Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

You know, lemon is the ingredient that makes the difference in some desserts...this is one of them.

A few weeks ago, I received a cooking book...or as I like to call it: The Cooking Bible. Why so? Because you can find everything there. You need a recipe for puff pastry? Page 367 in The Cooking Bible. Don`t know how to prepare fish? Cooking Bible got you covered. I also found a small "dictionary" in it, where all the words which are used in the kitchen are explained.

So there I was,thinking of what recipe to share with you. 

Yes, that`s right. I found out (from that Cooking Bible) which other ingredients pair well with lemon. Blueberry is my favorite, but I wanted something different. Something...that is "a lemon`s best friend". Poppy seed.

You won`t even guess how easy it is to whip up this bread. No mixer needed(only if you want to) and two bowls are everything you will need. 

First of all, when foreigners hear the word "bread", they instantly think of baked dough which is made with yeast and so on. So before you think that this recipe requires kneading and letting the dough rise...let me make everything clear.

Bread or Sweet Bread does not necessary mean a yeast-leavened staple food, but it also refers to a cake batter which is baked in a loaf pan. This recipe is exactly what I`m talking about: it contains sugar, no yeast and the mixing method is like that of the muffins.

As I mentioned, you`ll only need a whisk and a spatula. The hardest part is waiting for this delicious, moist, slightly tangy bread to bake. I guarantee your house will smell amazing!

Ingredients:

175 gr. container plain Greek yogurt

335 gr. brown sugar

zest(outer peel of the fruit, finely grated) of 1 lemon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

3/4 Tablespoon lemon juice

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

83 gr. applesauce (make your own applesauce by cooking a chopped apple with 1 Tablespoon of water until it softens up and mash it with a fork)

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 cup poppy seeds

360 gr flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/375 degrees F. Butter or spray a loaf pan and put parchment paper on it, to ensure that nothing sticks. Set aside.

2.In a big bowl, toss together the flour, poppy seeds,baking powder and salt. Mix just to combine. These are your dry ingredients. Set aside.

3.In another big bowl (you`ll pretty much add your rest ingredients) whisk the yogurt, sugar, eggs, oil and milk until well combined, about 2 minutes. After that, add the lemon and vanilla extract, lemon zest and juice and the applesauce. Don`t worry about the applesauce, you won`t feel it`s taste at all, this recipe calls for it because apples increase moistness. Beat it together. These are your wet ingredients.

4. Dump the dry ingredients (nr.2) over the wet (nr.2). I wouldn`t recommend doing in reverse, as this may result a lumpy batter. Which is okay, but there are small chances you`ll find spots of flour in your final product.

However, gently combine the two (wet,dry) mixtures until combined. DO NOT over-mix or you`ll make your cake tough and dense.

5.Pour the resulting batter into the prepared pan and bake it for 1 hour and 10 minutes or so. Each oven is different, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or an uncooked spaghetti in the middle of the bread. If it comes out clean with no wet batter or it, then it`s done. If a few batter pieces cling on it, bake it 5-10 minutes more, checking after such time.

Leave it to cool completely and glaze it with a sugar-lemon glaze or dust it with powdered sugar. Cut and enjoy!