Quick Berry Cake—berry, berry delicious

Fresh blueberries and raspberries, brown sugar and sour cream create a delicious not-too-sweet snack cake. Recipe below.

SINCE WE CAME BACK FROM OUR TRIP, I’ve been blundering around with simple, fruit-laden quick bread recipes. One that I was very optimistic about included oat flour, cinnamon and fresh chopped apples. That smelled great and looked so comforting, and it was a lot of fun to whiz up rolled oats in the blender to make the oat flour. But in the end it was an aesthetic disaster, totally falling apart when sliced and even when speared with a fork. Yikes, no idea what I did wrong. Then I remembered some of the simple Polish cakes of my youth, featuring sour cream, blueberries and loads of sugar.

This version strays pretty far from that tradition. It’s baked in a loaf pan, for one thing, instead of a cake pan. And for another, it features brown sugar, not white, giving it a homey coloring. I also included raspberries and replaced half the already modest amount of butter with olive oil.

It came out very nicely, if I say so myself: fruity, sweet but not overwhelmingly so, and beautifully moist. It also looks quite appealing when sliced. Serve this as a simple dessert or snack, or with a nice hot cup of coffee or tea as a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. I’m adding this to my regular arsenal, and I think you’ll like it too. Give it a try while fresh berries are still in season.

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Quick Berry Cake

Fresh blueberries and raspberries, brown sugar and sour cream create a delicious not-too-sweet snack cake.

Course Dessert, Snack

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for the pan
• 2 cups plus two teaspoons unbleached white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature (1/2 stick)
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-1/2 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup raspberries

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving overhangs on the long sides so you can lift out the bread once it is baked. Oil the paper and the pan.
• In a small bowl, sift together the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Set the bowl aside for the moment.
• Put the butter and the 1/4 cup olive oil in a medium bowl. With a hand mixer, beat them together until fairly well blended—it’s okay if the butter is in bits. Add the brown sugar and continue to beat until well blended and creamy. Add the eggs, lemon extract and vanilla extract, and beat again just until the mix is smooth and uniform.
• Add the flour mixture and the sour cream in alternate batches, mixing on a low speed and ending with the flour mixture. Mix until the batter is smooth and uniform.
• In a small bowl, sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoons of flour over the berries and stir together to coat them—this will help stop them from sinking to the bottom of the bread, kind of. Yes, you may use your hands for this.
• Gently fold the berries into the batter. Try to ensure a uniform distribution of fruit throughout the batter. Finally, spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
• Bake for 45 – 55 minutes, until the bread is just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and the top is nicely golden. An instant read thermometer slid into the center should read between 190º - 220ºF. Let the baked loaf cool on a rack—you may remove it from the pan after 15 minutes, lifting with the parchment paper.

Kitchen Notes

Liz’s crockery Corner. This feather edge flow blue platter sees lots of action in our kitchen. It was made in England the early 19th century, designed for families of limited means hankering for a bit of elegance. You’ll find it’s full story—and a recipe for a banana bread with a miso umami twist—right here.