September 16, 2008

Date-Nut Bread


Welcome back to Tasty treats! I know I was not actively blogging over the past few weeks. I am sorry for the inactivity on my blog and I would like to thank everyone who extended their support and wishes to me over the last few weeks. Eventhough I am not posting on the blog, I still do try out recipes occasionally and am reserving them for sharing with all of you later on. One of the recipe I tried recently is the Date-Nut bread which I made after weeks of drooling, on coming across the recipe! ;-) Just like expected the bread was fantatsic, with lots of dates and nuts in each mouthful. It sure was soft, moist and flavorful. We had it with a bit of chocolate syrup drizzled over the slices and it was simply out-of-the-world! Yum-yum!!! Do try this out and you wont be disappointed! Dont forget to let me know your thoughts and suggestions!



Recipe (Makes 1 loaf):

Chopped pitted dates - 1 1/2 cups
Butter or margarine - 6 tbsp, cut up
Boiling water - 1 1/4 cups
All-purpose flour - 2 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Egg - 1 large, lightly beaten
Walnuts - 1 cup, coarsely chopped



Method:

In a medium bowl, combine dates and butter, stir in the boiling water and let stand until cool.

Preheat the oven to 325F.

Grease a 9" by 5" metal loaf pan.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Stir egg into the date mixture.

Now, stir the date-egg mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.

Stir in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool loaf in the pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove the bread from the pan and cool completely on wire rack.

Source: Great Baking from Good Housekeeping.


Tips:
  1. I used about 1 cup (8 oz) of chopped pitted dates.
  2. Instead of walnuts I used about 1/2 cup of slivered almonds with a few sliced almonds on top.
  3. I baked the bread for about 1 hour 10 minutes. It is advisable to check the doneness around the 1 hour mark.
  4. Variations of the recipe include prune bread (using 1 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped pitted prunes instead of dates) and fig bread (using 1 1/2 cups of coarsely chopped dried figs instead of dates).

Hope you all are having a great time, and see you all real soon!!


22 comments:

Finla said...

Wow it looks so delicious, especially with the chocolate drizzel

Laavanya said...

This looks awesome JZ - am definitely giving this a shot - Bookmarked.

Ivy said...

Welcome back JZ. Nice to see you blogging again. Lovely recipe and photos.

Sangeeth said...

oo shweety after a long time u r posting...kinda missed u girl! how r u? luved ur bread and pic is yummy!!!!

Sonia said...

Hi Sweet JZ...Welcome back...! Of course we all ppl give a support all the time.
Your Dat-Nut Bread look so delicious and one more recipe have bookmarked...!
Hope you r doing well.
Take care.
Sonu:)

Indian Khana said...

It looks yummy...I have bookmarked it...going to try this real soon..thanks for the wonderful recipe..

Srikitchen said...

wow1 that's looking delicious and yum! picture looks inviting! come and join in the chicken event going in my blog jz!

Illatharasi said...

Welcome back JZ... was missing your pictures ;) .... my thirst has been quenched.... he he

Yummy bread.... love the chocolate on it:)

Sunshinemom said...

YUMMMY! I wondered where you were!

Rachel said...

Missed your posts J.

I love that slice drizzled with choc.

Vijitha said...

hi ya
the bread looks so yummy...temptin pics...
I am pretty new to this blogging world...jus popped in to say my hi...
do have a look at my blog! (crossaints)

Cheers

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Chocolate drizzle on date bread must be marvellous.
Was it inspired by Pirre Herme from the previous post? :)
Welcome back to blogging

Deepthi Shankar said...

that looks heavenly

Anonymous said...

Wow this looks awesome.

Shreya said...

Hi JZ, how I wish I could have a bite into the awesome looking bread. What a great recipe! Though, I haven't yet baked, so can only drool at the pic...Welcome back:-)

sunita said...

Beautiful bread...and take your time...life is not all blogging, after all :-)

vandana rajesh said...

Hi jz have been checking ur blog in between for any new additions. Long time. Nice bread will give this a try.

Unknown said...

The date cake sounds fabulous,I also make them and in fact I have loved dates in the cake.They make them moist.

Anonymous said...

Mouth watering bread, JZ!

Unknown said...

am always scared to try baking bcoz i do screw up most of the time, but this recipe seems like i can give it a try, so will surelylet u know how it turns out

Anonymous said...

Dates have a great way of adding natural sweetness and moisture to sweets, especially breads; it was a good idea to use them here :). I'd like to include your recipe on our blog! Please let me know if you're interested.

Sophie, Key Ingredient Chief Blogger
sophie@keyingredient.com

Nimisha said...

Great, wholesome recipe. Will definitely try it out. It would be nice though if the recipe would give the corresponding temp. in Celsius. Would save me the extra effort of going to a conversion calculator site.