I can’t believe it’s April 1st?!
These next few months are going to speed by and then we will be into summer. . the change of weather here in Madison has everyone in good spirits and actually doing activities outside because even though it’s still in the 40’s (and sometimes even hitting 60!), it’s a huge improvement from the weather that we endured this winter.
A lot of my friends asked me how I survived my first Midwest winter and frankly, it was this blog. Writing, cooking, baking, keeping busy and seeing my family happy. Being holed up in a house is not my idea of fun. I need to get out. But when I can’t, I simply must bake.
I love my Twelve Loaves baking group . . this group has kept me sane, challenged and active. I love that we are presented with a new challenge or theme every month and if it weren’t for Twelve Loaves, I probably never would have attempted these breads: my Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart bread, my Greek Easter bread (I loved this one), my French Baguettes, my brioche and more.
Now, I can get down with yeast. I know what to do. I’m no expert but I know what to do, what to look for. Now, of course, there’s always room for improvement and I love learning and attending classes and such. I’m so excited I get to attend a Bake For Good weekend with King Arthur Flour this weekend in Minneapolis! We’re going to be learning about yeast breads and pies and more! I’ll also be meeting some of my favorite baker bloggers so I am beyond excited. I can’t wait to see what tips and tricks they teach us!
This month for Twelve Loaves we’re celebrating oranges! Now, there’s something so easy and light with a quick bread. You’re not messing with any yeast so it’s faster and you can enjoy your baked bread within about an hour and half max.
And because we are celebrating oranges, not only did I add orange zest into the bread but I had to make a candied orange marmalade for you. I actually should have cooked my oranges for a bit longer but ran out of time and the sun was going to leave me. The last time I made this marmalade, I ate the oranges, rind and all with my cake. Everything was so cooked down and soft, it was delicious. This time, we just ate the oranges and discarded the rind but the marmalade was delicious!
And I also added the fresh strawberry jam that I made last month into this quick bread. . I really love the strawberry + orange combination. If you’ve never tried these together, you simply must!
Today is my wedding anniversary. . yes, we got married on April 1st. (haha) No, we really did. And although this Strawberry and Orange quick bread is all gone, you can bet that I will be cooking and baking something fabulous for my husband today.
Cheers and I hope you enjoy!
Strawberry and Orange Quick Bread with Candied Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
For the quick bread:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- zest from one navel orange
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened or at room temp
- 1/2 cup strawberry jam
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the candied orange marmalade:
- 3 navel oranges
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- sprinkle of turbinado sugar if desired
Instructions
For the quick bread:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a standard sized loaf pan with parchment paper and grease or spray the parchment paper with non-stick baking spray and set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and orange zest in a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter, jam and vanilla until smooth and well combined.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together until well combined. Spread the mixture evenly into your prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 10-15 minutes and then remove your quick bread from the baking pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
For the candied orange marmalade:
- Once your bread is in the oven, you can start on the marmalade: wash and dry the oranges and cut off the tops and bottoms on ONE. Slice ONE orange as thinly a possible while still keeping their shape, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, discarding any seeds as they appear. Place the orange slices in a small pot with a heavy bottom. Juice the remaining 2 oranges (you should end up with about a cup of juice) and pour the juice over the sliced oranges. Let sit for 20 minutes.
- Cook over medium-high heat until the liquid comes to a boil. Decrease the heat slightly and simmer until the orange peels are soft, for about 20 minutes. Don’t stir, which will destroy the pretty round shape of the citrus. Add the sugar evenly over the top and continue cooking until the sugar is dissolved. Cook until thickened and the juice has gelled slightly and is syrupy, for about 20 minutes longer. Remove from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
- Arrange the candied orange slices over the top of the quick bread, slightly overlapping them if you wish. Drizzle some of the marmalade syrup over the slices and allow it to drip down the sides of the strawberry and orange bread. Sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top if desired and enjoy!
Quick Bread recipe adapted from Renee’s Strawberry Almond Quick Bread
This month for #TwelveLoaves, we’re celebrating Oranges!! Choose a recipe including oranges. Your bread of choice recipe must include orange in the recipe: oranges, orange marmalade, orange zest. In addition to being in the dough, it can also be added to a glaze. Whatever you bake, (yeasted, quick bread, crackers, muffins, braids, flatbreads, etc) have fun and let’s have a delicious month of bread with ORANGES.
Check out what the rest of the Twelve Loaves baking group baked up today! Take a look at each one, pin and save for later!
- Blueberry Dreamsicle Orange Lower-Fat Quick Bread from Shockingly Delicious
- Brith with candied orange from Ma che ti sei mangiato
- It’s Thyme for Orange Dinner Rolls from Cookistry
- Orange Biscuits from Magnolia Days
- Orange-Fennel Cake Doughnuts from girlichef
- Orange Marmalade Filled Sweet Rolls from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Orange Marmalade Scones from A Baker’s House
- Orange Pull-Apart Bread from All That’s Left Are The Crumbs
- Orange Pull Apart Bread with Orange Cream Cheese Glaze from Bakingyummies
- Orange Rolls from Basic N Delicious
- Orange Rosemary Boule from Food Lust People Love
- Orange You Delicious Honey Crescent Rolls from Kudos Kitchen By Renee
- Pizza di Pasqua from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Rye and fennel seeds snails with blood oranges and red onion chutney from Rise of the sourdough preacher
- Sicilian Orange Sweet Bread from Cake Duchess
If you’d like to add your bread to the collection with the Linky Tool this month, here’s what you need to do:
1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure that you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone’s posts. Please make sure that your bread is inspired by the theme!
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3. Have your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked this April, 2014, and posted on your blog by April 30, 2014.
#TwelveLoaves is a monthly bread baking party created by Lora from Cake Duchess. #TwelveLoaves runs so smoothly thanks to the help of the lovely Renee from Magnolia Days and Heather from GirliChef.
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