For a minute there I thought it was fall. I woke up yesterday to rain, the first real rain in months, and feared that summer was over. And officially it is, I’m just reluctant to admit it, even if I had to put on full-length pants and a light sweater last night. Luckily, the sun is shining again this morning and I can at least pretend it’s still summer for a little while longer.
Even so, that small bout of rain yesterday definitely roused my desire for cinnamon and apples and all things squash. Soon I’ll be opening cans of pumpkin and steeping pots of mulled wine on the stove. This could very well be my last berry-laden recipe of the year, so it’s a good thing it’s so scrumptious. I might even have to bake up a second loaf of this Lemon Lavender Blackberry Bread, cut it into thick slices and freeze it for when I’m in need of a taste of summer in the days of impending gloom.
This most certainly is a definitive summer recipe. A bite of this bread instantly reminds me of the warm summer evening I spent picking blackberries with my friend Joy, delving deeper into the bushes than is ever wise, braving the prickly vines, proudly displaying our bounty and our scratched arms at the end. It’s always worth the struggle.
Lemon Lavender Blackberry Bread
© Copyright 2012 Carly Sullivan, Tart to Heart
Yield: 1 loaf, 12 servings
Ingedients:
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 2 Tbsp dried lavender buds
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest, finely grated
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 banana, very well mashed
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup lemon juice + coconut milk (juice the lemon used for zesting, then add enough coconut milk to equal 1/2 cup)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup blackberries
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 1-lb loaf pan and line with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (coconut flour through salt).
- In a separate bowl, mash the banana until it is completely smooth, then whisk in the remaining ingredients except the berries.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk together until smooth (coconut flour tends to clump so don’t be afraid to really mix it, there’s no gluten to worry about!).
- Add the blackberries (leave a few to sprinkle on top) and gently fold into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining blackberries over the top and a little extra lavender if desired. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45-50 minutes. Tent with foil if it starts to get too brown.
- Let cool at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan. Cut into slices and enjoy!
