Blueberry Sour Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Ribbon

I know blueberries aren't technically in season yet, but seeing them on sale right as I walked into the grocery store was too tempting.  So, I decided to take a Barefoot Contessa classic (Lemon Yogurt Cake) and tweak it to display the blueberries.  Previously, I had played with this recipe (Blood Orange Yogurt Cake) so I had more confidence to change it up with sour cream instead of vegetable oil and added a ribbon of cream cheese throughout.

I love the combination of lemon, blueberry, and cream cheese.  All three are tangy in their own unique way and pair so perfectly together.  Because the cake is sweet, I chose to keep the cream cheese a little more muted to accent the flavors in the cake.  Instead of Ina's soak or glaze, I made a quick blueberry sauce with lemon juice to pour over the cake slices.  The lemon makes it springy and the blueberries make me think of summer!

Plus the cake ended up looking like it was smiling, always a good sign . . .



Blueberry Sour Cream Cake
1 1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup greek yogurt (0% fat)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon zest
3 eggs
1 6oz package of blueberries + 1 tablespoon flour

Filling:
1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, sour cream, yogurt, vanilla extract, and lemon zest.  Add the eggs in one at a time until combined.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet in 3 batches with a spatula.

Coat the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour to prevent sinking.

Fold GENTLY into the combined dough, being careful to not crush the berries.

Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt.

Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan.  Top with the filling.

Pour the remaining half of the batter over the filling and bake for 50 minutes at 350 F.  Let cool and chill before serving to allow the cream cheese ribbon to set.

Lemon Blueberry Sauce
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 6oz package blueberries, divided

While the cake is baking, prepare the blueberry sauce.  Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan.  Boil until the sugar dissolves into the lemon juice; the juice will be clear.

Add 3/4 cups of blueberries to the sauce and cook down until the berries are burst and have released all of their juice.

When the sauce is thickened and looks done, take the sauce off the burner and add the rest of the blueberries.

Spoon over slices liberally and enjoy!