Wow! Can you believe one year ago today I made my first post?
Since this is such a special day I thought I would make something equally as special. During the month I had pondered about what I was going to make that would be rewarding for me as a baker to whip up for such a special day. I couldn’t really decide. At first I wanted to make a beautiful tart since my brother bought me a wonderful tart pan for Christmas. Then I wanted to incorporate Amaretto somehow since those are one of my favourite flavours. Then I thought, perhaps I would make something with lavender and honey. It wasn’t until one night that I had really bad insomnia that I started to think. I knew exactly what I was going to make.
When I first started teaching myself to bake, my first year of University, so almost four years ago the first recipe that I whipped up, and funny enough the first thing I baked with my beautiful stand up KitchenAid Mixer was a classic Lemon Loaf.
At the time I thought I was such a genius, such a brilliant baker because I added in poppy seeds. Oh my goodness, I had shown those around me how wonderful I am at baking because of it! But, this is what started to fuel my imagination. I loved the concept of subbing in different ingredients, exchanging okay ones for better ones, then better ones for exquisite ones. This all started with this simple and elegant loaf.
That was four years ago. Fast forward three years, to last January I still thought I was a marvel in the kitchen. Heck, if I knew then what I knew now. I mean, no I am not amazing in the kitchen, but I’m good. If it weren’t for this blog however I probably wouldn’t be half as good as I am now. Having this blog has allowed me to explore so many flavours. It has made me try foods that I wouldn’t normally try which I have fallen in-love with i.e. Brussels sprouts, zucchini, butternut squash, capers and so much more. It has allowed me to practice my writing and has expanded my creativity not only in the kitchen while baking the products but after while trying to make it visually appealing.
Although I don’t get much feedback, I know there are some of you out there who read this blog. To those who give the time to read what I say or simply look at the pictures and comment “just how professional” my blog looks I thank you. This blog has helped me in so many ways this past year. Not only has it helped in developing my baking and cooking skills but it has helped me out during a very difficult year. It gave me hope that I would get out of this rut with time because I had so much to look forward to.
I can’t wait until next year to look back on my posts between now and next January to see how much more I’ve grown as a baker and cook. I look forward to that and hope that I will continue getting encouragement from those around me, and learning from my mistakes but also my accomplishments in the kitchen. So with that, I leave you with the recipe that helped this all to happen.
Classic Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf
Recipe taken from here
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2/3 cup milk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, salt. Zest half-lemon and add to dry ingredients. Beat butter, gradually add the sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, then milk. Add flour, and mix until well incorporated. Bake loaf for about 55-60 mins
Lemon Loaf Glaze:
· ¼ cup granulated sugar
· 3 tbsp lemon juice
Let loaf cool for ten minutes, then poke holes into the bread and add the glaze.
1 comment:
Happy Blogaversary!!
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