As I may have already mentioned, I really really love banana bread.
My recent experiments with chocolate fig bread convinced me that I could successfully recreate the strawberry lemon loaf that the Everyman loves so much from the farmer’s market. By the time we get to that market on Tuesday nights, they’re always sold out of the breads, so trying to find an alternative really made sense.
I used my base recipe for banana bread as a guide, and then began making substitutions. The fun thing about this bread is that because it’s slightly acidic from the berries and lemon, when you mix the wet and dry ingredients together, they start foaming like crazy. It’s like high school chem class all over again, and in pink! The end result was slightly moister than the market version, but the flavours were spot on. I’ll probably tweak this a little more over the next few batches, but the recipe as is makes a pretty damn fantastic bread, too. Enjoy!
Foodie’s Strawberry Lemon Loaf
2 c. fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and pureed
1 c. whole wheat flour
0.75 c. white flour
1 tsp baking soda
0.25 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 c. butter, at room temperature
0.5 c white sugar
0.25 c. brown sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
juice and zest of 1 lemon
Preheat the oven to 350*. Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the butter and crumble it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Add the strawberry and lemon juices, zest and eggs to the bowl and mix just until combined. Pour batter into a loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Makes 1 loaf.
Until next time…
Tags: Baking, bread, lemons, New Projects, strawberries
Ok, Porsha. Help me out here. Off the top of my head, there is one whole food I can say I don’t like. That is green bell peppers(awful, unripe garbage). My point here is, the second thing that comes to mind is strawberries. Odd? I think so. I don’t really dislike strawberries, in fact, I really like them. The problem is the hot houses keep pumping out such subpar, inedible strawberries, I hesitate to but them, even in season. So, please. tell me how to get them at their peak. I miss good strawberries!
OK, foodie, help me out here. Off the top of my head, I can only think of one whole food I can tell you I dislike, green bell peppers(unripe, inedible garbage). My point here is the second thing I think of is strawberries. Odd, right? I know. Strange thing is, I relaly like them. Problem is, these hot houses keep pumping out this insipid rubbish, I hesitate to ever buy them. So, please, tell me how can I get them at their peak, I miss strawberries!
Scott, it’s funny that you say that.
When I first read your comment I misread it and thought you said you can only think of one food that I dislike, and I started to wonder how on earth you knew I disliked green bell peppers!!! Anyways, it’s still early here, so you’ll have to excuse my idiocy.
As for the berries, I have several tips. If at all possible, never buy your berries from a supermarket. They may look like berries, but 9 times out of 10, they’ll just taste like wet cardboard or styrofoam. I find the best options for buying delicious berries are to grab them from your local farmer’s market (which usually ensures they were picked that day) or alternatively, make a day of it and head out to a pick your own berry farm. Being that I cannot drive anywhere yet without my full license, I usually opt for the market solution, since the Everyman gets tired of shuttling me around and all the pick your owns near me are an hour or two out of town.
If you’re ever faced with a quart of strawberries and you’re not sure of their provenance, give that basket a sniff. If the berries are not lusciously fragrant, they probably won’t be much good to you.
Lastly, you can always grow your own in a small container. I did this last year (and am doing it this year too) and it was quite successful. Strawberry plants are really easy to grow, but once they get going they’re almost like weeds and will climb and send off shoots like crazy.
Beyond that, if you buy berries that you think are good but turn out to be insipid, a drizzle of some quality balsamic or a quick soak in a sugar and lemon rind solution can work wonders.
I’m not really sure what part of the country you’re in, but here in Toronto strawberry season runs from the middle of June until about the middle of July. Strawberries usually don’t do well once the weather starts really scorching.
Hope this helps!