Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was selected by Caitlin of Engineer Baker. She chose the Cornmeal and Fruit Loaf. I really like Caitlin’s blog; she lives a very busy life and has had a number of challenges lately, but she still sticks with the group. I love that dedication! You can get the complete recipe for this fruit studded quick loaf on Caitlin’s blog. Make sure you also make a visit to the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see how all the bakers interpreted this week’s recipe.

I think I have liked the latter picks in Tuesdays with Dorie; the recipes are a bit more unassuming but have been diamonds in the rough. This recipe is a quick bread with cornmeal and fruit of your choice. I opted for apples and dried apple since I love baking with apples. I had dried apples already, so this was a great opportunity to use them. I’d also like to give this a try with pears, but the selection wasn’t quite as good at the store. I also opted for finely ground cornmeal; we’re not big fans of the coarse ground in our household.

This took less time to assemble than the oven took to preheat and it only messes up one bowl and a liquid measuring cup. I love that! My loaf didn’t rise very much and it seemed to be quite dark on the outside, but the loaf was still moist and not at all overbaked. The bread has the most subtle crunch from the cornmeal. I love the fruit in these, adding a little bit of sweetness without being overpowering. I think this bread would be great with honey butter, but it’s pretty great just on its own.

Recipe from Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, page 43