This lemon poppy seed loaf is so delicious! The buttermilk is steeped in earl grey tea, adding another rich depth of flavor. I used a mini loaf pan and served with a lemon glaze. The loaf itself is light, buttery, and not too sweet. The thin glaze on top balances perfectly with an extra pop of lemon. Serve with fresh lemon zest, hot tea, and enjoy!
Note: I used a mini loaf pan, but you can use a normal loaf pan as well. Recipe includes baking time for both!
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Lemon Loaf, but elevated
If you’re looking for a classic lemon loaf or cake recipe, you can skip these steps in the recipe. However, these adjustments truly help elevate the flavor, and I highly recommend trying a few (or all) out!
- Earl Grey Tea – To add another depth of flavor, use buttermilk and steep in earl grey tea bags/leaves. It only takes a couple extra minutes to warm the milk and let steep, but is so worth it.
- Cut the sugar – A lot of lemon pound cakes use more sugar. I decided to use a little less than a lot of lemon cake recipes I found online, both for health and flavor.
- Lemon extract – If you don’t have lemon extract, it is not essential. However, if you happen to see at the store or have some in the pantry, it truly ups the lemon flavor in the cake.
- Lemon Zest + Sugar massage – This step is more tedious, but it helps to bring out more lemon flavor. Other recipes add straight to the dry ingredients or batter without massaging, but I found the zest clumps together undesirably. Massaging will help evenly distribute and maximize the oils in the zest.
- Lemon Syrup – An optional and additional step, especially since we have the sugar glaze already. However, I saw this in another recipe, decided to try, and loved! This is similar to how professional bakers use simple syrup on their cake to ensure it stays moist through decorating and handling.
- Lemon Glaze – Some glazes are solely or heavily powdered sugar based. This causes a sweeter and thicker glaze. While beautiful, I opted for a thin lemon glaze. This was super delicious, again keeping my loaves moist and packing a delicious lemony punch to balance the earl grey infused loaf inside.
Earl Grey Infused Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf
This lemon loaf recipe is extra tasty with earl grey infused milk and poppy seeds. It is light and fluffy with a perfect kick of lemon flavor. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Lemon Loaf
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (*see note 1)
- 2 tea bags earl grey tea
- 8 oz butter, room temp/softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon zest (1-2 lemons)
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or paste
- 2 tbsp lemon juice *see note 2
Lemon Syrup (optional)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice *see note 2
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
Lemon Glaze
- 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice *see note 2
- 1 tbsp milk
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Lemon Loaf
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Warm your buttermilk (not boiling temperature, but hot) over the stove or in the microwave. Add 2 tea bags and let steep while you continue other steps. (*See note 2)
- In a small bowl, massage sugar with lemon zest.
- Add sugar and lemon zest to butter. Using stand or hand mixer, beat at high speed until light and fluffy. This will take at least 5 minutes, and color will become slightly lighter. Scrape bowl as needed.
- While it is beating, mix dry ingredients together in large bowl – flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, & poppy seeds.
- Once butter is light and fluffy, add eggs, one at a time. Then add vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon extract. Mix on medium speed until well combined.
- On low speed, alternate adding flour and infused buttermilk. Discard tea bags. You should start and end with flour (1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, 1/3 flour). Mix until just combined.
- Divide into greased pan(s).
- Bake until lightly golden on top, about 35-40 minutes for mini loaves or 45-55 minutes for single large loaf.
- Allow to cool inside pan for at least 10 minutes.
Lemon Syrup (optional)
- While loaf is cooling, make lemon syrup by mixing lemon juice and powdered sugar.
- Flip loaves onto wire rack. Place wire rack over baking tray or parchment paper.
- While still warm, pour or brush over the syrup on the loaf. Let cool completely. Mini loaves took about 20 minutes additional to cool.
Lemon Glaze
- Mix lemon juice, milk, and powdered sugar. You can adjust consistency to your liking, but I prefer a pretty runny glaze.
- Once completely cool, pour or drizzle the glaze over top of the loaf.
Notes
Note 1: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use milk. Or, you can add 1.5 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar to create “buttermilk.”
Note 2: I used about 3 medium-large lemons for this entire recipe. The lemon juice amounts are approximate, especially for the syrup and glaze so use your best judgement based on how much juice your lemons have!
Note 3: For a simpler recipe, or to make this more accessible to everyone, these are the steps that can be most easily skipped if you are still craving a lemon loaf and looking to use this recipe.
- Infusing buttermilk with earl grey
- Lemon extract
- Lemon syrup
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