Raspberry Bread
The Inspiration
So, like many thinks that I make in my kitchen this recipe started from something I had seen once on pintrest. It was a recipe for raspberry lemon bread. It sounded like it would be easy to put together. But, more importantly, it sounded like it would taste great. So I gave it a try. It was amazing. It was refreshing and great for a hot summer day. There was just one thing that I would change. The lemon.
I have never really been a big fan of lemon or lemon flavored things. I felt that the original recipe called for too much lemon. the second time I made the bread I left if out completely. I felt that the flavor of the raspberries was heightened and, honestly, I didn't feel that the bread was missing anything from removing the lemon.
Removing the lemon inspired me to make a few more changes to this recipe. My local grocery store had large quantities of blueberries on sale. So, I had a lot of blueberries at home. As in 5 pounds of blueberries. Why not make the bread with blueberries instead of raspberries? I can tell you right now that it turns out just as good!
Fresh Vs Frozen Fruit
Alright, so I am all for using fresh fruits whenever possible. They are flavorful and good for you. However. I am not so sure that this recipe is too compatible with fresh fruits. Let me explain. If you are making this for friends or family and you know that it is not going to be around in a few days then go for the fresh fruit if you can. But, if you are going to have this around for a few days you might was to reconsider those fresh berries.
I have made both raspberry bread and blueberry bread with fresh and frozen fruit. The bread baked with the frozen fruits lasts longer. It just does. The bread with fresh fruit ferments and rots fairly quickly. Just how quickly, I'm sure, depends on where you live and how humid it is.
Honestly, the taste is fairly the same so don't feel like you are missing out if you use frozen fruits over fresh berries. While we are being honest, the fruit ends up mostly at the bottom of the bread either way.
Uses
This bread is great. It is a tasty breakfast on the go. Or a refreshing snack after work or school. I would even go as far as to say that it would be good for dessert. A part of me wants to make a loaf and let is go stale so I can try to make bread pudding with it. But, I don't know if I would be able to resist temptation long enough to let it stale.
Total Time
The Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Cups (Plus 1Tbsp) Flour
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 Tsp Salt, Kosher
- 1 Cup Buttermilk
- 1 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 3 Eggs, Large
- 2 Tsp grated lemon zest, (about 2 lemons)
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 1/4 Cup Raspberries or blueberries, fresh or frozen
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 and grease the bottom and sides of one 9x5 loaf pan. Dust the greased pan with flour, making sure to tap out the extra.
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Then in a large bowl whisk together the buttermilk, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet.
- In a small bowl toss 1 Tbsp of flour with the fruit of choice. Then fold the fruit into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the graded and floured loaf pan.
- Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing to cool on a cooling rack.
Notes
I will say that I typically have a hard time removing the bread from the pan after it cools. Perhaps I haven't waited long enough for it to cool. Or maybe its because the fruit typically sinks to the bottom and just gets stuck to the pan. What ever the reason just be careful when removing the loaf from the pan, you don't want to scratch the pan. Scratching the pan could make removing future baking creations difficult.
Happy baking! Enjoy!
© 2015 Alexandria
