Apple Ginger Bread

It is the peak of fall which means there has been a lot of baking with apples going on around here.  Scones, pies and bread have been coming out of the oven in the past few weeks.

 Everything has been very yummy, but this bread has been has been the family favorite.

I used a combination of shredded and diced apples.  This makes a moist bread with soft juicy chunks scattered throughout which is the perfect contrast for the crunchy Streusel topping. The addition of crystallized ginger gives a wonderful sweet heat.  Mixed with the tang of the cranberries and the nutty pecans it is a perfectly sweet, spicy fall bread.

Apple Ginger Bread Adapted from mybakingaddiction.com 

Yield: 1 loaf        Prep Time : 30 minutes                 Cook Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

Batter:

½  cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar

¼ cup milk

2 tsp.  apple cider vinegar

2 tsp. baking powder

2 eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. apple pie spice (see below)

½ tsp. salt

2 cups peeled, shredded apples*

1 apple, peeled and diced

¾ cup chopped pecans

½ cup dried cranberries

2 Tbsp. chopped candied ginger

Streusel Topping:

¼ cup lightly packed dark brown sugar

3 Tbsp.  all-purpose flour

¼ tsp.  apple pie spice (see below)

2 Tbsp.  unsalted butter

1/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x5x3- inch loaf pan with cooking spray, line bottom with parchment paper.    Set aside.

2.       In medium bowl sift flour, apple pie spice and salt together.  Set aside. 

3.       In the bowl of an electric mixer combine butter and sugars.  Mix until light and fluffy.  Add the buttermilk, vinegar and baking powder, mix until combined.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix until incorporated.  Slowly add flour mixture, mix on low until just combined.  Fold in apples, pecans, cranberries and ginger.  Pour in to prepared pan, spread evenly.  Set aside while preparing Streusel topping.

4.       For Streusel topping.  In small bowl combine sugar, flour and apple pie spice, stir to combine.   Cut in butter until mixture resembles small pebbles, stir in pecans. 

5.       Sprinkle Streusel topping over the batter, gently pressing it into the batter.

6.       Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

7.       Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack

Wrap tightly and - if you can wait – store overnight before slicing and serving, this give the flavors a chance to blend and enhances the taste. 

* Two cups is about 4 apples.  Honey Crisp or Granny Smith apples are recommended.   For additional texture dice one apple and shred the remaining 3 apples. 

Apple Pie Spice

5 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. allspice

1 ½ tsp. ground cardamom

1 tsp. ground ginger

In small bowl combine all ingredients, stir until thoroughly combined.  Store in an airtight container. 

*this is a great spice mixture for all of your fall baking.  It also makes a wonderful gift when stored in a decorative spice jar or container. 

 

SRC - Pear Spice Bread

It is Secret Recipe Club time again and this month I would like to introduce you to Sara at Cupcake Muffin.   Her site is filled with wonderful recipes and it was hard to pick one recipe.  To make the decision making process easier I decided I would make whatever she was she made this time last year.  Even narrowing it down to one month's worth or recipes it was still a hard choice.  She had one of my favorite things, "everything in the fridge soup", it sounded tempting, but I decided to go with her Pear Pecan Spice Bread  

I love quick breads they are easy to make and are a wonderful gift.  I often make a few batches to give as gifts at Thanksgiving time and had planned on doing that again this year.  When I came across Sara's recipe I still hadn't decided what to make this year so I was thrilled to be able to give this recipe a try.  I didn't get around to making the bread until the day before we were leaving for Thanksgiving.  I had a lot of baking to do that day and this was the last thing I made.  Unfortunately my final product showed that I was tired and unfocused when I made this.  


As I was pouring the bread into the pans it didn't look right I thought it was because I had used whole wheat flour and for some reason I don't always get good results when cooking with whole wheat.  I had also added more pear and pecan than called for and thought that might be effecting the batter as well.  I decided to sample the bread before wrapping it up and presenting it as a gift.  And, good things I did, as it turns out what made the batter look funny was the fact I had forgotten to add the sugar.  


The bread was still super flavorful and I could tell if the sugar had been added the loaves would have been gobbled up.  We still managed to eat one loaf, by toasting the slices and covering them in butter and cinnamon sugar.  This was super yummy, but the bread still needed a little sweetness.   The remaining loaves I stuck in the freezer and will use at Christmas to make stuffing.  I am very excited about this as I didn't get to make any stuffing for Thanksgiving.  

Here is Sara's recipe for the Pear Pecan bread, give it a try.  I recommend adding the sugar, but if you forget it it is still super flavorful.  

Pear-Pecan Spice Bread
Printer Ready


(from Cupcake Muffin)

Makes 1 loaf, or 4 small

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 egg white

1 cup sugar

1 cup peeled, grated very, very ripe pear

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

1 cup peeled, diced pear

Note: You'll need 2-3 large pears for the grated and diced pear combined.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a loaf pan with oil.

2. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cardamom.  Add the pecans and toss to combine.

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the oil, buttermilk, egg, egg white, sugar, grated pear, and vanilla.  Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Fold in the diced pears, again until just combined.

4. Scrape the batter into the oiled pan and bake for about 1 hour, until a tester comes out clean.