The weekends have been full recently. I have taken on a couple catering jobs, there have been house guests, birthdays, baby showers and such. All good things, but full. No glorification of busy here, believe me, I like the fullness, makes the quiet and stillness sweeter. No matter the pace, a little breakfast and coffee is my favorite - it gets my buns out of a warm bed. Usually eggs when I can sit and enjoy, granola when I need to be quick, and now, this lemon loaf keeps reappearing in the rotation.
I am not exactly fulfilled by the tinkering of a recipe, maybe a little bit, but it's either good or it's not - I log it away or forget it. This is the fourth time I've made this lemon loaf. The tinkering part is out of character, the lemon obsession is part of my consitution. Meyer lemons are sweeter and less puckering than a standard, likely Eureka, lemon. I made the original (Deb is known for dependable recipes), then I have been adapting it, to be both dairy and gluten free in the following renditions. Each of them have looked different. Each of them have been tender and moist, an understated sweetness and perfectly lemony. It's just the brightness you need with coffee on a chilly morning.
MEYER LEMON LOAF // Makes one 9'' loaf
Adapted from the Grapefruit Pound Cake in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour. I wanted to play around with some gluten free flours and came out with the amounts below. I realize it may be a high maintenance combination for some of you, and a GF All Purpose blend of your choice would be fine as well. If there is no need for you to make it gluten free, use the unbleached all purpose, but I wanted to give the option for those that prefer or need it this way. The original will pop up in the center, the GF version stays slightly flat on top. My oven is being moody and the temperature has been inconsistent, so mine fell. Tastes fabulous regardless of appearance.
2 large eggs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup whole milk yogurt, buttermilk or coconut milk
2 heaping Tbsp. meyer lemon zest
2 Tbsp. meyer lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon extract
1/3 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 cup natural cane sugar
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1/3 cup oat flour
1 Tbsp. flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
lemon glaze
1/3 cup meyer lemon juice
2 Tbsp. natural cane sugar
Preheat the oven to 350'. Grease a 9'' loaf pan.
Whisk the eggs, olive oil, yogurt (or alternative), zest and juice of the lemon and lemon extract together well.
In another mixing bowl, combine both sugars, almond flour, rice flour, oat flour, flaxmeal, salt, baking soda and baking powder and mix together. Add half of the dry mix to the wet, stir to combine, add the rest or the dry and stir everything together. Pour the mixture into a prepared 9'' loaf pan.
Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. While the cake bakes, make the glaze. Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan over low heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. When the cake is finished, let it cool for 10 minutes before inverting (if you choose). Prick holes in the top and pour the glaze over the warm cake. Let the cake cool completely while it absorbs the syrup. I enjoy mine with pom seeds because I honestly can't get enough of them.
