Baking Recipes,  Lemon Obsession,  My Comfort Food,  My Favourite Ingredients,  Quickbreads & Loaves,  The Breakfast Bin,  Timeless Treats

I love lemony things, that’s a fact

Today I feel like doing something different with my post. Since I’ve never done this before, I thought it would be fun to share some things about myself. Nothing too personal, you know? Just a bunch of trivia-like tidbits about me. So, here goes 10 random facts about moi:

10. I am one in the gazillion people who love making lists of just about anything. I always have a notebook and a pen in my bag.

9. I have pretty decent drawing skills, if I do say so myself. In fact it is the first “talent” I discovered when I was a kid, but I didn’t get to nurture it as much as I would’ve liked.

8. I like keeping active, but my favourite sport is volleyball. Actually I constantly wish I could turn back time to change my decision about quitting my college team’s training pool. It’s a simple story but one that haunts me until this day. See I got recruited in the middle of the term so my schedule was a mess that really burnt me out, but I made the mistake of quitting altogether instead of fixing my schedule for the next term. This whole thing remains to be one of my biggest regrets in life. :'(

7. I am painfully terrible at small talk. I can do a speech and a Q&A in front of a big crowd with ease, but the small talk afterwards is what kills me. Truthfully, one of the reason why I love to blog is because I am an introvert but I have too many things to say and express. Writing allows me to talk at length without inhibitions. And with more confidence I suppose.

6. My current favourite way to unwind is watching Korean dramas, especially since the Monday-Tuesday shows airing right now are pretty daebak. Anybody who has seen Liar Game (starring Lee Sang Yoon & Kim So Eun) and Pride & Prejudice (starring Choi Jin Hyuk & Baek Jin Hee) would probably agree. And while we’re on the subject, watching the Kim So Eun-Song Jae Rim tandem on Korean variety showWe Got Married gives me the best happy feels!

5. I am super attached to my three younger brothers. It’s a fairly recent realization. I mean, I loved them since the beginning but now I know that I love them to bits.

4. I think after all the time I’ve spent blogging, I’m now forming a dream (goal?) of becoming a legitimate food stylist/photographer. Would be such fun to get to shoot beautiful food for a living. Got a long way to go though!

3. Despite loving to bake them, I do not actually like eating sweets. I do however immensely enjoy things that are spicy, savory, and sour, which is probably why…

2. I love any dessert with tangy lemon flavour. Take note, it can’t just be any lemon dessert. For me to loooove it, it has to taste like an actual lemon complete with that lip-smacking tang and hint of sourness.

1. This loaf, my friends, is probably one of my favourite lemon treats to date. It hits all my requirements for a great lemony experience, and I love it! LOVE IT. 

For the record, this is probably my favourite version of lemon quickbread I have ever eaten. That includes for muffins since you can technically turn this recipe into a muffin. I have spent so much time searching for the perfect lemony loaf bread/muffin so to find this was really exciting for me! I know it seems incredibly shallow, but work with me here. 

My notes on the recipe literally just says AMAZING in big bold squiggly letters. I want to venture and call it the “best” lemon poppyseed bread recipe I have ever made, but people can be sensitive when it comes to that word, so let’s just say it’s my favourite version of lemon poppyseed bread I have made to date. Seriously, you guys have to try this!

First of all smells incredible. It tastes incredible too. I love the lip-puckering tang thanks to the lemon glaze you brush on top and allow to seep into the quickbread while it’s warm. The bread itself looks gorgeous with a crack on top and a nice brown exterior, though I must warn you that the bread does tend to brown quite quickly so it would best to tent it as it bakes in the oven. I should’ve browned mine a little bit more though to make it prettier. 

The recipe requires a step where you zap the sour cream and milk briefly in the microwave to get them to room temperature. I’m not so sure what the significance of this is though because the original recipe states that this is a step you do so that you don’t have to leave the dairy out. Anyway maybe someone could school me on this? 

I am really happy that I came across this recipe on the Cooking Classy blog, because I have made two lemon poppyseed baked goods from that blog so far and both of them are right up on the top of my favourites list! I’ll share the other recipe with you all soon as well. 🙂

Lemon Poppyseed Bread

A moist and tangy bread full of lemon flavour, with poppyseeds that delightfully pop in the mouth! A personal favourite that I hope will become yours too!

one 9x5-inch loaf

Ingredients

For the bread

  • 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon zest, from about 3 lemons
  • ½ cup 1 stick unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp sour cream
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For the lemon glaze

  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

Make the loaf bread

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line with parchment, then butter and flour an 8x4-inch or 9x5-inch pan. Set aside.
  • 2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
  • 3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl), add sugar and lemon zest. Rub together using your fingertips until the mixture becomes moist and pale yellow and aromatic.
  • 4. Add the butter to the lemon-sugar mixture and mix using the paddle attachment on medium speed until pale and fluffy. (You may also use a whisk plus some muscle, as I did.) Mix in the eggs one at a time, combining well before adding the next one. Add vanilla with the last egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary if using a stand mixer.
  • 5. To bring sour cream to room temperature, in a microwave-safe liquid measuring cup, whisk together the milk with sour cream. Heat mixture in microwave just until no longer cold, using 15-second intervals.
  • 6. Working in three separate batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with 1/2 of the milk mixture and 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Mix just until combined after each addition. Repeat this sequence until all ingredients are used up.
  • 7. Bake in preheated oven 45 to 55 minutes, tenting with foil at 40 minutes to make sure the loaf does not brown too much. Don't let the foil touch the surface of the loaf. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean with just a few small crumbs. Remove from oven and allow to cool exactly 5 minutes in loaf pan, then invert loaf onto a wire rack. The bread must not be cooled for more than 8 minutes or it will not absorb the glaze.

While loaf cools slightly, quickly make the glaze

  • 8. Combine lemon juice and sugar in a bowl and heat in microwave on high power in 15 second intervals (or over stovetop on medium-high heat in small saucepan), whisking between intervals until sugar has dissolve and mixture is hot.
  • 9. Brush top of the bread liberally with the lemon glaze, coating it several times until all the glaze is used up. Give a few seconds between coats for the bread to absorb the glaze as needed. Let the loaf cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into slices. Store in an airtight container and consume within two to three days.

Notes

Adapted from Cooking Classy blog
How else can I convince you guys to try creating this yumminess at home? Pictures? More pictures?

I almost just swallowed my computer there.

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