…make lemon loaf!

I have always wanted a lemon tree but have never had one of my own. The thought of having to pay for lemons abhors me so I have only ever made lemony treats when I have been able to score a bag (or two) of them from a friend or neighbour with surplus on their trees.

When I first went to look at my new house my eyes were drawn immediately to the fully laden lemon tree in the yard. Even before seeing inside the house I was mentally flicking through lemon recipes in my head and deciding what I would make first.

This lemon loaf recipe is very similar to the Crunchy Lemon Muffin recipe but, obviously, made in a loaf tin. It is lovely as it is and especially nice when still warm. A few months ago I made a couple of these but they didn’t get eaten as quickly as I thought they would and after a few days the last of it was a bit stale. Thinking stale bread is still OK for toast, I wondered what this would be like toasted. I popped a slice in the toaster then when hot and golden, spread with butter… hot, lemony, buttery…delicious!

Try it, and let me know what you think in the comments.

Ingredients

2 eggs
100g butter, melted
2-3 tablespoons finely grated lemon rind
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Syrup

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180C

Grease and line the bottom of a loaf tin (21cm x 9cm)

Beat eggs and butter. Add lemon rind and sugar and beat until creamy.

Mix in combined dry ingredients and milk until combined, then pour into loaf tin.

Bake 45-55 minutes until cooked.

Just before taking loaf out of the oven. mix the lemon juice and sugar together. Pour syrup over the loaf immediately after removing from the oven.

Cool a while in the tin then remove. The lemon juice will have soaked into the loaf giving extra sweet lemony flavour, while any undissolved sugar will have formed a slight crust on the top of the loaf.

Now does that look good or what? Mmmm Mmmmm…

Enjoy!

HIGHLY addictive! But oh, so good!

Crust
1 cup butter
1 3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup icing sugar (plus more for dusting)

Topping
1 1/2 cup plain sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease and flour a 9 X 13 pan

To make crust:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and icing sugar
• Cut in butter until combined and crumbly.
• Press mixture into bottom of pan.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

To make topping:

• While crust is baking, prepare topping.
• In a larger bowl, add sugar, flour, and baking powder.
• Then add slightly beaten eggs and lemon juice.
• Mix well and pour on top of warm baked crust.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.
• When cool, dust with icing sugar and refrigerate.
• Cut into bars and enjoy them cold!