Lockdown better with lemon tea bread

It’s all a bit much at the moment, so today I’m going to bake a culinary distraction in the form of a delicious lemon teabread.

I reckon we all need treats, especially now.

And this is a goodie.

It took a while to find a recipe for lemon tea bread that I actually liked. One day I came across an old cooking book in an op shop.

The recipe was not actually in the book – it was written in scrawling letters on the back of a piece of paper used for keeping someone’s bridge score.

So I know not where it came from, or who wrote it but years ago, when I tried the recipe I declared it delicious.

The cake-like tea bread has a fresh lemon taste and is drizzled with a sweet citrus glaze. Perfect with a cup of tea any time – and especially splendid on a day in lockdown.

Perfect lemon tea bread
250g flour
¾ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking powder
340g caster sugar
170g butter
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
3 eggs
170ml milk
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf tin. (Pop it in the oven a few minutes with a knob of butter inside, then use a pastry brush to coat the sides.)
Prepare the lemon rind. In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.
Warm butter in the microwave then, using your hands, rub it into the mixture. Add the lemon rind.
Beat the eggs in a small bowl then add at the same time as the milk. Stir gently until the flour is just moist and there are no lumps.
Pour into the tin and bake in the oven about 1 hour, 20 minutes or until cooked – test with a knife.

Glaze
5 Tbsp lemon juice
30g caster sugar
Prepare this once the loaf is out of the oven and brush on while still hot.

Enjoy!