Blubarb Snack Cake
I seem to have a theme going. Loaf cakes with lemon. Probably because I love them so much, and they seem perfect in the spring. I’d eyed this particular recipe before and decided to make it yesterday, a dreary and rainy Sunday. It literally rained all day with hardly any breaks. That rarely happens. I think my newly planted garden loved it, but I hope it doesn’t just keep going and flood out the plants!
I got the recipe off of Food52, but it’s originally from Yotam Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Sweet: Desserts from London's Ottolenghi. My neighbor had dropped off a few stalks of rhubarb that I wanted to do something with so I cooked it down into a quick tart rhubarb and. blueberry (aka “blubarb”) jam and swirled it into the cake. (my “jam” was 4-5 stalks of rhubarb, 4 handfuls of frozen blueberries, and 1/4 cup of sugar. Not super sweet at all. I wanted it just sweet enough to be tasty but still nice and tart and not overwhelmingly sweet. This worked out well,) This jam replaced the poppyseeds and a lot of the lemon zest, although I still used zest from probably 1/2 a lemon or so.
Other little tweaks: It called for sour cream which I don’t usually have so I substituted with my homemade Greek yogurt which is nice and thick and rich. I cut back slightly on the sugar and used 200 grams (1 cup) instead of the 225 called for. Also, my lemon wasn’t super juicy so I made 3/4 of the glaze which worked out fine.
As I transferred the cake to the pan I dropped in spoonfuls of the blubarb jam and swirled it in with a toothpick. Into the oven it went. The recipe specifically states to not open the door of the oven for the first 45 minutes which is killer for me but I did it! Mine ended up baking for exactly 55 minutes which seemed just right.
Overall I think it’s a pretty cake, but I was hoping it would baked up taller and more domed. The crumb of my cake also looked nothing like the picture on the website. It was much spongier and wet looking, not fluffy and cake-like. Now, I know sometimes cakes made with yogurt can look like this so that may be my problem since I basically replaced cream with milk (sour cream vs yogurt) which are very different things. I may have to attempt this recipe again the next time I happen to have some sour cream just to see how big of a different it makes. I do love the lemon glaze on top and will do that for other cakes too.
The flavor is very nice. A good amount of lemon, obvious but not overwhelming. I like the swirl of jam but would do more next time. I like to eat mine with a dollop of plain yogurt on top. The combination of sweet cake with tart and creamy yogurt is the best!
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Blubarb Jam Snack Cake
Adapted from Food52
Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams) granulated sugar [I only used 1 cup/200 grams]
1/2 cup (120 grams) sour cream [I substituted with Greek yogurt, same weight]
5 tablespoons (70 grams) unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
1 tablespoon poppy seeds Finely grated zest of 3 lemons (1 tablespoon) [I omitted the poppy seeds and used less lemon zest]
1 1/3 cups (170 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup (90 grams) confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions
Heat the oven to 325° F. Grease a 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper, then set aside.
In a small saucepan over low heat melt the butter. Stir in the poppy seeds and lemon zest and set aside to cool. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl, set aside.
Place the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment in place and whisk on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until pale and frothy. Add the sour cream and continue to beat for about 2 minutes, until the mixture has combined.
Use a rubber spatula to fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture until mostly combined. Then fold in the butter mixture until everything is just combined, don’t overmix. Spoon the mixture into the loaf pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean [Mine took 55 minutes and seemed perfectly cooked]. Do not open the oven door to check the cake during the first 45 minutes of baking.
While the cake bakes make the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar with the lemon juice in a bowl. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven, spreading it over the top so that it sinks in and creates a nice coating. Set aside to cool for 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Leave to come to room temperature before serving.