Blueberry Swirl Pound Cake

Making pound cake has to be one of the most enjoyable baking experiences for me. What is it about whipped butter and sugar that is so comforting? Needless to say, very rarely do I need an excuse to make a pound cake. My husband is also a huge fan (of eating it, that is) so it's usually gone before the end of the week.

Today, I decided to make a blueberry version by folding in pureed berries to the prepared batter. Making the puree is straight forward: simply blend in a food processor or blender until smooth. I went a little further by evaporating off most of the liquid before folding into the batter. Pound cake recipes usually don't call for any real liquid so I didn't want to throw off the recipe by adding a very watery puree. Also by preparing it this way, the skins if the berries and all their fiber and antioxidant properties are retained. Another good reason to make this cake!

Blueberry Swirl Pound Cake

Makes one 9" x 5" loaf

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup densely packed brown sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1. Set oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 9" x 5" loaf pan with baking spray and flour lightly. Set aside.

2. Puree the berries in a blender, then pour into a sauce pan set over medium low heat. Allow the liquid to evaporate and the puree to reduce to about 1/4 cup of thick berry pulp, about 1o minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

4. Whisk together butter and sugar on high for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking between additions. Add the vanilla extract followed by the flour mixture. Remove 1 cup of batter and add to the berry puree, combining thoroughly. Pour batter-berry mixture back to remainder of batter and fold in so that the batter is streaked with blue.

5. Pour into prepared baking dish, and smooth out the top lightly. Sprinkle the almonds evenly across the surface. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 minutes to 1 hour until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and and cool completely before serving.