Lemon Poppy Seed Bread.

This bread gave me lots of trouble. The recipe is simple enough, it was me that kept messing it up. First, I forgot to put the eggs in at the right time, so I had to throw them in at the last second. Then it wouldn’t come out of the pan. When it finally did, a whole chunk of it came flying out and landed in the cats water bowl.

But, it was delicious. The lemon glaze is so good, i was breaking off bits and just dipping it right in the bowl. This bread was originally just lemon bread, but I added some poppy seeds in there for fun.



At first, I was trying to figure out how to disguise all it’s ugly spots (and there are many!) but then I decided to just accept it, photograph it, chunks missing and all.





Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
The original recipe is here.


Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter,
at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest

A couple of teaspoons of poppy seeds


For the lemon syrup:

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 1-lb. loaf pan.

In a bowl, stir and toss together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture along with the milk and lemon zest. Beat until blended and smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the poppy seeds. (I just kept putting them in there until it looked like enough, I don’t have an exact amount)

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. (mine only took 45)

Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Set aside, stirring occasionally; don’t worry if the sugar does not dissolve completely.

Remove the bread from the oven and transfer the pan to a wire rack. Using a fork, gently poke the top in several places. Stir the syrup, then slowly drizzle it over the hot bread. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto the rack, top side up, and let cool completely. Makes 1 loaf.