Cherry - Golden Raisin Bread

  I baked a quick bread recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Baking 2009 today. The bread is excellent. Great flavor and of course as with any quick bread ease of preparation. 

  Now I have to tell you that for the first time in quite awhile it stuck to the bottom of the pan. I am guessing I did not have it well greased. Will I throw it out? Of course not. It tastes just fine and when cold and left over night will slice just fine. 

  I am posting the photo that was with the recipe so you can see what it should look like. No one here is going to complain if the top doesn’t look as good as it should, so it is not a problem. If I really needed to take it somewhere, I would patch the pieces back in and pour a thin glaze over it instead of drizzling the glaze over and it would be just fine.

  A good example that even experienced bakers have things go wrong. Always salvage your errors. This would be good broken up and added to a bread pudding if that was necessary. Or you could slice it and layer in a dish with whipped cream, brushing each piece with a flavored liqueur. Always a way to save the mistakes. 

  I must say though, that it has a great flavor and we will eat it sliced with the top missing.

Cherry - Golden Raisin Bread

2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 egg lightly beaten

1 cup milk

⅓ cup cooking oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup coarsely snipped dried cherries or cranberries

½ cup coarsely snipped golden raisins

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

  Heat oven to 350°. Grease well, the bottom and ½ inch up the side of a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center and set aside.

  In a medium bowl lightly beat the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir by hand into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the cherries and golden raisins. 

  Spoon into the greased pan. Bake about one hour or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, Remove bread from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack. Wrap well and allow to set over night.

  Before serving you may drizzle with a glaze of powder sugar and lemon juice, adding juice slowly until it is the desired consistency.