Columbia Creations: Blueberry Nut Loaf Cake

This Blueberry Nut Loaf Cake is beautiful. The top is suppose to form a crack. The orange juice brings such a beautiful color to the party. I enjoyed eating this because it wasn't much of a sweet. I know the recipe refers to it as a cake but, my description would not be one of a cake. It's not like a quick bread either. Or maybe it is. Banana bread, blueberry loaves, and other type recipes that I have tried were all by my definition a sweet. The past few months I've had a goal to eliminate most of my sugar intake. I've lost 8 pounds as a result. (and walking a mile a day) Hooray! I'm no longer in the overweight category. All of that aside. If you are looking for a not so sweet but flavorful loaf, then this will fit the ticket! This was best eaten the day of baking. There isn't much fat in this loaf so it didn't stay moist the following day. We ate almost the entire loaf the first night.
I hope my description of Fruit Loop cereal won't discourage you from making this. With that disclaimer, let me tell you this loaf tasted like Fruit Loops cereal to me.

Look at the delicious crust with it's crunchy outer crumbs

Blueberry Nut Loaf Cake
"New Book Of Great Desserts"
Maida Heatter

1 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. double acting baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg Large
2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 oranges (you will need the zest from both oranges and enough juice squeezed from them make
3/4 cup of orange juice
5 ounces of finely chopped walnuts
dry bread crumbs ( I used whole wheat crumbs)

Maida is swell at going into great detail with her baking instructions. For that reason I suggest you search online or scrounge the flea markets and find your copy of any of her books. I am going to write the baking instruction in my own words.

Wash the blueberries and allow them to dry completely.
Butter a loaf pan, I used a 9x5. After completely coating the pan in butter, lightly dust the inside with the bread crumbs and tap out the excess. ( this forms a delicious crust with a slight crunch on the loaf)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Measure the flour
remove one tsp. of the flour from the measuring device and sprinkle evenly over the dry blueberries and mix gently
Sift together all of the dry ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer lightly beat the egg, then add the melted butter, and orange juice
with mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix enough just to combine
Stir in the nuts and zest by hand
Spread a thin layer of batter into your prepared loaf pan
Now gently fold the blueberries into the remaining batter
spoon the remaining batter over the thin layer in the prepared pan and smooth to level
I will tell you that my loaf took 55 minutes to bake
Maida said it may take 70 minutes but, use the toothpick in the center of the loaf method to determine if the loaf is done.
Toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the center of the loaf
Let the cake cool on a rack for only 10 minutes, if you leave it in the pan any longer the crust runs a risk of loosing it's delightful crunch
gently run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen any berries that may have juiced out and created a sticky spot
remove the loaf from your pan and allow to cool on the rack