Blueberry Lime Bundt Cake

I'm running out of creative ways to photograph bundt cakes.  Fortunately though, I am NOT running out of bundt cake recipes! 

I love this cake for breakfast, brunch, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner, or dessert. 

 It's also good made with lemon zest and raspberries.  

Adapted from Fine Cooking

Blueberry Lime Bundt Cake

1 cup butter, softened to cool room temperature

2 1/3 cups (10 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 teaspoons finely grated lime zest

6 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups blueberries, either fresh or frozen.  If fresh, wash and let dry.  If frozen, use straight from the freezer - don't defrost.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, more or less

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour, or spray a 12-cup bundt pan with "Pam with Flour."

In a medium bowl whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.

Place sugar and lime zest in a small bowl.  To bring out the essence of the lime, use a wooden spoon or spatula to press lime zest into sugar.  Or, if you feel inclined, process the sugar and lime zest in a food processor for 20 or 30 seconds.  Or, if you don't really care, skip this step altogether and just stir the zest into the sugar.  I process because the smell of lime sugar is ethereal. 

In a large bowl or standing mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add lime-sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy, 1 or 2 minutes.  Add eggs and egg yolk, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add flour mixture and beat at medium speed until batter is smooth.  Gently fold in frozen or fresh blueberries.

Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan.  Tap the pan lightly against the counter to eliminate air pockets.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into center comes out clean.  (If you are using frozen blueberries plan on baking an extra 5 minutes.)  Set bundt pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes to allow cake to set.  Carefully invert pan onto the rack and let rest for about 15 seconds to give the cake a chance to release.  Remove bundt pan and prepare to glaze the cake.

While cake is baking prepare the glaze by whisking the lime juice into the powdered sugar. Adjust the amount of lime juice as necessary to make a smooth glaze.

Set the cooling rack (with cake atop) over a baking sheet or parchment paper (for easy clean up).  Using a pastry brush and about 3/4 of the glaze, liberally brush cake with glaze while cake is still warm.  Let cool completely and glaze one more time with remaining glaze.

Notes on the Recipe:  

The key to making a cake with good texture is to make sure the butter, cream cheese, and eggs come to room temperature before mixing.  Be patient and don't attempt to force the process by softening the butter and cream cheese in the microwave.  

If you are using frozen blueberries leave them in the freezer until you are ready to fold them into the batter.  And when folding them into the batter, less mixing is better, unless you like your cake to have a strange purple hue.

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