Happy September
Pecan Crunch Loaf
Wow, as I sit to contemplate my next post, I can hardly believe that it is September. Where did the summer go?
One thing that signifies the end of the summer for us is the local Labour Day weekend fair. My eldest daughter always enters in the Juniors division and submits an assortment of arts and crafts. It has become a tradition and she looks forward to it every year. I, on the other hand, begin to see it looming on the calendar and have mixed feelings. A few years ago I entered quite a few of my baked goods in the household arts division and won, much to the dismay of the older women in my categories. After sweeping the competition one year, I hung up my hat and now focus on the kids participating. The challenge is that I am still required to do so much of the planning, organizing, shopping and preparing, I feel like I should be entering! Now, with that said, I do NOT help her bake or create, I just simply have to offer guidance and suggestions; a job in itself.
This year, my daughter is competing in a loaf baking competition. Loaves are a funny thing. The division my daughter is entering is an open category and can be whatever she chooses. She hummed and hawed over making a lemon loaf but finally decided on a spice loaf with a pecan and brown sugar topping. It’s a recipe I’ve been baking for sometime now. Here’s the recipe; see what you think:
Recipe: Pecan Crunch Loaf
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup of butter, softened
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 tsp. of baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. of salt
- 1 tsp. of nutmeg
- 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 1/2 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar
- 1/4 cup of pecans, chopped
- 1 tsp. of cinnamon
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Separately, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the bowl and the sour cream, folding to combine. Once the mixture is smooth, add another 1/3 cup of the flour mixture while adding the mayonnaise. Stir to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl. Finish by adding the remaining flour mixture and beat until the batter is smooth. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon and top each loaf with the mixture. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes clean.
Microformatting by hRecipe.
