Lemon Loaf

I have a great recipe for Lemon Loaf….and a story to go along with it. 

When I first moved into my house in the north hills area of Pittsburgh, over 40 years ago, my next door neighbor brought over a Lemon Loaf to welcome my family to the neighborhood. The Lemon Loaf was amazing and I had never tasted anything like it before. I asked her for the recipe and she gave it to me.

That Christmas, I decided to make mini Lemon Loaves to give to my children’s teachers, the bus driver, and my friends. I wrapped them in foil and left 23 mini loaves in my garage. One day, I walked out to pull some of the loaves and to my horror…they were gone, only a few scrapes of foil remained. It seems that my garage door was opened and my next door neighbor’s Golden Retriever CR (Comanche Red) got in and ate all 23 loaves, foil and all!

I called my neighbor in concern and told her what happened. I was worried that her dog was going to get sick or die from eating the Lemon Loaves and the foil. She promptly brought over 23 mini loaves and gave them to me. CR didn’t die (which totally amazed me). Nor did he get sick. He definitely must have had a cast iron stomach! But CR spent a few weeks in a kennel being banished and trained in obedience.

To this day, I still make my Lemon Loaves and love the fact that the recipe came from a neighbor, who became my friend, and had a dog named CR.

Now everyone in my house is grown up, and when I make my Lemon Loaves at Christmas, I give each of my children one or two of them and I give some away to my friends.

Recently, since I became the baker for my daughter, I decided to make Lemon Loaves. The Lemon Loaves were a change from making cupcakes, cookies, or scones. I am always interested in trying some new baking items for the Deli.

To make the Lemon Loaf, I use flour, eggs, butter, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk, and fresh lemon zest. Usually when the Lemon Loaf is done and while it is still warm, I add sugar with the juice of a lemon and drizzle it over the tops of the loaves. Instead, for the Deli, I decided to make a thick vanilla icing with lemon zest.

Maybe because it was something different from the usual baked goods or maybe because it was summer…the two large loaves that went into the Deli, sold out in two days. Everyone who bought a piece of the bread raved about it. It was a big hit. It was also a thrill for me! Now I have been asked to bake more loaves for the coming week.

Stop in at Erin’s Deli and pick up a slice of Lemon Loaf before it sells out again! Don’t worry; it doesn’t come with foil wrap!