Lemon And Almond Make The Perfect Match For A Refreshingly Sweet Bread

If you've never thought to pair together lemon and almond, then you will be delightfully surprised when you try your hand at making Tasting Table's quick and easy lemon almond bread and discover how delicious it is. Even the recipe developer, Jessica Morone, was surprised by how the two ingredients complement each other, but ultimately decided they're a "perfect match."

The lemon almond bread is a sweet-but-not-too-sweet bread — Morrone specifies that it's not as sweet as a cake, so it's more in line with something like chocolate chip banana bread. And what really makes it unique is the pairing of lemon and almond. The lemon — in the form of lemon zest — brings in a bright, citrusy flavor that makes the bread's overall flavor more dynamic. Additionally, the loaf is coated with a glaze made of powdered sugar and lemon juice, so the sweet, zesty lemon will definitely come through in each bite. Meanwhile, the almond brings in a nuttiness that balances out the citrusy sweetness of the rest of the bread. Thanks to the sliced almonds on the top of the loaf, there's also a satisfying crunch to go along with the nutty flavor infusion. Along with the sliced almonds on top, the loaf is also made with both almond flour and almond extract so the nuttiness is prominent and evenly distributed throughout the loaf.

There are ways to customize this bread to fit your liking. For example, maybe you want a more subtle almond flavor — in this case, you could replace the almond extract with vanilla extract and let the almond flavor and sliced almond take care of the (now less prominent) nuttiness. Meanwhile, if you want the lemon flavor to be even stronger, you can add a bit of extra lemon zest — perhaps 3 tablespoons instead of the 2 that are called for in the recipe. If you want the lemon flavor to be subtler, you could replace the lemony glaze with a classic icing — such as our easy royal icing recipe.

As for serving, the lemon almond cake tastes delicious all on its own — but you can also dress it up. Spread a helping of almond butter on the slice for another way to bring in extra nuttiness or a bit of coffee butter for a different play on pairing a pastry with your morning coffee. Or, to transform the lemon almond bread into something even sweeter — sweet enough to act as dessert — you can pair it with a scoop of ice cream. You could even drizzle some hot fudge sauce over the top — since nothing says "dessert" more than chocolate — and add a dollop of whipped cream.