Day 83: Lemon Bread

My oldest son, who loves to bake, helped me out with this one since I'm feeling better, but still not back to normal. I've wanted to try some DO quick breads for a while now. I wasn't sure quite how to go about it. I didn't know if I should bake it in a bread pan inside the DO, or just pour the batter in and start cooking. So when I was at the world championship cook off, I picked a few brains. I found out that it will work either way. I chose to bake it directly in my DO just because it is one less step. This recipe comes from a family cookbook.

Lemon Bread

10" dutch oven

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp almond extract

Glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at time and mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350* for 1 hour. I used 8 coals on the bottom and 12 on top and mine only needed about 20-25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from DO. Poke holes in the top with a fork and pour the glaze over the bread while it is still warm. Serves 8-10.

The Finished Product

The Review

This was pretty good. I liked the almond extract, but I thought it needed more lemon to be called lemon bread. Next time, I may add some lemon zest to the batter. I'll also rub some shortening inside my DO before I do quick breads. I couldn't get it out of the DO without tearing it apart. My family liked it, and it didn't even last an hour. I know there are better lemon bread recipes out there, so I'll give this one a B.