Babble (Blueberry Banana Lemon Bread)

Babble struck me as the perfect name for this sweet cake/bread for two reasons. The first reason is because blueberry-banana- lemon bread is just too much of a mouthful when someone asks what's for dessert. The second reason is because the historic meaning of the word babble brings to mind many people speaking but nobody understanding what is being said and resulting chaos. Is chaos necessarily a bad thing? The subtle, yet distinct expression of flavors that stems from this multi-dimensional recipe make for a rich and light, moist and cake like, sweet and tangy, decadent and healthy chaos in each mouthful.

A most lovely dessert, especially if you serve it with some fresh fruit and perhaps a little dollop of creme fraiche. So, again I ask is chaos necessarily a bad thing? I think ... not. This babble is delicious!

Babble Recipe
8 ounces (2 cups) whole grain pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup sucanat
1/4 cup sweet butter, softened
1.5-2 cups (about 3) ripe bananas
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup creme fraiche
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh or frozen wild blueberries, dredged in flour
1 generous Tbsp fresh lemon zest

Preheat oven to 425 F°.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Place sucanat and butter in a large bowl, and beat until creamy. Add banana, yogurt, sour cream, and vanilla and beat until well blended. Add the flour mixture; beat at low speed until just blended.

Fold in blueberries (gently so as not to burst them) and lemon zest. Turn batter into an 8x5 loaf pan (lightly buttered and floured if it's not silicone).

Place in oven, and quickly shut the door (you want a big initial blast of heat to get the batter, which is a bit heavy, to rise a bit), then turn temperature down to 350 F. Bake for 1 hour or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool about 10 minutes before removing from the pan.