I love lemon bread and the lemonier the better! my spell check is going crazy…
I’ve taken every precaution to ensure this old fashioned tea bread will be cheek sucking tart by including lemon zest in the bread batter, lemon juice in the lemon thyme syrup wash and lemon juice again in the lemon drizzle.
The fresh thyme was an after I had converted the recipe to a pdf file thought. Fresh thyme adds another level of interest to the lemon and sugar wash. With it the tea bread can be served as a sweet or a savoury.
Meggie’s bridal shower is a couple of months away so I’m playing around with some classic Atlantic Canadian shower food. I’ve never attended a shower where there weren’t at least two platters of lemon tea bread on the buffet table. Due to the lemon drizzle this test would be served as a sweet. Had I left off the icing, it would have made a fun base for a salty shrimp salad canape…
Lemony Lemon Bread
Preheat oven 350* F.
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cups sugar
2 extra-large eggs
grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
For the syrup:
Juice of 2 lemons
½ cup sugar
For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Butter an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat melted butter with sugar. Add eggs one at a time , beating well after each addition.
Add dry ingredients and buttermilk and blend well.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 70 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, dissolve the sugar in the juice from the lemons until the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the tea bread is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.
THE LOVE: Add a small bunch of fresh thyme to the lemon syrup and let it steep for 5 minutes after you remove the pot from the heat. Remove thyme from the syrup and proceed as directed.
one year ago: favorite pictures from my first year
two years ago: bruschetta
Thanks for reading.
