I LOVE lemon. I always have some in my ref. I put a slice in my water every time I drink. Not only does adding lemon to your drinking water help make the water alkaline, which is healthy because alkaline water is a natural antioxidant that flushes out toxins from the body and thus keeps illnesses at bay. Adding lemon to your drinking water also makes the water more ‘delicious.’ I like the citrussy flavor that lemon adds to the water. Lemon is also a great ingredient for baking. The juice and the grated rind make a lot of difference.
So, since I was home a lot longer than usual this Holy Week, I decided to bake some merienda yesterday (Black Saturday, March 30, 2013). I flipped through my cookbooks and recipe booklets, and decided to make Lemon Loaf. I was making it for the first time, but I was confident that it would turn out fine because you cannot go wrong with lemon.
And, voila, it turned out fine indeed.
Here’s the recipe, just in case you want to try it, too, one weekend this summer season.
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup fresh milk
3 tbsps. lemon juice
3 tbsps. grated lemon rind
1. Preheat oven to 350°F or 177°F. Grease a medium-sized rectangular loaf pan.
2. In a bowl, sift together all purpose flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, cream butter then add white sugar and continue creaming until smooth and light. Beat in eggs. Then pour in fresh milk and lemon juice.
4. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture. Add grated lemon zest. Mix just until blended.
5. Pour lemon loaf batter into the greased rectangular loaf pan.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes or until done. To check doneness, insert cake tester into the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If it’s still wet, bake for a few minutes more then check again.
7. When done, remove loaf pan from oven and set aside on wire rack. After about 8 minutes, remove lemon loaf from pan and allow to cool down to room temperature before slicing and serving.
