Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Lemon Tea Bread (Page 62)

LEMON TEA BREAD from  Kathy Brinkman
3/4 c. milk
2 tsp. each lemon thyme, lemon verbena and lemon balm (or just of verbena)
1 c. sugar
1 T. lemon zest
2 eggs, beaten
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 T. unsalted butter, room temperature
Confection sugar-add enough to thicken but still be runny
2 lemons (the juice from 2 lemons)

Spray or butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Chop lemon herbs. Heat milk (don't boil) and
add chopped herbs. Allow it to steep until it cools. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a
separate bowl add flour, baking powder and salt, whisk to blend. In another bowl,
cream the butter and gradually add in the sugar. Beat until lighter and fluffy. Beat in
eggs, 1 at a time. Add lemon zest. Add flour mixture, alternating with herbed milk.
Mix until just blended and pour into the pan. Bake for 50 minutes, until a toothpick in
the center comes out clean. While cake is baking, mix the juice of 2 lemons and
enough powdered sugar to make the glaze thick, but pourable. Remove pan from oven
and place on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax paper. While the bread is still hot,
pour the glaze over the bread. Top with a few sprigs of lemon thyme.

Note: This is my favorite recipe from my friend, Kathy, who is in our herb club. It's a great use for those lemony herbs. This freezes well and is delicious to taste in the fall! You can always put the glaze on as it thaws, too. 1 year I used all lemon balm and it was fine, but verbena is best. Using all lemon thyme wouldn't be my choice.