I Tried It: The Best Lemon Poppyseed Bread

Joanna over at A Cup of Joe was not kidding! This is some seriously good lemon poppyseed bread. I didn't even use lemon glaze, and I probably ate close to twenty percent of this cake while it was still warm. It's so light and fluffy that it made me think of this clip...

The original recipe for this delicious bread can be found at A Farmgirl's Dabbles (c/o A Cup of Joe). Below is my adapted version.

What you'll need:

• 225g flour 
• 120g caster sugar
• 160ml buttermilk
• 120ml oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp poppyseeds
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5 tsp almond extract
• freshly grated zest of 3 lemons
• a squeeze of lemon juice (about a half lemon's worth)

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 350F/175C.

Zest your lemon. I agree, it is one of the more tedious aspects of lemon-related-recipe-prep. But I promise, it will be worth it.

Combine your dry ingredients - the flour, caster sugar, salt, baking powder, and poppyseeds, in a mixing bowl.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients - the buttermilk, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon zest and the juice from half a lemon. Blend with a handheld mixer, and then gradually add in the mix of dry ingredients. Blend for another minute or two, until all lumps have disappeared.

Lightly grease a bundt tin (or load tins, or muffin tins if you prefer!), pour the batter in, and bake for about 45 minutes - until an inserted fork comes out clean.  Let cool for at least 15 minuets before attempting to dislodge the cake from it's tin.

If you'd prefer this WITH the lemon glaze, check out Brenda's original recipe over on A Farmgirl's Dabbles.


(Thank you Brenda and Joanna!)

I Tried It: Cauliflower Base Pizza

Looks like a nice, normal pizza waiting for cheese and the oven, doesn't it? Just call it the master of disguise.

Admittedly my expectations were probably a bit too high. I was probably just a little bit seduced by the promise of a healthy pizza. Mmmm ... pizza. With that caveat, Cauliflower Crust Pizza may look like a pizza; it may even smell almost like a pizza; but it does not taste like a pizza.

But it looks so much like a real pizza! 

And if you, like me, actually like most vegetables, but just can't seem to make cauliflower palatable, cauliflower base pizza will not remedy this. In fact, you may become more suspicious of cauliflower than you were in the first place, once it has permeated otherwise perfectly good pizza toppings.

You have been warned.

Of course, if you actually like cauliflower, you may still want to try this. More power to you! Or maybe I am missing something? Do you think cauliflower is secretly amazing? Please let me know!

Perfect Lemon & Coconut Bars

Aptly named recipe, Green Kitchen Stories, aptly named.

I am a big fan of pretty much all things coconut. These lemon and coconut bars made for a refreshing, summery treat! I added a bit more lemon juice to mine, and enjoyed them the most once cut into small squares after being refrigerated overnight. Not going to lie, I also tried them straight from the oven. Gooey, but good. Head over to Green Kitchen Stories for the official recipe.

I wish I had a pretty picture of my attempt to share, but I sadly only took a quick iPhoto of it:

My apologies for the iPicture quality here - this is admittedly not my finest culinary photograph. I promise this looks much much more aesthetically pleasing and appetizing cut into little bite-size squares.

On this warm summer morning, I kind of wish I still had some of these left in my refrigerator. Will you try some for your next picnic or barbecue? I'll definitely be making some again soon! (Maybe not today though, it's already so warm that my jar of coconut oil is in liquid form this morning! Ha!)