Description
This tangy lemon loaf is paired with earthy olive oil, turmeric and sumac. It's a lovely balance of flavors and strong lemon flavor. Made in one bowl for ease - great for breakfast or with coffee or tea.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar - 250 grams
- Zest of 3 large lemons
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil - 74 grams (you can sub in any oil)
- 2/3 cup whole milk plain yogurt or sour cream - 170 grams
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice - 77 grams (about 2 large lemons)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour - 272 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sumac spice
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric spice
Optional Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit and placing your oven rack in the center of your oven.
- Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan either by spraying with Baker's Joy or brushing a thin layer of butter or shortening around the entire inside. Add a teaspoon of flour and rotate pan around to ensure flour adheres to all the butter/shortening. Shake out an excess flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add your sugar and zest from your lemons. Using your hands, gently rub the lemon zest into the sugar. This step is really important to achieve a great lemon flavor. The lemon zest releases oils which infuses the sugar creating a more intense lemon flavor.
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar - 250 grams
- Zest of 3 large lemons
- Add in your wet ingredients and whisk until fully combined.
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons olive oil - 74 grams (you can sub in any oil)
- 2/3 cup whole milk plain yogurt or sour cream - 170 grams
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice - 77 grams
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Sift in your dry ingredients - I like the texture much better if sifting in the dry ingredients so definitely give it an extra minute to do so. Whisk until JUST combined. You want all the flour pieces to be worked into the batter but not overwork.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour - 272 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sumac spice
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric spice
- Pour your batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55-65 minutes. At the 55 minute mark, check your cake for doneness by inserting a skewer in the center. If it's clean, it's done - if not, put back in for another 10 minutes until skewer comes out clean from batter.
- If the top of your loaf is browning too quickly, loosely drape a piece of foil on top
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf pan - after 10 minutes flip onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool for 30 minutes then slice and enjoy!
Optional Glaze
- Add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to a bowl and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice - mix until a paste forms. Add more powdered sugar to make thicker or more lemon juice to thin. I like to simply brush on a THIN layer but you can certainly make as much as you want and create a thicker glaze.
Notes
- It's highly encourages to weight your ingredients using a kitchen scale for the most accurate recipe.
- If you are not weighing your ingredients - be sure to spoon and level your flour to ensure you don't have too much in the recipe.
- You can sub any oil for olive oil - olive oil does have a strong flavor. A lemon olive oil would give even more lemon flavor or a light olive oil would give a lighter oil taste.