Lemon poppy seed bread – Breakfast at Clique-any’s

When the tiny bit of lemon poppy seed bread I had at brunch was so delicious, I had to create a wheat-free version for my family.

Last weekend, I took my mother out to brunch for her birthday. Yes, it was nice to spend some quality time with my Mum with no other family members around, scrambling for our attention. My omelet / frittata was delightful, no doubt about that. But the memory of that brunch that has lasted through the week was the little taste of lemon poppy seed bread I snuck from the bread basket.

I don’t eat wheat so a whole piece of bread was out of the question, but I couldn’t resist a taste and I’m glad that I indulged. But I had to find a way to have more than just a taste of this bread, so I created my own recipe for spelt lemon poppy seed bread based on the famous lemon poppy seed bread recipe from The Joy of Baking.

Other than the strange order of adding the ingredients to the mixing bowl (to create a dense and moist texture), the first thing I noticed was the creaminess of the batter. We’re talking irresistibly creamy, and I’ll lick just about any batter. Owen was mad that I didn’t save more of it for him, since he takes after his mom … my little batter boy! Anyway, it almost seemed a shame to actually bake it. It seemed more appropriate to just take a spoon to it and enjoy. Then I thought of you, and how you’d miss out on the recipe and photographs of this bread and I mustered every bit of will power I had and transferred the batter to the loaf pan.

One more thing — you’ve got to plan ahead and give this bread time to soak up the syrup. The original recipe recommends overnight, but we found that as soon as the bread was cool it was ready to eat.

Spelt Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

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Ingredients:

3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or milk of your choice)
1 1/2 cups sprouted spelt flour (I used the extra fine sifted spelt flour)
1/2 cup palm sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice (though you could also add 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest)
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
3/4 cup butter, softened

For the syrup:

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup palm sugar
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a loaf pan.

Whisk together eggs, vanilla and milk. Set aside.

Mix dry ingredients together in mixing bowl, then add lemon juice, butter and half of the egg mixture. Mix for one minute. Add half of the remaining egg mixture and mix for 30 seconds, then add remaining egg mixture and mix for 30 more seconds.

Bake for 55 minutes or until browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Meanwhile, melt syrup ingredients until sugar is dissolved. Make holes in the top of bread with a toothpick and brush half of the syrup over the top of the loaf. Take out of the pan and do the same to the bottom. Let cool completely and enjoy.