A perfect loaf cake dotted with berries

Blueberry, almond and lemon, a perfect sweet-floral-sour trio captured in an easy cake.

View in browser|nytimes.com August 11, 2024 Yotam Ottolenghi's blueberry, almond and lemon cake. Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Blueberry, almond and lemon, a truly great trio By Tejal Rao Good morning! Tejal here, filling in for Sam. I did more cutting back and clearing ground than planting in the garden this year — some years are like that — but my husband grew two kinds of blueberries. The plants were small and did unexpectedly well in Los Angeles. With our modest harvest, we could top a single batch of lemon ricotta pancakes, freeze a half-batch of blueberry cream Popsicles or make one gorgeous blueberry almond and lemon cake. I love an almond cake — with cherries, with chamomile, with orange zest — but a tender, lightly frosted almond cake spangled with fresh blueberries? There was no better way for the harvest to go. Featured Recipe Blueberry, Almond and Lemon Cake View Recipe → It makes me a bit sad to walk by the blueberry plants now and see how bare they are, but we've fully turned our attention to stone fruit. Yesterday, for the baby's lunch, I cut a Baby Crawford peach and some fresh cold tofu from Meiji, tossed them with a little sesame oil, lime juice and some herbs. In this house, we love a savory fruit salad! Hetty Lui McKinnon's beautiful, customizable peach, cucumber and mozzarella salad is particularly dreamy. And once you've made the dressing — a mix of sweet and spicy gochujang, mellow rice vinegar, olive oil and maple syrup — you'll want to make it again and again. If peaches aren't on your kitchen counter, you can swap in nectarines, apricots, plums or even a nice mix of all three. If fresh fruit isn't handy but you want to revel in peaches all the same, you can make Nicole Taylor's delicious peach and molasses chicken using jam from the pantry to season bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. And Eric Kim has a recipe for roasted chicken thighs that uses tangy apricot jam. If you're collecting eggplant, maybe it's time for a big batch of eggplant Bolognese, for which you cleverly brown eggplant and mushrooms together instead of meat? Though if you love anchovies, I'd steer you toward Melissa Clark's eggplant and tomato pasta with anchovy bread crumbs, which is exactly what I feel like eating right now. This steamed eggplant, another great recipe from Hetty, is still a favorite of mine, particularly when long, slender Japanese and Chinese eggplants appear at the market. Head to New York Times Cooking to browse more recipes — you'll need a subscription to read them all. And please reach out for help if you run into any issues and someone will get back to you: cookingcare@nytimes.com. See you on Friday! IN THIS NEWSLETTER Kelly Marshall for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Roscoe Betsill. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks. Peach and Molasses Chicken By Nicole Taylor About 1 hour Makes 6 to 8 servings David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Roasted Chicken Thighs With Tangy Apricots and Carrots By Eric Kim 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes' marinating Makes 4 servings Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Greg Lofts. Peach, Cucumber and Mozzarella Salad With Gochujang Vinaigrette  By Hetty Lui McKinnon 20 minutes Makes 4 servings  Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Greg Lofts. Eggplant Bolognese  By Kay Chun 1 1/4 hours Makes 4 servings David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Eggplant Pasta With Anchovy Bread Crumbs and Capers By Melissa Clark 45 minutes Makes 3 to 4 servings Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Sue Li. Liang Ban Qie Zi (Eggplant With Garlic, Ginger and Scallions) By Hetty Lui McKinnon 20 minutes, plus cooling Makes 4 servings Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Prop Stylist: Megan Hedgpeth. Lemon Ricotta Pancakes By Genevieve Ko 20 minutes Makes 8 to 10 small pancakes Bryan Gardner for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne. Blueberry Cream Popsicles By Erin Jeanne McDowell About 20 minutes, plus 8 hours' freezing Makes About 10 popsicles Sign up for the Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter Fresh dinner ideas for busy people who want something great to eat, with NYT Cooking recipes sent to you weekly. Get it in your inbox Sign up for The Veggie newsletter Tanya Sichynsky shares the most delicious vegetarian recipes for weeknight cooking, packed lunches and dinner parties. 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