We were invited to some good friends of ours yesterday for lunch. Whenever I am invited to someones home for a meal I like to bring a hostess gift. Sometimes its flowers, sometimes after dinner mints, sometimes a bottle of nice drink, or a box of chocolates . . . just something I know or think or hope that the hostess and her family will enjoy. Yesterday, I decided to do something a tiny bit different and instead I baked a lovely tea loaf/bread to bring as a gift.
This is a recipe that I have shared on here in the past. Almond Glazed Poppy Seed Bread. It is a recipe that I baked often when I worked at the Manor. It was a favorite of the Mrs and her friends. It bakes into two lovely loaves, so it is perfect for gifting. You get one to keep for yourself and one to share!
You can also choose to bake it in a decorative Bundt pan, which is what I did at the Manor. It looks very impressive when done, and glazed. Of course the bake time is a bit longer than it would be in two loaf pans. I would add fifteen minutes to the time and then check it. I doubt it would take much longer than that, but do check it at an hour anyways, just in case. I always do.
This cake uses a mixture of flavourings, which might seem a bit odd when you look at them, but they work incredibly well together. Vanilla, almond, lemon and orange extracts. It seems a lot, but trust me, they work beautifully in sync with each other.
Then you have the subtle crunch of poppy seeds. I don't know about you, but I love poppy seed anything.
Another thing I love about this loaf is that you just bung everything into a bowl and beat it together. Simple, there is no creaming, beating, creaming, sifting, faffing about . . . just bung it all into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until blended.
I like to line the loaf tins with baking paper. Actually I have loaf tin baking paper liners, kind of like cupcake liners. They save a bit of time, and nothing ever sticks. Nothing. It also makes it very easy to lift the loafs out of the tin onto a rack to cool when done.
Another beautiful aspect of this lovely loaf is the crunchy sugar glaze that gets spooned over the loaves when you remove them from the oven.
Granulated sugar gets whisked together with orange juice, almond and vanilla extracts and then spooned over the warm loaves to make a delicious crust.
These delicious loaves will keep for up to a week in an air tight container and will keep frozen for several months. If freezing, I would not glaze until you take it out of the freezer and are ready to serve. (In that case I would warm the glaze a bit.)
Yield: 2 large loavesAuthor: Marie Rayner
Almond Glazed Poppy Seed Bread
prep time: 15 mins cook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 15 minsThis is a dense, moist and delicious tea bread,with fabulous flavours and a sweet almond glaze topping.ingredients:
420g of plain flour (3 cups)
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 large free range eggs
335ml of milk (1 1/2 cups)
125g of butter at room temperature (1/2 cup)
115ml of sunflower oil (1/2 cup)
430g of sugar (2 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 TBS poppy seeds
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp orange extract
Almond Glaze:
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
60ml of orange juice (1/4 cup)
145g of sugar (3/4 cup)
instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter and flour two large loaf tins. Set aside.Sift
the flour, salt and baking powder together in a large bowl. Mix
together the remaining ingredients and add, then beat together with an
electric mixer for about 2 minutes until well combined. Divide between
the two prepared loaf tins.
Bake for one hour, or until a
toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs
back when lightly touched. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes
before removing to a wire rack. Stir together the glaze ingredients
until the sugar is somewhat dissolved. Spoon over the loaves while they
are still warm. Allow to cool completely, then wrap in foil or store
in an airtight container. These also freeze well.Created using The Recipes Generator
I have never had anyone act disappointed when I gift them with one of these. Bake it and you will see why! Bon Appetit!
