When we used to live in Hawaii, I would often bake up a quick bread every few weeks so that my husband and I could take a slice with some coffee to work on hectic mornings (I used to come in to work some days at 6:30am, so trust me, no time for a sit-down brekkie!). I stopped making them when we moved here, partly because I stay at home now and can afford a few extra minutes to make oatmeal or eggs and eat before I start my day.
I know what you’re thinking – she’s suggesting pound cake for a breakfast? No, not your standard pound cake, devoid of fiber and fruits, but a slice of this every now and then should fit the bill when in a hurry. This is not a true pound cake – typical pound cakes call for a pound each of flour, sugar, and butter, and I have my variations. I use white whole-wheat flour (you can also use ultragrain flour) for fiber instead of all-purpose flour. And are you ready for my secret ingredients? A small mashed banana and some canola oil to substitute for some of the butter! Canola oil still adds fat to the final product, but it adds heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fats to the mix. If I had followed a typical pound cake recipe, I would use 2 sticks of the saturated fats found in butter. No thanks. And the banana? It adds moisture to the pound cake, without excess fat and without a strong banana flavor – you barely know it’s in there! I asked my husband if he could taste the banana in the pound cake and he said no. What a sneaky little move I made!
You can use any blueberries you have for this recipe. I used some of the berries I froze when we went blueberry picking at Moorhead’s Blueberry Farm. I know, I’ve been finding reasons to stick blueberries in everything lately, but I’m almost out of them so bear with me for a little while longer! If you use frozen blueberries, make sure you keep them in the freezer until the last minute when you fold them in to the batter. You don’t want to defrost them because you’ll end up with a lot of blueberry juice and a blue batter!
Blueberry Pound Cake
serves 8-10
1 1/2 cups white whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 small banana, mashed (makes 1/3 cup mashed banana)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup blueberries (if frozen, do not defrost)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the canola oil, mashed banana, and vanilla extract. In a stand-up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together, for about 4 minutes. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, for 2 minutes each, at medium speed. Add in the canola oil-banana mixture in two additions for about a minute each. Then at low speed, add in the flour mixture and until just combined. Quickly fold in the blueberries (if frozen, get them directly from the freezer) and pour batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 -inch loaf pan sprayed with nonstick baking spray. Bake for about 55 minutes until top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
