Until I arrived to this country, I was not familiar with Thanksgiving. Yes, I had heard of the pilgrims and the Mayflower , Yes, I had heard how they ate what the Indians ate ..... however the whole tradition surrounding this holiday began to slowly unravel itself to me over the past 10 years .
Upfront let me announce to the world that I LOVE turkey , as much as I LOVE chicken . Where I come from turkey was the main event for Christmas , stuffed "just right" and accompanied with roast vegetables ... and of course plum pudding . It was inevitably always hot on Christmas day - but all good cooks sweated it out in the kitchen - because Christmas just would not be Christmas without the turkey.
However , I have digressed from the theme of Thanksgiving . As I eargerly await my portion of the bird next week I have begun to look at other offerings that can be enjoyed . Again , not wanting to put a damper on all things dessert for this day - pumpkin pie ......just does not cut it for me ....... . Don't get me wrong I love fresh pumpkin oven roasted - delicious ... but this strange dessert that everyone clamours for at Thanksgiving - has to this day, remained a mystery to me . My eldest daughter came home the other day after tasting some pumpkin pie and announced that it was " the best pie she had ever tasted!!!" .... I think an intervention is required .
So , the Apple Cranberry Loaf recipe was sent to me from down under , it had one crucial ingredient that make this a Thanksgiving must ... dried cranberries ....... I just simply had to make it .
It is delicious, it is healthy ( whole wheat flour and very little butter) , it is like an energy bar in cake form and perfect for the Thanksgiving table and travels really well . I made it in little mini cake loaves - because I thought they looked so cute .
Apple Cranberry Loaf
1 stick Unsalted Organic Butter
¼ cups White Granulated Sugar
¼ cups Light Brown Sugar
3 whole Organic Eggs
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
½ teaspoons Ground Allspice
½ teaspoons Ground Cinammon
¼ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
½ cups Organic Whole Milk Or 2%
2 whole Granny Smith Apples, Grated
½ cups Walnuts, Chopped
½ cups Roasted (Unsalted) Whole Pepitas
¾ cups Cranberries
Method
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line a loaf tin or 4 mini loaf tins.
Cream butter and sugar till pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating and scraping sides between each addition.
Sift flour and spices into a bowl, then add flour mixture to the butter, slowly along with the milk.
Once the mixture comes together, add the grated apples (see note below). Fold in nuts, seeds and cranberries. Place in the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, on the center rack of the oven. Remove from the oven and let the loaf stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out. Allow to cool before slicing.
Note: I peeled and quartered my apples, then put them in the food processor and pulsed until coarsely chopped. Do this step after you have added the eggs, or the apples will start to turn brown.
Enjoy this deliciously healthy bread!
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