Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Marmalade Quick Bread

When March rolls around and buttermilk goes on sale I always get it. I bake a lot with yogurt, because I always have it on hand for so many uses. I've really got to start making my own. Buttermilk is a little less useful in my household. I hate that I can't drink it straight, for example, but I think some people can or do. Which is repulsive, personally. It's also somewhat expensive, comparatively. But I do love baking with it. So, I've been fiddling around with a few recipes and also keeping in mind the many jars of jelly in the fridge that I have to use in some way. In that spirit, I made Marmalade Bread.

The marmalade I had on deck was a tangerine microwaved version with vanilla that had set a little too firm, and the chunks of peel were like soft candy. I warmed it up a bit so it would mix well in this batter. The resulting bread was a gorgeous yellow, flecked with orange bits and vanilla flecks. It is a lightly sweet bread, fluffy and soft, and perfect for a mid-morning snack. The recipe has only two tablespoons of sugar in it, plus the jam. I didn't feel too bad having a second slice! And either did the baby.

Preheat to 375. Grease a square 8x8 pan.

1 2/3 all purpose flour
2 T sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup light olive oil
1/2 to 3/4 cup of jam or marmalade

Mix wet and add to dry. Batter will be sticky. Bake for thirty minutes or until golden brown.

24 comments:

  1. Oh, wow, Jules. Make my day! I want to try this right now -- but didn't I say something about going outside? Soon, then. I think I'll try it with some of my crazy grapefruit vanilla marm, and I'll see if I can make a gluten-free version. (How crazy is it to be a jam freak and also gluten intolerant . . . no fair!) All of this probably means I'll make a great big mess of it, but I bet I'll learn something.

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  2. Looks absolutely delicious. I think I'm the only Can Jammer who has yet to make marmalade this year; I may have to make up a batch of my orange-chile marm just to make this bread!

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  3. This looks fantastic! I can't wait to make some with my canjam grapefruit marmalade!

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  4. Looks delicious! And a great way to use marmalade -- I love to have recipes for things I've canned or the pantry just gets fuller and fuller.
    Though it might gross you out more than the thought of drinking straight buttermilk (which i have been known to do) I have to confess that whenever I have milk that has soured I use it in recipes that call for buttermilk and it works perfectly!

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  5. Shae - I hope you went outside! That's totally no fair. Let me know how the gluten free one goes...I'm sure it will be delish!

    Kaela - That orange chili marm sounds so awesome. You could do a little micro batch? Yes?

    Meg - Thanks! I hope it comes out good. This will help me clear out all those half-full jars. (Very optimistic!)

    IB/Talia (Right?) - Thanks! I saw that gorgeous picture of your backlit wall of preserves! Of course you need lots of recipes for all that goodness. I love that you use soured milk to cook with; I know you can make do with adding lemon juice to milk to sour it. However, silly me never thought to bake with past due milk. Now I will never throw it out! Thanks!

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  6. this looks so good! i must try it. i have that same problem with buttermilk. i love to bake with it but always end up hard pressed to use it all. one way i've found is to make indian lassi - better in the summer - and better when made with yogurt and buttermilk.

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  7. You read my mind! I saw some recipee recently for marmalade cake, but in fact did not use marmalade. And I've been thinking ever since I need to find one!

    Why is buttermilk on sale in the spring? I've never noticed...

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  8. I LOVE IT AND WISH I COULD EAT IT.

    Did you get chickens???!!!

    Love, Mamou

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  9. This marmalade cake looks wonderfully moist and fluffy. If you don't use up your buttermilk, you can always freeze the remainder for the next time you need it.

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  10. Marmalade! I have not bake a cake / bread with it! Love to try it one day.

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  11. Hey Julia,

    Nice work. I'm also getting into breads. Just started working my way through Jim Lahey's "My Bread" book about no-kneed breads - so easy! You should check it out, I think you might love it.

    gen (http://www.considerthepantry.com)

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  12. Tigress - Good idea! Thanks for the tip. I might need it; just bought more buttermilk.

    Sara - Yes, I did! Mwah haha ha! It's on sale because of Irish Soda bread/St. Pat's and all.

    Mamou- Yes, I got them! More on that later...

    Christine - Great idea! Thanks!

    Ellie - You could make this with both hands tied behind your back!

    Gen - Thanks! You're right, that book is SO up my alley. I love no-knead breads. I always wonder: how could I make such good bread? Amazing.

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  13. I cook with a lot of yogurt, too. It's handy, no?

    Buttermilk goes off sooner than I can usually use the whole quart, grrr. Thanks for reminding me of another way to use it up when I've got it!

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  14. I have just discovered baking with buttermilk recently. In the past I've just used milk when a recipe calls for it because I hate having 3/4 of a container of buttermilk left over after I use the called for 1/4 of a cup. And you're right, drinking it? Ugh! My grandmother is the only human being I've ever known to do that.

    You're recipe sounds great! I'm going to try it.

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  15. Hey Domestic Adventurer- Thanks for stopping by and leaving me a comment! Let me know how the bread comes out!

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  16. Looks beautiful! I've been looking for more ways to use the can jam marmalade I cooked up in January. This seems more healthful than the cookies I had planned - perhaps both!

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  17. Julia - why don't you make buttermilk? Save 1/4 cup of that starter, add to 1 cup milk in a jar on the counter covered with paper towel until it sets up then refrigerate. In a week take 1/4 of that and make a new batch if you haven't used it all yet. If you need more use that same ratio the night before you need it. I use buttermilk in my bread and pancakes and scones and biscuits so we go through quite a bit but at least if you only make 1 cup worth you won't be buying & tossing it all the time.

    And that cake looks and sounds yummy...

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  18. This looks fantastic. Can you believe I've eaten an entire bowl of strawberries topped with nothing but cold buttermilk and a bit of brown sugar? It may seem like sheer craziness, but it was actually pretty good.

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  19. HalfGinger - Ah, yes. Using up the marm to make room for more canned goods! You'll have to make both cos cookies rule too.

    Annette - You rule. I'm doing it! Thanks for the tip.

    Denise - That sounds oddly good to me. Something about the strawberries and sugar...

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  20. about using buttermilk...i used to look only for recipes w/o it, hating to throw anything out. but now, i freeze it! pour into containers that just fit bakeable amounts (1/4 C, 1/2C, etc...)stack and freeze. not good for drinking - it does separate, but perfect for baking!

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  21. Cydney - Love it! Thanks for leaving me that tip. You know, I just recently discovered I could freeze cream, which I didn't know. This is another great freezing discovery!

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  22. Just discovered your blog, and this was the first thing I tried. I used Meyer Lemon Marmalade that I made last week, and it was fantastic. Glad to see the comments about freezing buttermilk and cream too.

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  23. Ronda - Thanks so much for letting me know that! It also reminded me of this cake. I've got marm overload!

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  24. Love marmalade and use a lot of buttermilk which I swear by. You realize that buttermilk scones and biscuits come out superior to regular milk. Also you can t made Irish soda bread (best bread in the world) without buttermilk. Now I am going to make this loaf because I know from reading ingredients it is going to be excellent.

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