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Walnut Bread is a very nice tea bread bursting with the flavor of sweet
dates and crunchy walnuts. Jean Anderson states in her book 'The American
Century Cookbook' that the first recipes for this bread began to appear in the 1920s,
and it was so popular in the 1930s that it was used
to make tea sandwiches. These tea sandwiches are so lovely you may
want to try them; two thinly sliced pieces of the bread
are
sandwiched together with a layer of cream cheese or butter and then cut
into fingers, squares or triangles.
The name 'date' comes from the Greek "daktulos" which means "finger" and
refers to its shape. Dates are the sweet fruit of the palm tree and
they grow in large bunches, with each date measuring between 1 - 3 inches
(2.5 - 7.5 cm) long. A large part of the date crop is dried which
increases its already high sugar concentration and keeps the dates from
spoiling. When dates are dried they become sticky, soft and plump, and the skin of
the date seems to disappear as it cannot be distinguished from the flesh.
For this recipe we are using dried pitted dates. If the dates you buy
still have their pits, you will need to remove them. Just cut a slit down the length of the date with a sharp knife and
then slide out the small smooth pit. Dried dates can be found in the
produce section of your grocery store. I usually buy the ones that are
packed in 10 ounce (283 gram) plastic tubs. Always check the dates for
mold.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Grease (or spray with
a nonstick vegetable spray) a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan.
Set aside.
Toast
the walnuts for about 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and
then chop coarsely.
In a large bowl mix the chopped
dates with the baking soda and a pinch of salt (1/8 teaspoon). Pour 1 cup
(240 ml) of very hot water over the dates, stir, and leave to cool to room
temperature (about 1 hour).
In your food processor
place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Process to
combine and then add the butter. Process until the mixture resembles coarse
breadcrumbs. Then stir in the chopped walnuts.
In a separate bowl, whisk the
egg with the vanilla extract.
Finally, fold the flour mixture
and beaten egg mixture into the cooled dates (with their water). Stir until combined.
Scrape the batter into the
prepared pan and bake until the bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the
center comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Place on a wire rack to cool
and then remove the bread from the pan. Well wrapped, this bread will keep for
several days at room temperature.
Makes one - 9 x 5 x 3 inch
loaf.
Source:
Anderson, Jean.
The American Century Cookbook. Clarkson/Potter Publishers. New York: 1997.
Cadogan, Mary. 101 Cakes and Cookies. Hylas Publishing. New
York. 2003.
Daly, Regan. In the Sweet Kitchen. Random
House Canada: 2000.
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