Mom's Contest-Winning Lemon Tea Bread

Heat your oven to 325°F and grease two loaf pans. Listen, you can also use one 9x13 pan if that's what you have.

Cream the butter, 2 cups sugar, and lemon zest together until light and fluffy. This takes about 3 minutes with an electric mixer.

Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the butter mixture alternating with the milk, starting and ending with the flour mixture. (Don't overmix once you add the flour — just until combined.)

Squeeze about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into the batter and fold it in gently. Save the rest for the glaze.

Divide batter between your prepared pans and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the bread bakes, stir together the remaining 0.5 cup sugar and 0.25 cup lemon juice for the glaze.

The second the bread comes out of the oven, poke holes all over the top with a skewer and pour the glaze over while it's still hot. Let it soak in completely before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. (The hot bread absorbs the glaze better, so don't skip this step.)