Mini Strawberry Walnut Lemon Loaves

Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them.

– A.A. Milne

The beautiful spring weather is upon us, the sun shining and clear skies, makes me want to go outside and have a picnic! Siting outside in the fresh air, soaking up the sun, spending time with friends and, of course, eating all the food. Sandwiches, fruit, dips, cheese, cake. I’m salivating just thinking about it.

There’s something magical about Spring, where all the beautiful flowers bloom and fruits come out. All the gorgeous bright colours scattered around. Seeing all the different types of flowers blossoming with the rise of the sun and all the fruits coming out for us to enjoy. Such an amazing transformation from Winter into Spring.

My neighbour has an amazing lemon tree in her backyard, every time she collects a harvest, she hurls an overflowing bag over our fence for us to enjoy. With the beautiful weather and freshly picked lemons, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to whip out the mini loaf tin I had just bought and make some mini lemon loaves. I’m not a big fan of lemon flavoured desserts, the strong citrus flavour has never been my favourite. So I thought it would change it up by adding some walnuts and strawberries into the mix.

The strawberries sink into the mixture as it cooks to become a bright little surprise in the middle of the loaves. They bring a little extra pop of colour. While the crushed walnuts add to the texture of the mini loaves, adding a little bit of crunch with every bit. Both the strawberries and walnuts work together to balance out the citrus tang from the lemon. The combination with the lemon, creates a lovely refreshing loaf. The perfect little snack to share with others while enjoying the beautiful Spring weather.

Mini Strawberry Walnut Lemon Loaves

INGREDIENTS

Mini Loaves

125 g butter, softened
225 g caster sugar
1 large lemon, zest finely grated
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour, sifted
1/2 cup milk
25 g walnuts, crushed
50 g strawberries, sliced

Lemon Drizzle

1 large lemon, juice of
225 g icing sugar, sifted

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Prepare mini loaf tins.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, and lemon rind.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Stir in flour and walnuts. Then add milk and beat until smooth.
5. Spoon mixture into prepared tins. Evenly distribute strawberry slices on top of each loaf, these will sink in as the loaves bake.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave in pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. While waiting for loaves to cool completely, make lemon drizzle, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and add the lemon juice, stirring until smooth.
8. Drizzle mixture on top mini loaves.