Candied Lemon Loaf

You guys, I have a confession to make; I love lemons.

Lemon rolls, lemon bars, lemonade, diet coke with lemon, water with lemon, lemon drops, candied lemons, fried lemons, even the lemon scent from the car wash - I love it.

So get ready, lemon recipes are coming.

I also love carbs, so naturally, when I get to combine the two, I'm generally pretty happy.
For Easter brunch, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to bake something with lemons, and I thought a nice pound cake or dense loaf would be a good pairing. Of course, I decided this at 9:00 PM the night before, so I walked over to Whole Foods (Do you think I could set up an account there with direct deposit? Because that's where my paycheck goes.) and grabbed some essentials and got to work.

You can read all about my Easter brunch in my last post here and continue below for the recipe for my candied lemon loaf.

*Once candied, the lemon wheels are edible. If you prefer them to be more sweet, add more sugar during the candying process. Leftover candied lemon wheels make great additions for your tea and cocktails.

The Loaf

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 - 5.5 oz containers lemon greek yogurt (I used Chobani)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

zest of two lemons

2 tablespoons lemon extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, yogurt, oil, lemon zest, and extract until well combined. Whisk in the flour and baking powder until everything is incorporated. There will be lumps of flour in the batter which is okay, but if you’d like to prevent that you can sift the flour beforehand. Do not over mix the batter. Scoop batter into a greased 9x5 loaf pan, and bake at 350-degrees Fahrenheit for 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove the loaf and let it fully cool on a cooling rack. Once cooled, top with lemon glaze and candied lemon wheels, recipes below.

The Candied Lemons
Two medium lemons, sliced into wheels that are 1/8" thick
1 cup sugar plus 2 Tablespoons
3/4 cup water
In a heavy bottom saucepan, combine 1 cup of sugar and water and bring to a boil. Once all of the sugar has dissolved, gently place your lemon wheels into the sugar water, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, flipping occasionally. Once the lemons have crystallized or appear to be dehydrated, take them out and place on some parchment paper to cool and harden. Keep 3 tablespoons of lemon syrup for the glaze. Sprinkle remaining sugar on lemon wheels before placing on the loaf.

The Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

3 tablespoons lemon syrup from candied lemons (above)
Combine powdered sugar and lemon syrup in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Pour over top of the cooled lemon loaf. Allow glaze to harden a little bit before placing wheels on to prevent them from sliding.