Quick Breads- White Nut Loaf

From: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (poss. 1953). Bread Section. quick breads Foreword. Fruit bread recipe. 

The quick breads-- they're easy and quick to make-- are leavened with baking powder, soda, steam, or air. They include biscuits, muffins, shallow loaves like cornbread and coffeecakes, deep loaves as nut breads, steamed breads, spoon breads, popovers, griddle cakes, and waffles. Most of them are served hot. 

    Mix quick loaf breads as quickly as possible, often following the muffin method of mixing. Place strips of waxed paper crosswise and lengthwise of the pan before adding batter. 

    Quick loaf breads are baked in a moderate to hot oven, according to to the depth of  batter in the pan, the character of the dough, and the type of baking utensil.

    Don't be surprised if the top crust cracks; it often does because it browns before the center has finished rising and as the center expands, it breaks through the top crust. 

    Cool loaves on wire rack. Fruit and nut breads often slice better when cold and improve in flavor the second day after baking.

Fruit Bread

        2 cups sifted enriched flour

        3 teaspoons baking powder

        1/4 teaspoon salt

        3/4 cup sugar

        1/4 cup chopped citron*

        1/4 cup currants*

        2 tablespoons chopped candied lemon peels

        2 tablespoons chopped candied cherries

        1/2 cup chopped nuts

        2 well-beaten eggs

        1 cup milk

        3 tablespoons melted shortening or salad oil*                                               OVEN 350

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar; add citron, currants, lemon peel, cherries, and nuts. Add eggs mixed with milk and shortening; stir slightly.

    Pour into paper-lined 9-1/2 x 5-1/4 x 2-3/4-inch loaf pan; let stand 30 minutes. Bake in moderate oven (350) 1 hour.

Blueberry-Nut Bread: Substitute 1 cup fresh blueberries for all of the fruits in the Fruit Bread and increase sugar to 1 cup.

*Citron is a large citrus fruit, it looks visually similar to a lemon. Citrons contain a dry pulp, a bright yellow color, and significantly less juice, which is what makes it possible to "chop" them. I am not an expert but I would think that possibly you want smaller than quarter-inch pieces for a fruit cake to prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the loaf (thanks GBBS). A similar substitute may be a yuzu, instead of a lemon. I believe the juice content is important to keep the batter and dough from spoiling. 

    Aside: The recipe does not call for the citron to be peeled. I wonder if this would be a common-sense thing to do in the '50s, but I am unsure. Some very light research says that it is safe to eat a lemon peel, which I did not doubt; I was more curious as to whether or not it was tasty. I see that it contains many minerals and vitamins within the peels, which I knew, and yet the question still persists whether or not it would taste good. It occurs to me that in the 1950s, taste probably came second to nutritional value due to Depression-era baking that this would probably have been borne through. Based on this judgment, I believe you would leave the peel intact, and chop the citron whole. The dryness and thickness of the citron would probably provide adequate material for this.

*Currants color is not specified. I would think that they would be the variety similar to gooseberries, so perhaps a white or pink currant. However, due to the presence of cherries, I would also hazard that a darker red currant would be acceptable, as the difference in flavor probably balances out the high level of citrus flavor imbued from the citron and candied lemon. If you prefer a very citrusy loaf then I would not hesitate to use the white/pink currant, or substitute gooseberries.

    Aside: I wonder what would happen if one were to soak the currants in something such as brandy or rum, and forgo candying the cherries. I think that would make for an interesting experiment. When I am a millionaire I shall follow up on this and try this out. If anyone beats me to it, please let me know.

*Salad oil simply refers to any sort of edible oil you would usually see in dressings. Shortening is also included as an option, so perhaps it would not be out of place to use Crisco during the 50's, but I am not well-versed in what was culinarily in-vogue during the decade, other than eye-popping jello molds with all sorts of interesting flavor combinations, as I hope to get to at some point. Also, something to note, I believe that due to shortening being an option, the level of fat in this recipe can be varied. I wonder if avocado oil would be an acceptable substitute, and whether or not this would heavily impact the flavor. I could think that it would add a slightly oily or greasy look to the loaf, but am unsure if it would impact the texture similarly. Perhaps sunflower oil could bring out the nuttier flavors of the walnuts.

Something I enjoyed about this recipe was the precision of the lined paper. I found the level of exactness required for this loaf to be intriguing. I also had an opportunity to research citron and currants. I had heard of currants before and understood them to be similar to cranberries, but I don't think that is the case. In fact, currants have 4 times the amount of iron in them (thanks Google!) than blackberries, and also taste similar, but they have more of a sweetness to them. Today I was listening to Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon album while writing this, and also, the Let's Talk to Lucy podcast, both of which can be found on Spotify. This was so fun! I am in a coffee shop by my apartment and having a really good time, I paused earlier and just smiled as wide as a dope in this cafe earlier, looking at nothing in particular. I enjoyed this recipe and experience. I also got to test out my writing-and-reading-synchronously skills and I don't think I did too bad!