Michelle's Blueberry Tea Loaf

My friend Michelle, a phenomenal home cook, first made this for us to go with an afternoon coffee gabfest over thirty years ago. It is deceptively delicious, given the simplicity of the recipe:

2½ cups of sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup of softened unsalted butter
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of milk
1 cup of blueberries, fresh or canned, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 by 5 by 2¾" loaf pan.

Sift flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt together. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and eggs at high speed until light and fluffy - about 2 minutes. At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths) alternately with milk (in thirds), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until smooth.

Gently fold in blueberries with rubber spatula. Turn into greased loaf pan.

Bake for 60-65 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Turn out of pan onto wire rack.

Variation: Substitute vanilla sugar for granulated sugar.