Lemon Tea Bread

A tender lemon loaf made with cake flour and lemon rind, finished with a lemon juice and sugar glaze poured over while hot to form a tart, crackly crust.

Vegetarian

Contains: milk, egg, wheat. Based on the ingredients as written; check package labels, which can change.

From the recipe book of Sandra Mills, a Le Cordon Bleu-trained cook in our family.

Glazed lemon tea bread partly sliced, with fresh lemons
  • Prep 15 min
  • Cook 45 min
  • Total 1 hr
  • Yield 1 (5 x 9-inch) loaf

Updated

Jump to: Ingredients | Instructions | Tips | Print recipe

Sandra Mills's Lemon Tea Bread is a buttery cake-flour loaf flavored with grated lemon rind. The magic happens at the end: while the bread is still hot from the oven, a mixture of lemon juice and sugar is poured over the top, soaking in and forming a tart, sugary crust.

Serve it sliced with tea or coffee. It keeps well wrapped for several days.

Ingredients

Bread

  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • Grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup milk

Topping

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon

Flour for this recipeKing Arthur Baking Company makes all-purpose, bread, whole wheat and gluten-free flours.

Shop King Arthur flour

We may earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you.

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 5 x 9-inch loaf pan.
  2. Cream. Cream the butter and 1 cup of sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in between. Add the lemon rind.
  3. Add flour and milk. Combine the flour and baking powder. Add it to the batter alternately with the milk and continue mixing.
  4. Bake. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes at 350°F, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  5. Make the topping. While the bread is in the oven, combine the 1/2 cup sugar with the lemon juice.
  6. Glaze. Place the bread on a rack to cool and immediately pour the lemon juice and sugar over the top. This makes a tart crust on the bread.

Vegetarian

Tips

  • Sandra's book has two copies of this page. One adds vanilla to the batter; the other does not, and stirs some of the lemon rind into the topping instead. Both are good.
  • Poke a few holes in the top with a skewer before glazing so the lemon syrup soaks in.

More breads and rolls

All breads and rolls | All recipes | Cooking guide and safe temperatures