(Sourdough Discard Recipe!) Lemon Poppyseed Rum Sweet Bread
Lemon poppy seed sweet bread is enhanced with a generous splash of rum and a vibrant, sweet glaze. It’s the ideal loaf for springtime enjoyment, perfect for breakfast, brunch, or as a companion to tea or coffee. It’s ultra moist, thanks to the addition of sour cream and rum.
Why I love this bread:
It’s a quick bread. No waiting for it to rise. Simply mix and bake.
This is a sourdough discard recipe. Sourdough discard adds a tangy flavor and makes for a fluffy texture.
Leftovers are great! Leftover homemade bread is usually not great– but this lemon sweet bread remains moist even days later. It can be precut for serving or left whole and placed in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
It’s delicious! Perfect spring bread for brunch, Easter or fika (coffee break).
Key Ingredients for the best lemon bread.
This bread has a few ingredients that will make it stand out among the rest.
Meyer lemons. Meyer lemons are sweeter than other varieties. The story goes that they are a cross between a mandarin and a lemon. They are in season November-May.
Sourdough discard. Unfed or fed sourdough starter will add a tanginess that is hard to replace with any other ingredient.
Sour cream. Secret ingredient for moist, rich, sweet bread!
Poppyseeds. Poppyseeds add a mild nutty, sweet flavor and textural interest. They are included in the bread and the lemon glaze.
Rum. Rum adds moisture and deep flavor. I use plain, spiced Caribbean rum. Truth be told, I bought the cheapest bottle I could find and it worked just fine.
(Full list of ingredients down below)
Tips to make the best lemon poppyseed sweet bread.
For best texture, use room temperature ingredients. Imagine if you are warm and someone touches you with a cold hand. You recoil. It’s kind of like that when baking. A cold ingredient gets a recoil from other ingredients, and they just don’t mesh as well. Will it still work out? Sure. But we want the best sweet bread! Room temperature butter is important because the butter and sugar cream together.
Look for unwaxed, organic or homegrown Meyer lemons. Inspect the lemons before buying. Do not use mushy, molding or off smelling lemons.
Although not necessary, a hand mixer is an excellent tool for creaming the butter and incorporating the other ingredients.
Sift the all-purpose flour, salt and baking powder to create a softer texture and to evenly incorporate the ingredients. I prefer to skip the hand mixing when adding the dry to the wet to avoid overmixing.
Line the loaf pan with parchment paper for worry free removal. Parchment also creates a layer of protection between the loaf pan and the bread, making for a softer bread. Keep in mind, your bake times will vary depending on the material of your loaf pan. For this recipe I am using a Lodge cast iron loaf pan 8.5×4.5.
Don’t forget BOTH glazes. I promise both are very easy to prepare. Rum glaze seeps into the bread while it is still in the loaf pan. The lemon glaze is poured over top, allowed to waterfall onto the sides.
Rum glaze details.
Fresh from the oven, simple, butter rum glaze saturates the bread, soaking in and making for an incredibly moist, sweet bread.
When the bread is nearing being fully cooked, prepare the glaze. Don’t prepare the glaze too soon because it will harden quickly. Aim for warm.
Into a sauce pan over medium/low heat combine the following ingredients:
- Butter.
- Water.
- Sugar.
- Rum (Spiced Caribbean rum).
- Lemon extract.
Turn the heat off once the butter is melted and the sugar dissolves. When the bread is out of the oven, with a toothpick, poke holes all over the top. Also, create a small gap between the bread and the parchment paper with either a knife or toothpick. Pour the warm glaze evenly over top. Let the bread absorb the wonderful rum infusion for at least 15 minutes.
TIP: In case of an overflow, place the loaf pan on top of a baking sheet.
Lemon poppyseed glaze.
Don’t skip this easy last step!
Once the bread is out of the loaf pan and on a cooling rack, make the lemon glaze. Again, refrain from making this too far in advance because it will begin to set.
Into a mixing bowl combine the following ingredients:
- Powdered sugar.
- Juice from Meyer lemons.
- Melted butter (I melt the butter in the unwashed sauce pan the rum glaze was in).
- Lemon extract.
Mix until smooth. The glaze will be thick but pourable. Pour glaze overtop the bread, letting excess fall through the wire rack.
Frequently asked questions.
Can I use regular lemons?
Yes you can! It will still be great but I love the sweetness of Meyer lemons.
How do I know the bread is done?
An inserted toothpick should come out clean. It will be moist, but not with batter on it.
Why did my bread burn?
Depending on the material of your loaf pan it may cook quicker than the cast iron loaf pan I used. Begin checking with a toothpick at the 45 minute mark next time.
Why did the center of my bread crack?
This a normal response to expansion. Totally fine for this recipe!
Lemon Poppy Seed Rum Sweet Bread
Equipment
- 1 cast iron loaf pan
Ingredients
Bread ingredients
- 8 tbsp butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup spiced Caribbean rum
- ¼ cup sourdough discard
- 2 tbsp lemon juice from Meyer lemons
- ½ cup sour cream
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 2 tbsp poppyseeds
- 1 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
Rum Glaze Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- ¼ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp spiced Caribbean rum
- ½ tsp lemon extract
Lemon Glaze Ingredients
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp melted butter
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp lemon extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- Begin making the bread. Cream the butter and the sugar with a hand mixer.
- Next, add the rum, lemon zest, lemon extract, vanilla extract, rum, sourdough discard, lemon juice and sour cream.
- Then, one by one, add the eggs, mixing in between.
- Add the poppy seeds and lightly mix to incorporate.
- In a separate bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Lightly stir to mix.
- Add to the wet ingredients. Mix by hand until flour is no longer visible.
- Pour batter into a lined loaf pan. Lightly hit against the counter to evenly distribute.
- Bake about an hour, checking at the 45-minute mark. When a toothpick comes out clean, but moist, it is ready.
- When the bread is nearing ready, make the rum glaze. Add all rum glaze ingredients to a sauce pan over medium heat.
- Warm and stir until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved.
- When bread is done, poke holes onto the surface with a toothpick and run the toothpick along the edges, to create a small gap in between the parchment paper and the bread.
- Place loaf pan onto a baking sheet in case the rum glaze overflows. Pour the glaze evenly all over the bread. Go slow to avoid it overflowing. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes in the loaf pan.
- After 15 minutes, let cool for 30 minutes on a lined rack.
- While it cools, combine all lemon glaze ingredients into a bowl. Mix well. It should be thick but pourable. If too thick to pour add a tablespoon more lemon juice.
- Pour glaze over top, letting it waterfall down the sides. Garnish with lemon slice if desired.
