I was rustling through the pantry and found a partial bag of dried hibiscus flowers that I had used to make some tacos last year. They’ve been sitting there waiting for me to use them again since our little one arrived. I have not found many recipes that are intended to use hibiscus or jamaica flowers in them, but then I thought I should try to use a recipe that called for lavender. With that in mind, I adapted a recipe from How to Bake Everything to incorporate crumbled hibiscus flowers. As we ate on the loaf, there were a few flowers that weren’t as broken up as I would have liked, but the flowers added a nice background sweet bitterness to the bread.
Lemon-Hibiscus Bread
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
2 c flour
1 c sugar
½ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 ½ Tbsp grated lemon zest
¼ c dried hibiscus leaves, crushed
½ c lemon juice
1/3 c milk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with butter and dust with flour. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Stir in the lemon zest and hibiscus leaves until distributed evenly. Whisk together the melted butter, lemon juice, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a separate bowl. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix; it’s okay if the batter is not perfectly smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out almost entirely clean. Cool the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then carefully turn it upside down to release the loaf.
Creamy Lemon Glaze
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
¼ c lemon juice
¼ c heavy cream
3 Tbsp butter
½ tsp vanilla
3 c powdered sugar
Combine the lemon zest and juice, cream, butter, vanilla, and sugar and beat until combined and smooth; it should be about the consistency of maple syrup.
I will make crafts and cook better 