Banana bread? Cornbread? Pumpkin bread? Muffins? Irish Soda bread? Scones? Yep, you thought it right – all quick breads. There are arguments aplenty. What defines quick breads? Well, all the quick breads I know are yeast-free, using a classic base-acid combination, aka baking soda and yogurt/ buttermilk/ acidulated dairy to produce the rise,
I like to think of them as a cross between bread and cake.
Take Banana bread for instance, I enjoy it on its own, with cream and blah di blah but I know people who swear by slices of it toasted, like you would do yeasted breads so… Often, the batter is made up in two bowls – one for the dry ingredients, and another for the wet. It all comes together when both are combined then baked off.
I like that you can go both sweet and savoury with this…as I did when I made and Olive & Cheese version, I had a gift of olives from my sister, in the finest newspaper bag ever, it moved me to bake. And a mighty delicious result it was. Here’s my take on a recipe from BBC Good Food.
- 250g Self-raising flour
- 100 firm Mozzarella or Gruyere-style cheese, grated (I used cheddar)
- 50g olives, chopped
- Barest pinch of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of turmeric powder
- Pinch of dried mixed herbs
- 3 eggs
- 100ml Olive Oil + extra for the tin
- Heat oven to 180 degree C. Grease 22cm x 12cm loaf tin and line with baking paper
- Combine the flour, cheese, olives, turmeric, mixed herbs, salt & pepper in a mixing bowl
- In another bowl whisk the eggs and 100ml olive oil. Mix together
- Spoon into tin and smooth top if you like
- Bake for 30 minutes, till a skewer comes clean (check that you aren't tricked by the cheesy parts :))
- You could even very well miss the pinch of salt, considering the olives are rather briny, especially if you go for a tasty cheese.
- I love this with sauteed fruit - plums, apples and cold, crisp vegetables - cucumbers and radishes come to mind.
It was lovely.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]The Art of the Quickbread – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
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