes cannot be beat - they are moist without being heavy or buttery. Plus, I can pretend they're healthy, and I tend to have yogurt around (versus something like sour cream, as this recipe originally called for) for just that reason.

So I gave it a shot, and found that indeed, it was much the same cake - but in a bundt pan. :) I did a little re-write to create fewer dishes (hate dishes), but that's about it. I think this would also be GREAT with raspberries. If you serve it early in the day, at a brunch or lunch, it's fine as is...sprinkle a little powdered sugar for effect. If you want it a little sweeter, make a simple glaze of powdered sugar and lemon juice, poke a few holes in the cake, and drizzle away. Or, if you are pregnant and in need of mass amounts of sugar, slather it with lemon curd. That oughta do it. :)

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake
From Martha Stewart's Recipe

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 cups blueberries
2-3 tablespoons grated lemon zest (for me, 7 lemons)
 Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
Bundt pan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Zest lemons via grater or microplane in a bowl big enough to fit 2 cups of blueberries.

Cream sugars, butter, and lemon zest in your mixer. It will look like the first stage of chocolate chip cookie dough.

Add eggs one at a time, scraping down after the second egg. Add vanilla. You could also add the juice of a lemon or two here, but I don't know how much difference it would make. In the bowl that once held your lemon zest, sift together baking powder and flour. Add alternately with the cup of Greek yogurt - i.e., flour, yogurt, flour, yogurt, flour.

A little bit of flour will stick to the bottom of the bowl - this is perfect to use to dust the blueberries, which will help keep them suspended in the batter.

Empty dusted berries into the batter, and fold in. TO CLARIFY: folding means taking a rubber spatula and bringing it all around the bowl, and then over the top of the berries...then use the spatula to cut in half across the bowl, and again fold over the top. Every time, ensure you "drag" the bottom of the bowl. Spray your bundt pan - including the center piece - and empty batter in, evening it out along the top. Throw that bad boy in the oven and leave it there for 60 minutes.

When a butter knife inserted in the cake's highest point come out clean, it is ready. Blueberry residue is OK. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then turn out and cool completely. If desired, even out the bottom by using a serrated bread knife to create a flat surface. Eat warm if you can, with some hot coffee and good company. :)