Recipe Time! Lemon Tea Bread French Toast

It’s not very often my husband, Robert, watches the FoodChannel; however “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives” caught his eye. On one particular episode they showcased a diner that made French toast with a banana-nut bread. What a great idea!

At the Bed & Breakfast at Hickory Bridge Farm, we gave the following recipe a try. After our critical review, we decided to make a change by using our lemon tea bread recipe and topping it with a delicious berry sauce. Yum! Yum! Here is the recipe:

Lemon Tea Bread

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon rind, divided
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Directions
1. Beat softened butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add 1 cup granulated sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture
alternately with milk, beating at low speed just until blended, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in 1 tablespoon lemon rind. Spoon batter into greased and floured 8- x 4-inch loafpan.
3. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center of bread comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack.
4. Stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth; spoon evenly over top of bread, letting excess drip down sides. Stir together remaining 1 tablespoon lemon rind and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; sprinkle on top of bread.

Berry Sauce:

• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 cup blueberries- fresh or frozen
• ½ cup strawberry jam
• ½ cup red raspberry jam
• 1 cup water

In a small bowl, combine sugar and corn starch, set aside. In a medium sauce pan, combine blueberries, strawberry jam and water, bring to a boil and add sugar mixture. Stir until thickened.

Let us know what you think! Feel free to leave a comment!