It’s been a while since I’ve experienced cold weather like the cold weather I experienced today. The temperature in Ohio was in the single digits this morning. When I went to turn on my car today, the temperature in my car registered at 3°F. I thought I was prepared to step outside with a thick winter coat, oversized scarf, two layers of leggings, thick socks, and my Bearpaw boots. Still, I was shivering. After only a few minutes outside, my fingers were turning numb. I quickly scraped off the ice on my windshield and immediately hopped into my car. The last time I experienced extreme cold weather was when I lived in Chicago. There were days in Chicago where it was so cold, schools were closed for days upon days. Since moving to Ohio, I don’t remember the temperature dropping so low. Even the condensation on our home windows turned to ice. This morning, I was craving some almond milk and a fresh fruit loaf cake for breakfast. Luckily, I had made an orange blueberry loaf cake two days before using some fresh blueberries and the zest of an entire orange. Kevin and I only had about a third of the cake on Saturday, so we had a majority of the cake leftover to enjoy for breakfast and/or dessert throughout the week. I had initially only thought about making a blueberry cake, but Kevin really wanted an orange, so I ended up zesting an entire orange before slicing it up and serving it to him. I added the zest from the orange into my blueberry cake. It just seems wasteful to not use the zest of the orange when eating an orange. The orange zest added a brightness to the blueberry cake. The blueberries added a sweetness and freshness in every bite. With the remaining two-thirds of the cake, I ended up cutting the cake into large slices and saving it for breakfast and/or dessert throughout the week. With this extreme cold weather outside, I tried to minimize leaving the home as much as possible. Preparing meals ahead of time to bring along to work will minimize the times I have to step outside for breakfast or lunch. I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon doing some light reading and light writing.
Orange Blueberry Loaf Cake:
· 1½ cups all-purpose flour
· 1½ teaspoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· Zest of one whole orange
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
· ¾ cup granulated sugar
· 2 large eggs, room temperature
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· ½ cup whole milk, room temperature
· ½ cup fresh blueberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon flour, plus additional blueberries for topping
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour a loaf pan.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and orange zest. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Stir to combine. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk. Stir to combine. Add the remaining flour mixture and milk. Stir all ingredients until you have a smooth batter. Gently fold in the blueberries tossed in flour.
4) Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Top with the additional blueberries. Bake the cake for 45-50 minutes. Test doneness of cake by inserting a knife into the center of the cake and checking to see if the knife comes out clean. Let the cake cool before serving.
Takeaways: The loaf cake also taste equally delicious with lemon zest. If you prefer lemon, you can use lemon zest instead of orange zest. You can also swap in freshly diced strawberries or raspberries, if you prefer. The loaf cake is very versatile. The berry and citrus combination can be interchanged depending on your preferences.