Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Combining friends can be a difficult thing when you’re a couple. It’s natural that not everyone likes everyone else, and sometimes you just have to accept that. It can also be rather nerve-wracking to meet your partner’s circle of friends and acquaintances. M and I spend quite a bit of time with people I know, and that’s always worked fine. She never seems nervous about hanging out with my colleagues or friends. And to know M is to love her (or at least that’s my experience!) and people generally comment on how sweet and nice she is and how lucky I am to have her. All of which is true.

But a few days ago we did something different and had dinner with people M knows. I’d met them a couple of times before, but not in such an intimate manner, and as the time for dinner got closer, I realised I was actually a tiny bit nervous. I worried that they wouldn’t like me and that as soon as we left, they would send M a text or an email saying that I was no good for her and that she should get rid of me.

M being who she is, I’m not sure she’d be particularly bothered by such an email, nor would she necessarily follow its advice, but I still fretted over the idea.

I also worried about what to make to take with us. Sweets are always a good thing to bring as a gift, I think, but I thought a cake would be too much. Also, M didn’t know what kinds of cakes they might like. Visions of sacher torte, apple cake, and white chocolate truffle cake floated through my head, and none seemed right. Then I thought that a sweet bread would be a better option. This way, they could have it with coffee/tea after dinner and/or for breakfast the next day. Plus, they have a young child, and it seemed more sensible not to make something that they wouldn’t want their child to have, and some parents don’t like giving their children sweets.

My initial instinct was to make my banana bread, which people generally love. But that can be heavy, and I wanted something light and cheerful. So lemon poppy seed cake it was. It's tangy and refreshing. I ended up making two loaves, and I was glad I did. I snacked on one loaf in the afternoon, when I was hungry but didn’t want to spoil my appetite for dinner, plus M had some for breakfast the next day, and I also was able to give a piece to a friend of mine at work, who loved it. But you can also halve the recipe and make just one loaf. Or you can pour the batter into muffin tins and make muffins.

As for M’s friends, the dinner went well, I thought, and a good time seemed to be had by all. Whether they honestly liked the bread or not I can’t say, but they appeared to, and M and I certainly did.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp poppy seeds
2 cups sugar
grated peel from 2 lemons and juice from 1
1 cup vegetable oil or butter
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups milk

Instructions:
1. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, poppy seeds and sugar.
2. Add the grated peel and lemon juice, oil/butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk. Mix well.
3. Pour into greased bread tins and bake at 175 C for 40 minutes. Check that it is done by putting a knife or toothpick into the middle.