London Fog Loaf
Recipe by Mari Loewen, styling by Carol Dudar, photography by Paula Wilson.
Ingredients
Makes one 8½-inch loaf
½ cup milk (any dairy or nondairy milk works)
4 Earl Grey tea bags
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup honey
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Glaze
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons milk (any dairy or nondairy milk works)
¼ teaspoon lemon extract
2 tablespoons dried edible flowers (optional)
Method
Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 1-pound loaf pan with parchment paper, allowing paper to hang over all sides.
Warm milk in a small saucepan over low heat until steaming but not boiling. Remove from heat, add tea bags, and submerge completely. Set aside to steep while preparing batter.
Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and honey in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time on low speed, scraping bowl after each addition. Add vanilla and lemon extracts and beat until combined. Batter may look slightly curdled at this stage; continue mixing.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Squeeze tea bags over milk to extract liquid, then discard tea bags. With mixer on low speed, add dry ingredients and infused milk alternately in three additions, starting and ending with dry ingredients.
Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth surface. Bake until loaf is golden, centre springs back lightly to the touch, and a knife inserted in the centre comes out mostly clean, 55–60 minutes. If loaf browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil.
Set pan on a cooling rack placed over a sheet pan and cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk icing sugar, milk, and lemon extract until smooth. Lift loaf from pan using parchment and return to rack. Drizzle glaze over warm loaf, garnish with edible flowers if using, and allow glaze to set before serving.
