Blue Valentine

so today i baked again but also for some early valentines gifts for my aunt and father....

this is a half loaf all tied up with watercolor hearts.....

its called almond blueberry lemon loaf....actually i baked one last year but i tweaked it more this time....

here are the loaves out of the oven....it was a lovely scent in the house today....

here is the batter split in half....

big plump blueberries from chile....normally i dont buy chilean fruit because it never tastes right to me but they were discounted so here they are....

almonds....

buttered and floured loaf pans.....

butter....

here is jack jamming cake in his mouth....there was crying and yelling and even slapping and he was the one doing it....he couldnt get enough and when i cut him off....the you know what hit the fan....so this is a kind of recipe that came once again from pinecone camp....have you gone there yet? well the original is hazelnut and lemon....so i basically doubled the recipe and added 1 teaspoon of almond extract as well....i folded the blueberries in the batter at the end....i used almonds and the zest of six lemons....it made enough batter to fill mid way in 2 9x5in loaf pans....

recipe adapted from pinecone camp(click link for original recipe)
250g unsalted butter

2cups superfine sugar

4 eggs

3 cups flour

1tsp salt

1tsp almond extract

1 cup milk

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1 pint of blueberries

zest of six small and medium meyer lemons

preheat oven to 350 degrees and i buttered and floured 2 9x5 inch loaf pans

cream sugar and butter then add almond extract and eggs....then in a large bowl mix flour and salt....then alternatively add the flour and salt mixture and milk....you know dry wet dry wet dry etc.....when you are done with that add nuts and zest....then fold in 1 pint of blueberries.....divide mixture into pans....i baked both of these for one hour but check at the 40 to 45 minute mark....the tops should be solid and turning brown and pulling a little bit away from the sides of the pan....let cool in pans on racks....i used an offset spatula to pull the loaves away from the pans....also you can brush with a lemon syrup....i kind of just poured it all over so it would soak in but thats just me....lemon syrup.... the juice of one lemon 1\4 cup water and sugar....heat until dissolved...let cool....you can do this while the loaves are baking.....enjoy!