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Dessert

Quick Lemon Bread

A quick, sweet lemon loaf with a glaze made from sugar and lemon juice.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Quick Lemon Bread

Oven350 °F
Time45–50 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix granulated sugar, butter, and egg whites until smooth.

  2. Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, skim milk, and grated lemon peel; mix until flour is incorporated.

  3. Spray a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan with vegetable oil and flour; pour batter into the pan.

Bake and glaze

  1. Bake at 350 °F for 45–50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

  2. While the loaf is still in the pan, poke numerous holes with a long slender skewer all the way to the bottom.

  3. In a small pan, combine granulated sugar and fresh lemon juice; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves.

  4. Remove the glaze from heat; slowly drizzle it over the loaf so it soaks into the bread.

Cool

  1. Let the bread cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

796Calories
28 gProtein
26 gFat
111 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Provide structure and help the loaf set as it bakes.
All-purpose flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the loaf its structure.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the loaf rises and becomes light.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor.
Granulated sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crumb brown lightly.
Fresh lemon juice
Adds acidity and bright lemon flavor to the glaze.

The step that matters

Poking holes and drizzling the glaze while the loaf is warm. Holes let the warm glaze soak deep into the crumb; if the sugar is not fully dissolved before drizzling, the glaze can stay grainy and sit on the surface instead of soaking in.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, flour, milk):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, flour, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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