Today's recipe is in honor of the late Flo Braker, a legendary home baker, teacher and cookbook author who passed away last month. While Braker wrote several cookbooks and collaborated with famous chefs including Julia Child, she was probably most known for her food articles in The San Francisco Chronicle. Since 1989 she'd contributed hundreds of recipes, including Blackberry Yogurt Loaf which appeared on the paper's list of favorites.
I've now made it several times since posting. As Blackberry Yogurt Loaf, it is crusty and slightly crumbly and dense. It's definitely more of a quick bread than a cake. One standout feature is the cornmeal. Don't leave it out because it adds a bit of color, texture and especially flavor. As for the berries, the original recipe calls for blackberries, but any combination of berries will work. I added raspberries to one loaf and used blueberries in the muffins.
And I've made it with blueberries and strawberries instead of blackberries.
Works as Muffins
So while the loaf is very good, the recipe also works well as muffins. The full recipe will give you about 15 muffins. And since there are 3 eggs in the recipe, you can easily make ⅓ of a batch if you want a small batch. Just don't overfill your muffin tin or you'll get big rims! These muffins need some room to climb, so only fill a little over half full. The muffin batter in this photo is piled too high, and the result was flat tops.
Recipe
Blackberry Yogurt Loaf or Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 260 grams, aerate and stir or weigh
- 1 ⅛ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar (230 grams)
- 1 cup fresh blackberries
- ½ cup fresh raspberries optional
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- ¾ cup plain whole milk yogurt room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Streusel Topping (Optional)
- 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 pinch of cinnamon and salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 1 tablespoon butter melted and cooled I used salted
Instructions
- Bring all ingredients to room temperature. If using frozen berries, keep them in the freezer.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 1 large loaf pan or use 2 smaller disposable loaf pans (such as 8x4 inch).
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cornmeal and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk for about a minute, making sure everything is evenly distributed.
- Add the blackberries and raspberries to the flour mixture and carefully stir so that the berries are coated in dry mixture. If you are using frozen berries, do not add them yet, add at the end.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk the eggs lightly, then whisk in the yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest until smooth. Whisk in the melted butter, stirring just until blended and smooth.
- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, and with a large heavy duty rubber scraper, fold everything together until well blended. If using frozen berries, toss the frozen berries in an extra tablespoon of flour and fold in last. Spoon and scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for about 45-60 minutes (loaf pan will influence the cook time -- my glass pan took about 70 minutes). Smaller loaves take about 60. Check mini loaf pans at 45 min. Internal temperature should be around 200F.
- Let cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then loosen sides with a knife and jiggle the strip of parchment paper. If the bread feels solid enough to lift, remove it from the pan and let cool on the rack. If it still feels delicate, let it cool completely in the pan.
- Slice the bread when it is completely cool.
Streusel Topping
- Mix together flour, sugars, pinch of cinnamon (if using) and salt (if using unsalted butter).
- Add the melted butter and stir until crumbly.
Notes
Stephanie Haly says
I made this recipe this morning for the kids' breakfast. I did the muffin option that you suggested.
The recipe creates a very tasty muffin which I thought resembled two of my favourite muffin: blueberry cornmeal muffins (which is like a cornmeal muffin with blueberries) and a blueberry muffin (which has sour cream or yoghurt).
It was an easy muffin to prep the night before and make in the morning because of the melted butter.
Thanks for this recipe. It is a keeper.
Sue says
The muffins sound especially good to me.
Sonya says
Yum, these sound like the perfect summer muffin!