High Altitude Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake

• servings: 1 serving
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp fresh lemon zest (from 1 large lemon)

2 cups cake flour, (fluffed, spooned and leveled)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)

2 large eggs, (lightly beaten)

1/2 cup full fat sour cream

1/2 cup unsalted butter, (melted)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lemon extract or lemon paste

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

1 cup fresh (not frozen) blueberries

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 1/2 - 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

fresh blueberries, for decoration

Directions

Cake

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line a standard sized loaf pan with a sheet of non-stick baking paper or parchment paper, so that the paper hangs over two sides. The paper serves as a "sling", making it easy to lift the cake out of the pan. Lightly spray with non-stick baking spray.

In a bowl, measure the sugar, then zest the lemon over the sugar. Use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar until moistened.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt, then whisk together with the sugar to make sure everything is well distributed.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, melted butter, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon juice until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and use a spatula to stir everything together until there are just a few streaks of flour remaining. Add the blueberries and fold them in until distributed throughout the batter and there are no more streaks of flour.

Pour the batter into the pan. Bake the cake on the center oven rack for about 60 minutes, until a cake tester or sharp knife comes out clean, and the top of the cake is light golden brown.

Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then gently lift the cake out (using the paper) and set on a cooling rack. Cool for at least 2 hours.

Icing

In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth and thick. Spoon the icing over the cooled cake, letting it drip over the sides.

Before the icing sets, decorate the top with fresh blueberries, if desired.