Lemond Bread with Lemon Glaze

Today's recipe was created from several different lemon bread recipes. I wanted a moist, fine crumbed bread that was not quite as dense as pound cake but not as light & fluffy as a chiffon sort of cake. I wanted it to be really lemony. This bread has a lot of lemon flavor but the glaze really adds some tartness and tanginess. I have to admit that although this bread is extremely flavorful, it bugs the crap out of me that there is no dome on my loaves. Flat as a pancake on top. That really bothers me and I don't know why it happens. (Suggestions?) The flavor is what matters but the way it looks almost affects my flavor opinion. But besides the breads' flat tops, they are wonderful. This bread is not extremely sweet and would be perfect with a nice hot foamy latte or cup of tea.

Don't let my rants about this breads' looks scare you away. It's a wonderful recipe and a good light dessert choice for summer. Topping a slice of this with berries and whipped cream would be delicious!

The batter for this bread was so light and fluffy. It had the texture of lightly whipped cream. Of course I could not stop sampling it.

I took them out of the oven when a few moist crumbs stuck to a toothpick.
Flat flat flat. Sigh.

Slightly crispy edges.

I can never wait till it fully cools so of course I cut into the bread while still warm. That's why it's so wet on top still, and shaggy looking.

I really brushed a thick layer of glaze on top. I had left the glaze (lemon juice & granulated sugar) in the microwave until it boiled awhile and it really thickened when it cooled. It was like the consistency of thick honey.

Lemon Bread


ngredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 1/2 cup oil 2 cups sugar 4 eggs 4 tablespoons lemon juice 3 tablespoon grated lemon peel 1 teaspoon lemon extract 3 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk GLAZE: Lemon juice Granulated Sugar

Directions:

1.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, oil and sugar. Beat in eggs, lemon juice, extract and peel. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir into creamed mixture alternately with milk. Pour into lightly greased pans or muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees until bread tests done. Combine glaze ingredients (I combine & heat in microwave till it starts boiling, at which point it will really thicken, then let it cool down a bit before glazing bread). Remove bread from pan; let cool for about 10-15 minutes; place bread on foil or parchment on top of rack to catch drips; drizzle with glaze. Cool on a wire rack. For the glaze, I used about 1/4 -1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice. I placed it in a Pyrex measuring cup and added about 2 cups sugar (maybe more?). It was super thick before heating it. I heated the mixture on 50% power in my microwave for about a good 6-7 minutes and stirred it about every 1 1/2 minutes until it boiled. Watch it closely at that point so it does not boil over the top. I then let it cool for about 20 minutes or more before spreading it on bread. I figured that the more it cooled, and the thicker it got, it would not run off the bread so quickly. That's why I let the bread cool for awhile also, so the glaze wouldn't immediately run off the sides.