When I saw purple prune plums for sale last week I realized that summer is almost over. This plum variety is usually a September fruit but everything seems to be growing earlier or quicker this year or maybe it's just that I'm growing older and life is flying by faster.
Fortunately the peaches are still lush and sweet, the tomatoes juicy, so there's that.
But fall is coming and alas, the blueberries are past prime. I bought a couple of pint boxes and found that their up-to-now summer flavor has faded.
I decided the leftovers were best used as a secondary player, not the star. And at that they were perfect.
Banana Bread with Blueberries
- 2-½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting the pan
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 very ripe medium bananas, mashed
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 cup blueberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a (10-inch) 8-cup bundt pan. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and lemon peel together in a bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium speed, beat the sugar and eggs for 2-3 minutes or until well blended. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract and beat for one minute or until thoroughly blended. Add the bananas and yogurt and beat them in. Add the flour mixture and beat until the batter is well blended. Fold in the blueberries. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a cake rack to cool completely.
Makes one bread, serving 12-16