Mini Blueberry-Lemon Loaves

Comfort in rectangular form when I needed it most

It was time to go home.

Israeli airspace had been closed, and there was talk of a cease-fire with Iran, but everything was still topsy-turvy. I was still stranded in New York, homesick but also relieved I’d missed the worst of the war back home. Then I got the call from El Al (an actual middle-of-the-night old-school telephone call from a real human in Tel Aviv, who sounded very, very tired) that I’d been granted a golden (paid) ticket back to Israel on a so-called “rescue flight”.

Within 24 hours I was on a plane (hadn’t seen an El Al counter that empty since… ever?), far ahead of the schedule I anticipated and very relieved once I sunk into my seat. We’d been informed there wouldn’t be “real” food on the flight (though is airline food ever really so “real?”), so I came prepared. The night before I’d ordered a pastrami sandwich from Pastrami Queen, resealing the sandwich in extra foil and encasing the pickle in a ziploc so it didn’t leak at my seat. There was also a Trader Joe’s Icelandic skyr-style yogurt; some green beans I poached from my sister’s fridge and doused in some delicious salad dressing I found on her condiment shelf; and one of these little lemon-blueberry cakes, which I’d made the morning before, hours before I was told to go to the airport.

My friend Gayle, whose apartment I was staying at, had left me a detailed guide to where everything was in her kitchen, and I’d found her Cuisinart stand mixer in a spacious storage closet along with any appliance a committed cook could ever want. Unlike in Israel, where a few ounces cost around $10, blueberries in New York are plentiful and relatively inexpensive (a 2 1/2 -cup container of organic Bluets ran me $6 on sale at Fairway).

I couldn’t find a citrus reamer so, after zesting the lemons, I used a pair of tongs, rotating them inside the lemon halves and squeezing until every last drop of juice had been extracted.

I made quick work of the batter, impressed with that Cuisinart mixer (which was far lighter than a KitchenAid with an at-least equally powerful motor). I used creamy labaneh yogurt here, though Greek yogurt or sour cream work so well, too. The batter mixed up thick and extra lemony thanks to the finely grated zest of two whole fruits and almost all of their juice, save for what was reserved for the glaze.

In place of a standard loaf pan I used four minis, which baked up the cakes a little faster and rose golden, their tops stained with inky-blue dots from the berries. The glaze came together in a minute by mashing blueberries, then mixing them with the sugar and the remaining lemon juice into a pretty purple glaze.

I didn’t save any cake for Jay, but I’ll make this one again this week for him with the last of the season blueberries (like strawberries, blueberries are more of a Winter-Spring thing here). This may not be the most exciting cake in my repertoire, but isn’t that sort of the point? Sometimes comfort overrules complexity when a little sweetness is all you need.

Mini Blueberry-Lemon Pound Cakes

Serves 8

Active time: 20 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

1 ½ sticks (170 grams) softened butter, plus more for greasing the pan

2/3 cup (165 grams) full-fat labaneh or Greek yogurt

Finely grated zest and juice from 2 large lemons (6 tablespoons/75 grams/ml) juice, 2 TB zest

2 teaspoons (10 grams/ml) pure vanilla extract or paste

2 1/2 cups (315 grams) flour

½ teaspoon (3 grams) baking powder

1 teaspoon (6 grams) fine sea salt, plus a pinch for the glaze

1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 ¼ cups (14 oz/400 grams) blueberries, rinsed and dried

1 ½ cups (195 grams) confectioner’s sugar, plus more as needed and for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease four mini or one standard (9- x 5- or 8.5- x 4.5-inch) metal loaf pans with butter. Whisk together the labaneh, 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and the vanilla in a small bowl.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt.

Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with an electric mixer in a large bowl) on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary and beating until well incorporated, for 20 to 30 seconds after each egg. Beat in the lemon zest for 10 seconds, scraping down the sides of the bowl again. With the mixer on low speed, beat in half the flour mixture, then half of the labneh mixture, then the other half of the flour mixture, then the other half of the labneh mixture, beating gently until just incorporated after each addition and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl if necessary. Gently fold in 2 cups of the blueberries for 5 seconds (the batter will be thick and the blueberries won’t sink during baking!) Transfer the batter to the prepared pan (or pans), smooth the top, and bake until a tester comes out clean and the cake is golden and cracked on top, tenting with foil after 45 minutes if the cake appears to be dark, 45 to 55 minutes total. Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack set on top of a baking sheet and cool completely.

When the cake is completely cooled, make the glaze: Mash 1/4 cup blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a bowl, then press through a fine-mesh sieve into another bowl. Add the confectioners’ sugar and the pinch of salt and whisk until smooth. Adjust the texture of the glaze with a little more confectioners' sugar if it seems thin, or more lemon juice if it seems thick, so you have a pourable glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake (or cakes).