Sweet Lemon Loaf — When the Garden Gives You Sweetness, You Bake

August drawing toward its end and I find I am already thinking about September's cooking — the transition from summer to fall cuisine, which in Alabama happens earlier in the kitchen than in the weather. The weather stays hot well into October but in September I start making things that want to be fall: stews that cook all day, cornbread dressing tested before November, the first of the root vegetables from the garden that have been waiting underground all summer.

I pulled the sweet potatoes this week. I planted eight hills in April and they have been doing their slow quiet work underground for four months. When I pulled the first one and it was the size of my forearm I said out loud: thank you. To the garden, to the soil, to whatever makes things grow when you put them in the dark and wait. I brought them in and cured them for a week on the porch, which firms the skin and develops the sweetness, and now they are in a basket in the kitchen ready to become something. Sweet potato pie. The casserole Carolyn made at Thanksgiving. Sweet potato biscuits that I've been meaning to try. Eight hills worth of possibility.

Dorothy is between rounds of treatment and James says she is having a good week — eating better, up and around, making him cook dinner three nights in a row which he is describing as punishment and which I am describing as recovery. A woman who sends her husband to the kitchen is a woman who is coming back to herself. I told James this and he said, I hope you're right. I said, I'm usually right about the kitchen. He said, that's true. He didn't say anything else but I could hear him smiling.

With that basket of sweet potatoes waiting on my counter and Dorothy having a good week, I wanted to bake something bright — something that tasted like the hopefulness I’ve been carrying around all week. I’ll get to the sweet potato pie soon enough, but this Sweet Lemon Loaf felt right for now: simple, sweet, the kind of thing you slice and bring to a neighbor’s house when you want them to know you’re thinking of them without making a fuss about it.

Sweet Lemon Loaf

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Lemon Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Instructions

1. Preheat and prepare. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan or line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy removal.
2. Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add the wet ingredients. Mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, sour cream, and vanilla extract until just combined. The batter may look slightly curdled — that’s fine.
5. Combine wet and dry. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold gently with a spatula until no dry streaks remain. Do not overmix.
6. Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
7. Cool. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled loaf and let it set for 10 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 275 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 0.5g | Sodium: 135mg