• 2 cups all purpose white flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• ¾ cup sugar

• 2 teaspoons lemon zest*
• 2 whole large eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
• ¾ cup coarsely chopped hazelnuts.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and soda.

With an electric mixer, in a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and lemon zest until well mixed. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until light and fluffy. Alternately beat in milk and dry ingreedients until mixture is smooth. Mix in poppy seeds. Fold in blueberries and ½ cup hazelnuts.

Pour batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with remaining hazelnuts, and bake in the lower third of a 350º oven for about 60 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched with fingertips, and a pick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let stand for several minutes, run a knife around the edge of the loaf to loosen and unmold unto cooling rack.

*Lemon Zest:Lemon zest is the very thin outer layer of peel of the lemon which contains the oil and sweet, intense flavor of the lemon. Zest can be removed with a tool called a zester. For larger jobs, a potato peeler works well to remove very thin strips of peel. Try not to remove the bitter white pith.