Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze

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I really love when randomly specific foods elicit vivid memories from times long ago. A lot of foods do that for me, and I think that’s one of the reasons I love it so much. For instance, turkey and cheese sandwiches (smushed) remind me of leaving my grandparents house after a week spent in Florida over February school vacations, when my grandmother would make us turkey sandwiches for the plane and by the time I ate mine, all the way up in the air on the way back to Connecticut, my turkey sandwiches would be smushed. And they were delicious and they’re still my favorite kind of turkey sandwiches but they’ll never really be the same as Deedee’s. In fact, when my mom made my lunch for me when I was younger, she would smush them for me because I loved them so much (shout out Mom <3).

But alas, this is not a recipe for turkey and cheese sandwiches (though I should probably post about them at some point because they are amazing). No, this is a post about another food memory that takes me back to my childhood. It was the 90s, and I had big thick bangs and wore hot pink wind pants with matching jackets. Sometimes, on the weekends (Sundays to be exact), on the way home from Hebrew school, my parents would take us into Patty Joe’s for a quick breakfast bite. I don’t remember much about Patty Joe’s, as it went out of business after a few years, but I do remember the recycling and trash bins that were built into the wall, and I remember the lemon poppy seed muffins. I tried to look it up on the ole Google machine, to find anything I could on this hidden gem of a breakfast place, but I couldn’t find a single snippet about them. I’d nearly be convinced the place never existed if it wasn’t for the insanely mouthwatering lemon poppy seed muffins with the lemon glaze on top that haunt my memory in the best of ways. My sister, in fact, remembers the same exact thing about Patty Joe’s. The wall-concealed recycling bins and the lemon poppy muffins. I mean, their muffins were goddamn amazing. This lemon poppyseed loaf I’m about to share does not even come close to the amazing muffins from Patty Joe’s, but it’s still incredibly delicious and it reminds me of my Sunday morning muffins from long ago. You should give it a try if lemon poppy seed tickles your fancy as well.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with Lemon Glaze

Ingredients

For the loaf:

• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• Zest of 3 lemons
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 5 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

For the glaze:

• 1 3/4 cups of powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp of salted butter if using unsalted, add 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

For the loaf:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a loaf pan with cooking spray or butter and flour.
2. In a bowl, combine lemon zest and sugar and rub with a fork. The more you combine these two ingredients, the more lemon flavor will come through. Whisk in buttermilk, the lemon juice and eggs.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk dry ingredients into the batter, then whisk in oil and poppy seeds.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean, about 50 minutes to an hour. If the top of the loaf starts to brown towards the end of baking, put a loose tinfoil tent over the pan. Let cool in pan until warm to the touch, then turn out onto a plate, before turning right side up.

For the glaze:

1. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and powdered sugar into a microwave-safe bowl and whisk to combine. Then, add in the butter, and microwave for 45 seconds. Whisk togther until there are no lumps. If the glaze is too thick, feel free to add more sugar. If it's too thin, you may want to add lemon juice. Place the mixture into the fridge for about 10 minutes to thicken. Pour over the cooled lemon loaf.

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