All about Blueberries + a recipe!

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Hello beautiful blueberry lovers and welcome back to the blog. As we are currently in full summer swing, I thought it would be nice to put together a blog post about the little blue fruit that blesses us this time of year. In today’s post I’ll include the nutritional profile of the fruit, some of their health benefits, and then leave you all with a simple yet delicious dessert recipe.

First, let’s take a look at what’s inside the blueberry [1]:

Per 100g (roughly 1 cup)

Calories: 57

Total fat: 0.3g

Potassium: 77mg

Total carbohydrate: 14g

Dietary Fiber: 2.4g

Sugar: 10g

Protein: 0.7g

Vitamin C: 16% RDI

Blueberries have been described as a “superfood” and their consumption has been linked to a strong immune system, improved mobility and memory, and improved blood-pressure levels. There has been extensive research on blueberries’ effect on rats and it was found that “rats who ate blueberries for two months showed improvements in working memory and did better than their peers at remembering how to navigate a water maze” [2]. Interestingly enough, some of these findings carried over into human trials as well. “Blueberries have been reported to lower blood pressure after eight weeks of daily ingestion. Kids have been found to do better on cognitive tests after eating blueberries” [2]. So whether you bake them into your pancakes, sprinkle them onto your granola, or simply eat them by the handful, it seems these berries do the body good, so eat up!

If you’re looking for an inspired way to include blueberries into your diet, or a new recipe to mix up your dessert rotation, look no further, I’ve found the perfect delicate summer cake. The blogger Kate, from Cookie & Cake, makes healthy and delicious recipes and I always enjoy sharing recipes and posts that I have tried and that I think you all would enjoy as well, so I hope you enjoy this one too!

Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Cake (From Cookie & Kate)

  • 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt

  • 2 medium lemons, preferably organic, to be zested and juiced

  • 1 cup sugar (I used organic cane sugar)

  • ¾ cup plain whole-milk (full fat) yogurt or Greek yogurt

  • 3 extra-large eggs

  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, do not defrost!)

  • 2 teaspoons honey

  • Optional accompaniments: coconut whipped cream or regular whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously butter and flour a 8½ by 4¼ by 2½-inch loaf pan.

  2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

  3. Pour the sugar into a separate medium-sized mixing bowl. Grate all the zest from the lemons. Rub the zest into the sugar until the sugar is yellow and fragrant. Add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla to the sugar mixture. Whisk well, until the ingredients are combined.

  4. When the mixture is well blended, gently whisk in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Switch to a spatula and fold in the oil, making sure it’s all incorporated. The batter will be shiny. In a separate bowl, toss the blueberries with about one teaspoon flour (this will help prevent them from sinking while the cake bakes.) Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

  5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the top is golden and the sides just start to pull away from the sides of the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

  6. Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, warm 2 tablespoons lemon juice and two teaspoons honey just long enough for you to whisk the honey into the juice. You can do this in your smallest saucepan over medium-low heat or in brief bursts in the microwave. Once the honey is mixed in, taste it—it should be pleasantly tart. If it’s too sour, mix in more honey. Using a pastry brush, brush the lemon-honey glaze on top of the warm cake. Repeat until you have no more liquid left.

  7. Run a knife between the cake and the sides of the pan to loosen. Unmold the cake by placing a large plate or cutting board upside down over the loaf pan and carefully turning it over. Turn the cake back onto a flat surface to cool completely. Then slice and serve!

Thank you all for stopping by today and I hope that you learned something or at least picked up a new recipe to try out :)

See you all here next week for a new blog!

Take care and happy eating.

Xoxo,

Alexandra 

Sources:

1. “Blueberry.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 28 June 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry 

2. Hamblin, James. “How People Came to Believe Blueberries Are the Healthiest Fruit.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 15 Nov. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/11/blueberries/545840/