LEMON TEA BREAD......A BIRTHDAY FOR CHERYL

A Vintage Tea Birthday

 

A long time friend of ours is celebrating a birthday in November. She is a practicing physician in Pensacola and has a love for anything vintage. She also adores the color yellow, which is going to be the inspiration for her birthday celebration. The girls contacted me to gather a few ideas for their party, so I decided to go with citrus lemons and a vintage tea party. Cheryl is not a big lover of sweets, so rather than a birthday cake, they are serving this delicious, however unusual lemon tea bread. It has the consistency of a cornbread, combined with cake. I loved the fact that this bread used honey for the sweetness, which has a delightful flavor, when mixed with the tartness of the lemons. The girls love to visit weekend Estate Sales, so they are all presenting the birthday girl with gifts of vintage tea cups! Cheryl is in the process of refurbishing an old Victorian home, so I just know she is going to be "over the moon" with this celebratory tea!

 

 

 

Lemon Tea Bread

2  lemons, ends and seeds removed, very thinly sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon a flour
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
Zest from 1 large lemon
Juice from half a lemon
2 eggs

 

 

Preheat oven to 350°.

Generously grease a 9" × 5' loaf pan with cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom if the pan and press it into the bottom. Grease the parchment paper. Set aside.

Combine sliced lemons, sugar and a teaspoon of flour in a small bowl, tossing to evenly mix.

Line bottom of the pan with the  lemon slices. This will probably take two layers. Pour any additional sugar or juice from the bowl over the lemon slices.

In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.

In a small bowl, mix together remaining wet ingredients.

Gently pour wet the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.

Pour batter over lemons.

Bake for 50 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out with only moist crumbs clinging to it.

Allow to cool completely in pan on wire rack. When the bread is cooled, cut off an major doming of the top. Run a sharp, thin knife around the edges of the bread to ensure a clean release. Place a plate upside down over the pan and holding both the pan and the plate, flip both over and shake gently to help release the bread into the plate. Discard parchment paper. Drizzle with a touch more honey before serving!