Lemon Tea Bread

Plus a lesson in conflict resolution, Minnesota style.

My mother and her friends gathered in midwestern kitchens to chat over coffee and lemon tea bread. I would eavesdrop from the other room as Arlis told the ladies how she packed her husband Al’s lunch after a big fight. She carefully made him a sandwich with no filling, dropped his apple on the floor a few times, smashed his bag of potato chips, and broke his cookies into tiny bits before tucking it all neatly inside his lunchbox. When he opened it at lunchtime, he burst out laughing and that ended the fight. That is conflict resolution, Minnesota style.

This is one of the first things I made by myself, probably around nine or ten, for my mother’s friends. Now I make it in California for friends who are having a rough day, a birthday or just because. I make it with Meyer’s lemons from backyard lemon trees, but it tastes just as good, if not better, with a plain old waxy lemon from the grocery store.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (any kind)
zest of 1 large lemon

Glaze
1/3 cup sugar
scant 1/4 cup lemon juice (usually I just squeeze the zested lemon and use all the juice; this does not need to be exact)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter to soften it up a bit and then add sugar and beat for 2-3 minutes.

4. Beat in the eggs, scraping down the sides as needed.

5. Alternate the dry ingredients and the milk, mixing at the lowest speed. Stir in the lemon zest.

6. Pour into the pan, smoothing the top so it is level and bake for around an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.

7. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes in the pan. Then remove bread from pan, place right side up on a wire rack set over parchment paper and glaze the top and sides of the bread. If you are my husband, this can be done slowly and mindfully, brushing the glaze on one layer at a time so that the bread soaks up as much sugary lemony goodness as possible. It can also be hastily poured on the top and brushed about a bit if you don't have the time or patience, like me.