Lemon Blueberry Tea Bread

Blueberries are magical fruit. They're great when they're fresh off the bush and tart, but bake them in something and they become these soft, utterly sweet little fruits that cast pretty purple bursts into whatever you're baking, sort of a tie-dyed, Jerry Garcia baking effect. I really, really like my blueberries.

And so this weekend I experimented a bit. I like to consult my teatime cookbooks and then make a few substitutions based on what I happen to have on hand. This weekend, it was lemons and blueberries. Here's the result.

Lemon Blueberry Tea Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (8-ounce) container plain yogurt
1 teaspoon each vanilla and lemon extracts
1-1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/2 cup margarine or butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 5 x 3-inch glass loaf pan with cooking spray. In mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, mix yogurt, extracts and lemon peel.

Using a stand mixer, cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add one-third of the flour mixture, beat, then add one-third of the yogurt mixture and beat. Repeat twice more until all of both mixtures has been added. Finally, gently stir in blueberries. Spread evenly in pan and bake for about an hour or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before removing loaf. Yields 1 loaf.

Lemon Icing: To one teaspoon fresh lemon juice, add enough confectioners' sugar to make an icing of drizzling consistency, about 3 tablespoons. Mix well, then drizzle over loaf.