Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Bread

Another sweet quick bread recipe? Oh, yeah. There's no end in sight! So easy and so good and so many variations. I mentioned on Saturday in my Life in the Big City post that I've been pinning loads of lemony bread recipes and yesterday I played around with one of them. I wasn't using anyone's particular recipe but rather borrowing the idea of including ricotta in the batter. Although it seemed a bit odd at first, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it answered one of my quick bread problems.

In the past, when I've made banana or pumpkin flavored breads, the bananas or pumpkin puree were there to add moisture. But a lemon bread, even with blueberries, didn't have anything to give it that boost. Enter the ricotta cheese. You don't really taste it but the final bread has a moist, almost pound cake like flavor that we liked. And I used plenty of lemon zest to give it, not only a fresh lemon flavor, but a wonderful aroma as well. Some recipes call for lemon juice but I find that flavor harsh. Trust me, zest is the way to go. Enjoy!


Ingredients
1 3/4 Cup all purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 Cup sugar
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon vanilla
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1/2 Cup ricotta cheese
1 Cup blueberries
Zest of 3 lemons

Add the eggs and sugar to a large bowl and beat until thoroughly combined and lightened in color. Beat in the butter followed by the ricotta cheese, vanilla, lemon zest and buttermilk.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet until mixed. Fold in the blueberries and mix by hand just until combined. Pour the batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from the pan and dust with powdered sugar, if desired. Makes approximately 10 servings.