Meyer Lemon Loaf

I needed a hostess gift for a dinner that we were attending last night, and thought that something made with Meyer Lemons would be appropriate. The inspiration for my Meyer Lemon Loaf recipe came from a delightful blog called The Barmy Baker. The recipe itself originated in Desserts by Pierre Herme.

I had never purchased a Meyer Lemon before... until yesterday. Lately I've been reading all about wonderful Meyer Lemon creations on various blogs, so I decided to jump on the Meyer Lemon Bandwagon and bake something with these wonderful jewels. I bought two bags of Meyer lemons at my grocery store. So pretty. A deep orangey-yellow sort of color... soft and ripe and an unbelievably luscious scent.

The lemon flavor in this wonderful loaf cake comes primarily from the rind of three Meyer lemons.

The rind is pressed into the white sugar to create "lemon sugar," which is then mixed with eggs.

Cake flour makes this more of a cake than a quick bread. Added sour cream and melted butter are the key to its moistness. There's also a wee bit of rum in it. Typically, I despise rum cake so I was a little worried, but you really can't detect rum flavor in the finished product.

Yep, it makes two loaves! One for my lovely hostess gift, and one for us to chow down on. I love the way it puffs up in the middle and allows the lemony yummy goodness to peek through the top. Per The Barmy Baker's suggestion, I brushed lemon simple syrup on top to give it a little extra puckery oomph.

See those little flecks of yellow?... that's the big-time flavorful Meyer Lemon peel! This cake is soooooo moist. It's a bit like pound cake- only a touch lighter. A nice cup of tea or a mug 'o coffee with a slice of this, and you're good to go.

The lemons smelled so amazing that I actually peeled one open and ate it like an orange. Wow! It was surprisingly delicious- and much sweeter than the typical sour lemon.

YUM!! And I have 5 more Meyer Lemons to play with!! Hmmm... there might be some homemade Meyer Lemon Curd in my future.

Among my plans for spring planting... a Meyer Lemon tree, of course!

This recipe can be found HERE.