Happy Sunday! How is everyone holding up? I know it’s been a couple of crazy weeks. Having a blog allows me to talk to people from all over the world and I can tell you that this virus is affecting people in ways that you can’t imagine. People loosing their jobs, old people dying, pregnant women worrying about their babies and health, cancer patients or people waiting for important surgeries are hoping to get their treatments/surgeries to be done, people dying alone and not letting their loved ones to say bye. This is a very sad time for everyone.

On my side, everything is doing ok. My husband and I are safe at home but I worry about my family in Peru. I know they are ok for now but the fact that they closed the borders (no one can get in or out the country) makes me nervous because if something happens I can’t travel to be with them. Hopefully everything comes back to normal soon. Remember that staying home is the best we can do right now.

People have been asking me for this recipe for a couple of weeks now. This lemon bread is what you need to make your quarantine better. Simple to make, tastes delicious and you might have all these ingredients in your pantry.

Let’s start with the recipe.

Yield 1 loaf pan

Ingredients

For the bread

1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup white granulated sugar

1/3 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons lemon juice

3 eggs, room temperature

1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 and 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

For the icing

1 cup powder sugar (sifted)

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon cream or milk

1/4-1/2 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

Directions

For the bread

1.- Preheat oven to 350 F. Flour and butter a loaf pan. Set aside.

2.- In a medium size bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. This will be our dry ingredients

3.- In a bowl and using a mixer, mix the butter for a couple of minutes. Add sugar and mix for another 2 minutes. Your mixture should look light and fluffy. Add eggs one by one and mix well after each addition.

4.- Add sour cream and mix for about 30 seconds. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix. At this stage, the mixture will look a bit curdle but don’t worry because it will all come together

5.- Add dry ingredients to our wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.

6.- Add poppy seeds and mix for 10 seconds. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

7.- Bake for about 50 minutes. If the top of the bread gets too dark, grab a piece of foil and cover the top. Keep baking until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean. Do not overbake.

8.- Let it cool completely on a rack.

For the icing

1.- In a bowl mix powdered sugar, cream and lemon juice. If it’s too thick you can add more cream/milk. Add 1/4 teaspoon of lemon extract. Mix well until everything is well combined. Taste it and if it needs more lemon flavor you can add a tiny bit more of the extract.

2.- Spread icing on the top. You can use a spatula. Try to make a thick layer of icing. Let the icing to set and then cut.

This bread will keep fresh if you storage it in a container with a lid.

Enjoy! Please tag me and leave a comment if you make this recipe. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @Pastry_Tales because I post the videos of the recipes that you find here .