Orange Bread

 Orange Bread

    I ran a poll on Twitter last week, to determine what I would make next for my blog. The four choices were Raisin Bread, Orange Bread, Nut Bread and Grapenuts Bread (Yes, that Grapenuts).  In a stunning result, there was a tie between Orange Bread and Grapenuts Bread!! I ran a tie-breaker poll and Orange Bread won. I decided though that I would bake the runner-up next week.  So now we'll talk about Orange Bread. 

    Like I've said before, a lot of these old community cookbooks do not include pan sizes, oven temps and measurements are not always given.  The Orange Bread recipe did not give a measurement for salt, called for 4 teaspoons of baking powder (what???), did not say what size pan (I used a regular loaf pan) and again, no oven temp (I used 350 degrees).  I had fun making this, even though I was worried about how it would turn out with so much baking power and having to guess at how much salt to use.  I decided to "split the difference" and do two teaspoons of salt.  It was a little bit of a pain to prepare the orange peel.  I used a zester and then still tried to grind the pieces.  I was pleased with how the pieces of peel turned out.  Sifting the flour, baking powder and salt not one, but four times, was a pain also, but I did it.  I cooked the orange peel with sugar, which made a bit of an orange syrup and set it aside to cool.  After letting the syrup cool for awhile, I sifted those ingredients and set them aside. Then I combined the milk with the egg and added the orange syrup before slowly adding the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients.  I lightly greased and floured the loaf pan and I was ready to go.  

    So, I had decided to bake the bread for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.  When I checked it, it had spilled outside one side of the pan. I pulled the pan out, scraped off the bit which had overflowed and shoved it back in there, because it wasn't done.  I think (I'm clearly so well-organized that I don't remember how much longer I baked it; so helpful!) that I baked it for another 15-20 minutes and took it out to cool.  

Once it was cool, I cut into it and surprisingly, I really liked how the texture looked. I cut a slice and put a bit of butter on it and nervously tried it.  The verdict?? Definitely a bit too salty.  One teaspoon may work well.  It wasn't super orange-y flavored, but it was good (other than tasting too salty) and the texture was good.  It wasn't dessert bread texture (soft like banana bread), but definitely like regular bread.  

The next day I thought I'd try to make French toast with it and that turned out really well.  It was yummy enough, that I'm going to slice the rest of the loaf, to freeze and make French toast with when I want it.

Will I make this again? Yes, because I am determined to get the baking powder & salt combination right; along with the baking time and a stronger orange flavor.  Like I said, I think I will try less salt and maybe less baking powder. 

Anyhow, pictures below.  Thank you to Mrs. B. Christerson who submitted this recipe to the church community cookbook which started this all. 

1) The Recipe

2) The orange syrup

3) The "Disaster" (It spilled into the bottom of my oven)

4) The good and bad sides of the loaf after it was cooled

5) The view of what the bread actually looked like; I was trying to show the little speckles of orange peel in there as well as the texture