Today was a day for the kids. I’m going away in a few days, which makes me nostalgic for family time in advance, plus it was the annual Vehicles Fair, which we have loved going to since Nathaniel was just a tiny guy.
I asked Juliet what she wanted me to bake and she didn’t have to think twice: Mini Lemon Loaves. She has recently stopped liking peanut butter — wha???? — so there are even fewer things I can make for her that she’ll eat. (I find this very confusing, as there are few foods in this world I like more than peanut butter.)
But everyone loves these lemon loaves. It’s an amazing, magical recipe I found through Pinterest from a blog called Lauren’s Latest, and it’s so special that, as Juliet complained, I mostly make it as a gift for other people. So today it was all about making them for US, and Juliet was willing to pitch in, at least for a while.
She’s ready!
First things first, I zested a couple of lemons. It says it needs about 5 teaspoons, which equaled out to 2 medium-to-large-ish lemons. Zesty! I wouldn’t let Juliet play with the Microplane grater, but she did love the smell.
Next up was creaming the butter and the sugar together. I threw the butter in and let Juliet handle the sugar (with a little help on the measuring side).
(That’s a flower on her right cheek, she got her face painted at the Vehicles Fair. More on that later.)
She looked into the bowl right before adding the sugar and exclaimed with glee, “Look at that butter!”
It was only one stick! I promise. Once I got the mixer going — and she ran away because of the noise, but kept sneaking back to take a peek — it started looking tasty as well as decadent.
It was time to add two eggs, and that brought Nathaniel in to participate. They love cracking the eggs (and then handing them off to me when things get messy).
I added the vanilla and Juliet did her best to pour in the sour cream.
And that was when I lost her. Nathaniel suggested playing outside in the backyard with the hose, which usually trumps whatever else is going on, and off they went. This time they didn’t come back soaked, but played for a while, then started fighting, then came in complaining, and were told to go find something else to do, which they did. The rest of the recipe, therefore, was left to me.
I sifted the flour in my half-assed way, using a colander.
I mixed in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and whisked it all together. Then I added it into the lemon mixture and beat at low speed until the flour disappeared.
Adding a bit of milk at the end smoothed out the texture until it was perfect.
I poured it into my wonderful mini loaf pan that was a gift from my lovely friend Marcie, but forgot to take a picture before it went into the oven. Oops.
The loaves were done in just under 20 minutes, a little brown around the edges and smelling wonderful.
These are just glorious. Two are already gone, they were eaten after dinner. The recipe includes a glaze and I’m sure it’s wonderful, but we can all do without the extra sugar and they are pretty perfect on their own. I couldn’t recommend this recipe any more highly: go get it. I’ve made it with yogurt instead of sour cream before too, and it’s lovely either way.
As for the Vehicles Fair, here are a few highlights…
Garbage truck
Face painting
Necklace-making
Rescue vehicle
Nathaniel taking Juliet away…
There is nothing not to love about the Vehicles Fair, and the weather always comes through for it.
Just to round off the day, I whipped up my wonderful banana yogurt muffins, but this time I threw a few cinnamon chips on top of each one, just for fun and sweetness.
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