Tequila Glazed Lemon Bread with Rosemary Walnut Filling

Tequila Glazed Lemon Bread with Rosemary Walnut Filling

By Irvin Lin

This quick batter bread, fancied up a bit with rosemary and walnut filling is extra moist due to the double glazing. First a glaze of lemon honey soaks into the bread to make is extra lemony and then a thicker tequila glaze keeps the bread moist, sweet and gives just a nice touch of tequila warmth to each bite. If you don’t want to use alcohol, feel free to substitute milk for the tequila for the second glaze.

Adapted from Simply Recipes.

Ingredients
Rosemary walnut filling
2 tablespoon finely minced fresh rosemary
1/4 cup (50 g) white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (70 g) chopped walnuts

Bread batter
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (142 g or 1 1/4 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
1/4 cup honey (orange blossom if you have it)
3 large eggs at room temperature
2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 1/2 cups (350 g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze #1
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 cup (75 g) white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon honey (orange blossom if you have it)

Glaze #2
1 cup (130 g) confectioners’ (powdered) sugar
2-3 tablespoons silver tequila

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter and flour a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan. Make the rosemary walnut filling first by stirring all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Place aside.

2. Place the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy, about a minute. Add the sugar, honey and lemon zest to the butter and beat for an additional minute or until it the ingredients are incorporated thoroughly. Add the eggs, one a time, scraping down the sides between additions, making sure the batter incorporates the eggs completely before adding the next egg. Add the milk and lemon juice and beat to the batter and beat to incorporate. The batter might look curdled or broken, but don’t worry, it’ll come together when you add the additional ingredients.

3. Place the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt in a large mixing bowl. Using a balloon whisk, vigorously stir to distribute the dry ingredients together. Add to the wet batter and beat until just incorporated and smooth.

4. Spoon 1/3 of the bread batter into the pan and spread out evenly in the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of the rosemary walnut filling over the batter (try not to get let it touch the side of the pan). Spoon 1/3 of the bread batter over the filling and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 of the rosemary walnut filling over that batter. Scrape the remaining bread batter over the filling and smooth out. Bake in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

5. About 10 minutes before the bread is done, prepare glaze #1 by heating all the ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved. Once the bread is done, remove from the oven and poke holes all over the top of the bread (while it is still in the pan) to help the glaze penetrate and spoon glaze over the still hot bread. Let the glaze soak in before you continue to use up the remaining glaze. Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan and letting cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

6. Once cool, prepare glaze #2 by first sifting the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl and stirring in 2 tablespoons of tequila. If the glaze seems too thick (you want that delicate balance of a glaze that is thick enough to cling to the bread, but thin enough to run a bit on the bread) stir in an additional teaspoon of the tequila, adding more tequila to get the right consistency. Spoon over the cooled bread, allowing some of the glaze to dribble down the sides of the bread. Let the glaze cool and firm up, then slice and serve.

Makes 1 loaf.