Last week we had pears, lots and lots of pears and we enjoyed eating them fresh but whenever I have pears I always make this bread. It is the best bread/cake ever and it is so simple! You have to try this recipe when you have pears on hand. It is something I look forward to making every year, even though it doesn’t last for very long… I also had fun scanning my pears. Yes, scanning them onto the computer! It was a fun way to take pictures of the pears without using my camera.
The cold weather is rolling in now. Here where I am near Cologne, Germany we have been getting frost every night, which dissipates only by mid morning into a cold, sparkling dew. I still have kale, escarole and a few other hardy plants growing in my garden and I just made a white bean soup with some escarole that I had harvested. It was delicious and I am looking forward to making (and sharing) some more savory dishes in the upcoming weeks with the robust greens that are still growing here despite the cold weather.
Pear Bread
Adapted from Linda Patrick’s Pear Bread from allrecipes.com
- 3 eggs
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
- 3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups peeled, cored and finely chopped pears
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed meal
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl combine the wet ingredients. Toss the chopped pears with lemon juice. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix them well, then gently mix in the pears. Divide the batter into two greased and floured loaf pans and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool for at least 10 minutes before attempting to remove from the pans otherwise the bread may not come out easily (I had this problem and ripped part of one loaf because I didn’t want to wait…). Enjoy warm or at room temperature and store in a cool dry place for up to one day or refrigerate what is left for up to one week (if it lasts that long!).