Sometimes the weekends seem long. I actually feel like I accomplish many things – household cleaning, laundry, mowing and enjoyable family time! Other times, the weekends seem to be over in a blink of the eye. That alarm goes off and Monday morning is smiling back at you. Uugh! I had a fly by weekend! It was a wonderful weekend. We were visited by a dear friend and her father on Saturday. I managed to get some cleaning done and lots of laundry was washed. Sunday afternoon I spent with high school classmates – friends that I haven’t seen in years. It was fun getting together and chatting. Catching up on life and work and yes, taking about the past. Memory lane. We always say we need to get together more often… maybe we can manage another summer get-together this year? I'll work on it. And yes, I did bake. Saturday morning our new pup was whining so after dragging my body out of bed, him out of his kennel, we went outside. Once inside, he settled down to chew, chew, and chew, so I took advantage of the peacefulness. I baked!
C = Coconut Lemon Loaf
To me, there is nothing prettier than a perfect yellow lemon. Lemons are beautiful - inside and out. Their sour taste may cause one to pucker when eaten raw but do you really eat lemons raw? Their smell can brighten your mood. Cheap aromatherapy! A slice of lemon in hot or cold tea enhances the flavor. You can even clean with lemons. I’m not cleaning now though, I am baking.
This recipe was copied out of a magazine. Although it was black and white, it still showed airy slices of bread with a nice coating of glaze sprinkled with coconut. Yummy! If it looks this tempting in black and white, just imagine what color will do for me?
I made of cup of hot tea, gathered the ingredients and washed the lemon off. I needed zest so I started zesting. Oh the smell of lemons. What a way to start the day! I zested the whole lemon.
Buttermilk and eggs - whisked and set aside.
Then I mixed the wet ingredients - the sugar, melted butter, oil, lemon zest, lemon oil, vanilla extract and milk.
I love the color. It reminds me of the shade I painted the dining room.
The next bowl, contained the combined dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.
Then I mixed the dry and buttermilk mixtures with the sugar mixture. Once mixed, I measured out the oh so sweet, sticky white coconut to add to the batter.
I'll confess, it was a little more than 1/2 cup but next time, I might add 3/4 cup of this sweet coconut. In it goes!
Batter goes in the pan. Pan goes in the oven. Timer is set.
...and I am left with this:
A pile of dirty dishes but I had plenty of time to wash them before the bread was ready to be pulled from the oven and placed on the cooling rack. this recipe said 45 - 50 minutes baking time. My loaf was still very sticky inside so I baked it longer, probably closer to 1 hour, 5-10 minutes. Just watch it closely.
What a beautiful loaf!
This smelled so good while it baked. WOW! Hard to imagine this looking any better, but trust me, it gets better. Glaze goes on, my daughter sprinkled it with coconut and we were ready to cut and sample!
Does this look delicious?
This recipe has been added to our cookbook! It was very, very good. The flavor was not overpowered by the lemon, the glaze and coconut added sweetness and moisture to the "crust", and it is a perfect compliment to a hot cup of tea with a slice of lemon.
Recipe for Coconut Lemon Loaf:
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons canola oil or vegetable oil
1 ½ tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup milk
2 large eggs
¾ cup buttermilk
2 ½ cups flour
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup (2 ounces) sweetened flaked coconut
Line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with waxed or parchment paper, or grease and flour it. Heat the oven to 350˚F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, oil, lemon zest, the extracts and milk.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk until evenly blended. Set the bowl aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. With a wooden spoon, stir about a third of the flour mixture into the sugar mixture, then alternately add half of the remaining egg mixture and half of the flour mixture, stirring after each addition just enough to blend. Stir in the coconut.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spoon. Bake on the center rack until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven and put it on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely on the rack.
When the loaf is completely cool (about 2 hours), apply the glaze.
Makes 10 servings.
Glaze:
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon melted butter
1/8 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)
¼ cup sweetened flaked coconut
In a small bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice, butter and lemon extract. Whisk to blend. The glaze should have the consistency of heavy cream. If needed, add more sugar to thicken or more lemon juice to thin it.
When the bread has cooled, spoon the glaze evenly over the bread and immediately sprinkle the coconut over the top. Makes enough glaze for one large loaf.
Source: Family Fun
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