Happy new year, everybody! Health problems kept me away from posting for several months, but I’m back to business in the new year. Wish me luck! I don’t need another year like 2022.
My brother- and sister-in-law gifted us with a box of Harry & David pears this month and I’m determined to use them to their best advantage. Once they’re ripe they don’t last long and I want some more interesting recipes than the thousand-and-one crisps and poached pears I’ve been browsing. Yesterday I made a baked chicken with pears and baby spinach that was absolutely awesome. Baked chicken and baked pears are a winning combination. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
I also came across a recipe for pear bran bread and thought I might try that. The recipe was from the King Arthur Flour website and they have a pretty good track record – not perfect, but quite good. The recipe called for two cups of chopped pears, which took up one and one-half pears. I scarfed up the final half after my husband declined his quarter. Unfortunately, I think that half pear was the most satisfying part of the whole recipe. I mixed and added the ingredients as instructed, taking time to grease the loaf pan a bit more than the light touch they recommended. The loaf came out of the oven a little over an hour later looking browned and beautiful. I even showed it off to my husband, who looked up from his sandwich and nodded politely. The trouble started when I tried to get the bread out of the loaf pan. Pretty as it was, that loaf really wanted to stay where it was. Undeterred, I ran a knife around the edge, then tried to tip it out of the pan. It finally released, leaving about half the crust behind. Give it a light greasing? Really? No, grease the hell out of it and then flour it as well.
I used a spatula to scrape out the reluctant crust and laid it across the bread, which was laying upside down on the cooling rack. The rest of the crust looked unhappy being there and was trying to fall off too. I nibbled a bit of the fallen crust and was not impressed with the taste. We’ll see what it tastes like once completely cooled and I can get into the bread itself. For the time being I’m cooling my heels and thinking about chopping up the one-hundred-and-one ingredients required for tonight’s vegetarian shepherd’s pie. I seem to be in the numbers these days!
I’ll let you know how the bread tastes once it’s cooled. It’s billed as a healthier alternative to traditional sweet quick breads, although there’s certainly a lot of sugar in disguised forms (honey, molasses and brown sugar). The recipe called for whole wheat flour and wheat bran, so I’m expecting a dense, chewy loaf. That might be okay, though, what with all the pears moistening it up. And, it’s lower in calories. That’s a definitely plus for me after a few days of Christmas feasting.
UPDATE: I just cut into the bread and tasted a slice. I don’t think I’ll make it again. The inside was gummy, possibly from all those pears keeping the bread from properly cooking. The crust, what’s left of it, was the best-tasting part. It didn’t overly impress, although it tasted better than I was expecting it to. My husband tried a bit as well and said all he could taste was molasses.
Do you want to try it? Get yourself a non-stick loaf pan, use fewer, firmer pears and click on the recipe link below:
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/pear-bran-bread-recipe
Good luck!