Almond Poppyseed Loaf

My dear friend Cherie (Cherie of the Fabulous Carrot Cake) asked me a question a few days ago: "Do I have to put lemon in EVERYTHING to be part of your club??" LOL!!

Point taken, Cherie! I am a bit of a lemon addict, aren't I? I guess I'm just getting it all out of my system, before the days of spices, pumpkin, apples, and chocolate move in permanently. Well, this one is for Cherie, and any other not-so-much-lemon fans out there! I hope you like it! It's great for delivering to new neighbors... :)

Almond Poppyseed Loaf
Printable Recipe

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tb poppy seeds
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs, room temperature
1 1/8 cups cooking oil (vegetable, sunflower, etc)
2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tb melted butter

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tb butter, melted

1/8 cup half & half (you can also use milk)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (340 if you are using dark metal pans). Grease and/ or line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper. Stir together flour, salt, baking powder, poppy seeds, and sugar, until well mixed. Add all the other ingredients, and mix well. Pour into loaf pans. Bake 50-60 minutes, checking often (without opening the  door if you can!) after 45 minutes, to make sure they aren't overdone. Check with a toothpick inserted in the middle. Clean toothpick = done! Let cool in the pans just a few minutes

Combine all glaze ingredients in a small saucepan. Stir on medium heat until sugar is dissolved and it gets light and bubbly. Remove bread from pans, place on wire rack over a sheet of waxed paper and pour glaze over warm bread. Use spoon or spatula to bring the glaze that has run off up and over the warm bread until it stays on. Optional: Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Do this quick, before the glaze sets!!

I only topped one with almonds... because I forgot the almonds till after the glaze had set... so I scooped up the extra glaze that had dripped off, re-heated it, re-drizzled it, applied almonds, and had a little more to drizzle over the top of those. Whew! Worth it though, don't you think? Pretty!

Fabulous creamy almond flavor, light... uh... poppy seed flavor? I like them, but I can't really describe them. Anyone?? What do poppy seeds actually taste like??

Ah well. It's scrumptious, and about as classy and elegant as loaf cake gets! Perfectly moist, NOT heavy, it rose all pretty...

The little bit of brown sugar deepens the flavor a tad, but that GLAZE is my favoritest part! I'm going to have to put it on other things... cookies, muffins... toast.

Easy as pie, and SO yummy!! Try the bread, read a book or three, and come back on Monday!!

Shared on Foodie Friends Friday