Moscow Food Co-op Bakery Tips

by Joseph Erhard-Hudson, Bakery Manager, from the December 2001 newsletter

We've received a few compliments on our breakfast fruit breads, and I'd like to share our recipe. This bread is quick and simple to make, and allows for lots of variation. But once you have the ingredients on hand, it's easy to have a piping-hot breakfast bread on your table with little more than an hour's notice.

These are the dry ingredients:
4 cups, any flour [Joseph says: I usually use 2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour and 1 ½ cups white flour.]
1 ½ cups any sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
Spices to taste

These are the wet ingredients:
1 cup boiling water plus enough frozen, concentrated orange juice to make 1 ½ cups total
½ cup Spectrum Spread
1 teaspoon vanilla or other flavoring (optional)

Plus, these are the goodies to add:
2 cups fresh or dry fruit
2 cups nuts

Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly grease two 8 ½" x 4 ½" loaf pans. Sift together dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Form a well in the center, and put the liquid ingredients inside. Stir the wet ingredients in the well a few times to mix them together. Dump in the fruit and nuts, and fold all the ingredients together just until there are no dry patches of flour left. Split the batter evenly between the two loaf pans, and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Check the bread half-way through the baking time. If the top is browning too quickly, cover the pans with aluminum foil for the remainder of the time.

As you can see, this recipe is very generic. Keep careful notes, find a good variation, and when the compliments come pouring in you can honestly say it's your own recipe!

Spectrum Spread is a butter substitute we use frequently in the Co-op Bakery. There are two versions. Original Spread is made with canola oil, and the Essential Omega Spread is made soy and flaxseed oils. Unlike other margarine products, Spectrum Spread is non-hydrogenated and has no trans fats. If you want to try some, look for it in the cooler on the shelves with the butter and margarine products. To learn more about Spectrum Spread and other products from Spectrum Naturals, check out their Web site. Finally, you could probably substitute one-half cup melted margarine or butter for the Spectrum Spread, but I have not tried this variation myself.

Here are some of my favorite variations. Try one or two of these, then experiment on your own.

Banana Bread: For the fruit and nuts, use ripe mashed bananas and whole pecans. For spices try cinnamon and nutmeg, one-half to 1 teaspoon each. I like using whole pecans because they make a pretty pattern when the bread is sliced.

Trail Mix Bread: For the fruit and nuts, simply use 4 cups of your favorite trail mix.

Cranberry-Almond: Use fresh seasonal cranberries, chopped almonds, and almond extract instead of vanilla.

Apple-Walnut: Peel and chop two or three apples, and use whole walnuts. For spices you might try allspice, cardamom, or good old cinnamon and cloves.

Good luck, and let me know what terrific combinations you come up with!

Joseph Erhard-Hudson loves baking for his friends, and thus has found his perfect job.

Copyright: Copyright on articles, recipes, and images are jointly held by the Moscow Food Co-op and the respective authors, except were otherwise noted.

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