Lemon Tea Bread

Take a break in the afternoon, have a piece of this tasty cake with a cup of tea. ​

This time of year, my lemon trees are producing gorgeous fruit. I flavor my water with them, I give them to friends, and I use them in as many recipes as I can. This recipe comes from my friend, Linda, who is an excellent cook. She helped me find my passion for cooking. However, I changed the recipe somewhat. This simple bread is compact and infused with lemon juice, is easy to make and tastes great by itself. But it also makes a stunning dessert when served with ice cream and fruit sauce or compote.

In Germany, this kind of cake is called Topfkuchen, meaning a cake in a pot. It is a dry rectangular cake (mimicking bread), not fancy but meant to be dipped in coffee or tea. There are different variations.

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Ingredients:

½ cup soft butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 TBS grated lemon zest
3 eggs at room temperature
1 ¼ cup sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup milk


Glaze:

¼ cup confectioners sugar
juice of 1 lemon

Combine lemon juice and sugar in a small pot and simmer gently for about five minutes until a light syrup forms.

Translated into German:


113g Butter
170g Zucker
1 Eßlöffel geriebene Zitronenschale
3 Eier
140g Mehl
1 Teelöffel Backpulver 
60 ml Milch


Zuckerguss
60g Puderzucker
Saft einer Zitrone

Zitronensaft und Puderzucker vermischen und in einen kleinen Topf für 5 Minuten auf kleiner Hitze kochen (brodeln) bis es ein leichter Syrup wird.

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grate the peel of one lemon. In a food processor, grind the sugar and lemon zest for one minute. Grinding the zest and the sugar gives it a uniform lemony flavor. (But to save time, you can just add the zest to the batter later.) In an upright mixer, cream the butter and sugar for several minutes until fluffy. Add one egg at a time until well mixed. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt. Alternately, add the four and milk to the batter, mixing until combined. Put into a greased 9” x 5” loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. The loaf is done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Take the cake out of the oven and prick the cake with a needle or chop stick all over the top. Pour the hot glaze over it. Cool the cake and remove from the pan.



Den Ofen auf 177 ˚Celsius vorheizen. 
Die geriebene Zitronenschale und Zucker für eine Minute in der Küchenmaschine pulverisieren. Butter und Zucker mit einem Mixer creaming schlagen bis sich die Menge verdoppelt hat. Die Eier nacheinander zugeben und weiter schaumig rühren. Mehl, Backpulver und Salz sieben und kurz mit der Milch in den Teig unterrühren.
Den Teig in eine gut gebutterte Topfkuchenform geben und 50-60 Minuten im vorgeheizten Ofen backen. Der Kuchen ist gar, wenn ein Zahnstocher sauber aus dem Kuchen kommt.
Den Kuchen aus den Ofen nehmen und mit einer Stricknadel Löcher in den Kuchen stechen. Die warme Glasur darüber geben. Den Kuchen abkühlen und aus der Form nehmen.

Guten Appetit! 
Recipe by Linda Ristow
Adapted by © sunnycovechef.com
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