Lemon Poppyseed Bread is something that I just absolutely love and have always been looking for a simple and easy recipe to make myself. So imagine my delight when I happened upon this recipe and had all the ingredients on hand in my house. So excited! I love lemon and I especially love lemon poppyseed anything.
So the same day I made the chocolate depression cake, I also made this bread and could not stop eating it because of how moist and sweet and scrumptious it was! Wish I had a piece right now! Hope you enjoy this recipe for lemon poppyseed bread as much as I did! Happy baking!
Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Lemon syrup
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour (or spray with non stick spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan ( 8x4x2 1/2 inch). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter and flour the paper.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and milk.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and poppyseeds until combined. Add the softened butter and half the egg mixture and mix on low speed until moistened. Increas the speed to medium and beat for about one minute. ( This aerates and develops the cake's structure.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating about 30 seconds after each addition. (This will strengthen the structure of the batter.)
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. You may have to cover the bread with buttered foil after about 30 minutes if you find the bread over browning.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the sugar and lemon juice to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
When the bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Pierce the hot loaf all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick and then brush the top of the loaf with about half the hot lemon syrup. Cool the loaf in the pan for about 10 minutes then invert onto a greased wire rack. Brush the remaining syrup onto the bottom and the sides of the loaf. Reinvert the bread so it is right side up and then cool the bread completely before wrapping. Store at least overnight before serving to allow the lemon syrup to distribute throughout the loaf.
Note: Do not make the syrup as soon as the bread goes in the oven because it will get cold and then when you go to heat it up it will start to get thick. I also made the mistake of thinking it needed to be thicker, but it doesn't because then it will not soak the bread as it should. I also didn't do what it said to when taking the bread out of the pan and putting it on a greased wire rack and bread turned out just fine.
