Quickbreads
Quickbreads is a term applied to a large range of baked goods, from cookies and cakes to banana breads and brownies. When you really think about it, “quick bread” makes a lot of sense. For any type of artisan bread, a leavening agent like yeast is a must to get the dough to rise into that beautiful fluffiness that we associate with the good stuff. It also means that the yeast needs time to do its magic on the dough, which can take upwards of hours. Whereas baking powder or soda does help food rise just slightly, the quick breads have less of that balloon or marshmallow in the microwave effect. The result is a denser, sweeter sweet that has a lot more flavor and texture packed into every bite. Unlike almost all other things pastry, quick breads actually got their start in the U.S. Prior to that, cakes and cookies were still made with yeast or some sort of egg and dough combination. Apparently, during the Civil War, the need to make lots of food quickly was a necessity for the soldiers. The use of chemical leaving agents rather than organic ones quickly became used not only in the military but also in commercial companies and domestic households. Without it, it would still take hours to make cakes. Thank goodness for that!
In this online baking & pastry arts course, Chef Susie teaches you a thing or two about one of the best things to happen to modern pastry, quick breads.
Gruyeyre and Sweet Onion Bread
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese
1/2 cup sliced sweet onions
- Mix the dry ingredients together and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs milk and olive oil together.
- Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Stir in the onions and cheese.
- Place in a greased baking loaf.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until the top springs back when touch and toothpick inserted comes out clean. The bread. should be a nice golden brown color.
*Any cheese and white, green or red onions can be used.
Pumpkin Bread
2 cups pumpkin puree
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup oil
3 eggs
3 cups all- purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
- Sift the all- purpose flour, cinnamon and baking soda.
- In a bowl mix the pumpkin and sugar together and add the oil and then the eggs. Mix in the dry ingredients and spoon batter into a greased loaf pan, filling about 2/3 of the way.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched or a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
- Cool for about 20 minutes and dust with powdered sugar and decorated with Halloween candy.
*Fresh banana, shredded zucchini and shredded carrots can be substituted for the pumpkin.
