Fresh Strawberry Bread

This one’s for you, Bethanie! (Here’s her recipe fyi, she and I are comparing notes…)

My mom says this is the best ever book on bread baking: Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads: Revised and Expanded. She doesn’t have this newest edition, but our strawberry bread recipe is in both. Want to get inspired? There’s nothing like baking…and Bernard Clayton covers it all in 752 pages…check it out at your library if nothing else. It’s really reasonably priced if you follow the link above. I’m not sure if sharing the recipe here is ethical? My reasoning is, I have no idea what cookbooks most of my recipes come out of (friends share them, etc) and I may unknowingly post here something without giving credit where credit is due. I’d be interested on other’s thoughts concerning this. For now, I’m posting it.

Fresh Strawberry Bread

• 1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
• 1 3/4 cups bread or all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter or other shortening
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (this is optional, I usually substitute pecans–family preference)
• Cream cheese, softened (optional–this is for spreading on the finished product)

Baking pan: 1 medium (8 1/2 x 4 1/2) loaf pan, greased or Teflon, long sides and bottom lined with buttered wax paper.

Preheat oven: 350 degrees F.

Prep (5 minutes): Crush enough of the strawberries to fill 1 cup. Pour into small saucepan and heat over a medium flame. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Cool. Slice remaining strawberries and chill.

By hand (8 minutes): In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients except sugar. In large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and shortening; then add the eggs and water mixing until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, mixing well to blend. Stir in crushed strawberries and walnuts. Pour or spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven. When loaf has cooled in pan for 10 minutes, turn onto a rack to cool. Slice thin and spread with softened cream cheese and top with chilled strawberries.

Yum. Sometimes I just buy the cartons of strawberry cream cheese and use that instead…what a treat!