Today, I have something quite special to share that I think is perfect for Valentine’s Day. I have partnered with Woody Lodge Winery in Ashville, Pennsylvania to bring you a variety of wonderful table wines that offer unique and fun twists when it comes to flavor. They just opened their Instagram account and would love to welcome you as a follower. They have graciously given me a 15% discount on any order you place with the code Blue15, so be sure to take advantage of it!
Every Friday, I will feature one of their wines, and will pair it with a recipe for all of you. The first wine that I am sharing has a suggestive title…Blues Berry, and its flavor is…you guessed it, ripe blueberries! This sweet wine is the perfect dessert wine: rich, with a wonderful aroma, great color, and 100% made from blueberries!
It is sooo good that it won the Bronze Medal from the American Wine Society in 2017! As the description says, “it tastes like blueberry cobbler!”, and it really does! You can get it here.
Those of you who follow me on Instagram saw that I recently baked two Blueberry-Lemon loaves, so I will be sharing the recipe today! As you can see, I paired this sweet wine with the cake, and it was delicious!
Let me tell you about this recipe. It makes two loaves, but you can certainly halve it if you want. I just think it is easier to make the two when I buy the larger blueberry container. Also, you can adjust the amount of blueberries, so you can add more if you want. You can use frozen blueberries too, so it is year-round friendly, but if you want to use blackberries or raspberries, or even strawberries, you certainly can. It’s quite versatile! The basis is a three-quarter poundcake, so it keeps quite well at room temperature, covered.
As you will see, I served mine with additional blueberries and a Blueberry Sour Cream Fool. I had made Almond Ginger Blueberry Jam, so I mixed sour cream with a bit of the jam, and a teaspoon of the wine. Delicious! You can certainly do the fool more traditionally with whipped cream, if you so prefer, or eat it plain (as I do when I’m less fancy!) The best part of the loaf? By far, it is the topping, so do not skip it!!!
Please let me know if you make it, and tag me on Instagram to see! And don’t forget to follow Woody Lodge Winery for lots of fun information!
Blueberry-Lemon LoavesIngredients
- 12 tablespoons butter, softened
- 4 tablespoons grapeseed oil (or any other mild-flavored oil, including almond oil)
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- Zest of one lemon
- 2 teaspoons of ground cardamom (it gives it a wonderful flavor, but it’s completely optional)
Topping
- 4 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons demerara sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon orange juice (or water, or….Blues Berry Wine!)
Directions
Add lemon zest to sugar, and let the oils impregnate the sugar while you work on the rest. Combine flour, baking powder, and cardamom. In a large bowl, cream butter for about 8 minutes, with an electric mixer, until it is white and fluffy. Add sugar and continue mixing for another 5 minutes, until when you don’t hear the sugar crackling. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Add flour and baking powder; just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries OR alternate layers of batter and blueberries. Pour into greased 9×5-inch loaf pans.
Combine topping ingredients and add juice (or wine!) to wet the sugar, making it clumpy. Sprinkle the clumps over the loaves. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
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