Lemon and honey loaf

There is truly an abundance of lemons at the moment. Golden skinned and juicy, it is such a shame to see them go to waste. Lucky for me, my neighbour (this same neighbour) has a stunning lemon tree and is more than happy to share. I often make this for friends with new babies. I’m not sure why I started, maybe because its handy to have around when visitors stop by, or maybe because it’s full of lemon, honey and ground nuts and sounds quite nutritious! Either way, it’s a great way to put those lemons to good use.

This recipe makes 2 loaves, or 1 big cake.

Ingredients

3 lemons – the peel zested into long strips
1/3c boiling water
180g butter, softened
165g caster sugar
¼c plus ½c honey (2 separate measures)
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon rind
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 eggs
150g flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
150g almond meal (ground almonds)
150g pistachio meal (ground pistachios)
¾c icing sugar
extra honey for drizzling

Method

Preheat your oven to 160ºC. Grease and line the base of 2 loaf tins or a 26cm cake tin.
Place the long strips of lemon zest and boiling water into a small bowl and leave for 10 minutes. Drain and reserve the water.

Place the peel in the base of the loaf tins. Set aside.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, first measure of honey and lemon rind until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary.
Add the lemon juice and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the flour mixture and ground nuts and beat on low until just combined.
Divide the mixture between the 2 tins and spread evenly.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Place a sheet of baking paper under the rack and drizzle with the remaining ½c honey.
Place the icing sugar and 1-2 tablespoons of the reserved lemon water in a small bowl and mix to a drizzling consistency. Drizzle the glaze and extra honey over the loaves.

This is lovely served warm, but keeps well for a couple of day in an airtight container.

Notes

• If your honey is too hard, soften it in the microwave.
• I couldn’t find ground pistachios anywhere so blitzed whole nuts in a mini food processor.
• If you don’t want to use pistachios, you can easily just use more ground almonds.
• Adapted from Donna Hay.

 

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