Spice Bread with honey glaze

It was 80 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, then 40 degrees on Friday. Fall is getting a short shrift this year, as summer and winter shove each other back and forth like bullies on a playground. But Thursday was so cold that I wore a coat outside. One with a hood. And that little jaunt brought me back inside and thinking about sweet breads. Sweet breads are a cool weather darling. They all take around an hour to cook, and they warm the house nicely as they do. And when they come out you can eat a slice warm with milk of coffee. How lovely is that? So nice that I made two- the French Lemon Loaf you have seen before (link HERE), and my beloved Spice Bread.

 While I adore zucchini and banana breads (also perfect for winter, because you can freeze grated zuch and whole bananas to save and make later), this is truly just a bread made with spices. Simple and homey, and very comforting. And if you coat it with a honey-butter glaze it's just a little bit(e) of heaven.

Above you see all the ingredients needed for the cake.

Spice Bread

 1 stick of butter, softened (I simply grate it instead of waiting, see photo above)

1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream (or yogurt)

1Tbsp vanilla

Beat these together, then add-

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ginger

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg 

Mix well and pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 325 degrees for approx 50 minutes. Begin checking for doneness at 40 minutes, as differing sizes of pans will take different cooking times. Cook just until a toothpick inserted in the center no longer comes out wet. While cake is hot, pierce with skewer and pour over glaze, if desired. See photos below.

Honey-Butter glaze

melt 2 Tbsp of butter and 1/4 cup of honey till liquid. 

Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. I have four loaf pans and all are different depths and diameters. You just need to keep an eye on it the first time you make it, to see how quick/slow it bakes in your size pan.

Yes, it will look very runny and loose. You only added 1 cup of l flour, remember? (I always look twice, because it seems too little ;)

When the pan is out of the oven you can cook up the glaze.

Then use a skewer to poke holes all over your loaf. Yes, it looks like it had the pox, but each of those greedy little spots will slurp up the glaze and make sinkholes of moist deliciousness.

Look how shiny it is. It will stay that way, with a delightful stickiness to it that is just scrumptious. Of course, you don't have to poke or glaze, it's your choice. I know it looks terrible, but if you want to, you can turn the loaf out onto a plate and serve it with the unblemished bottom upward. I've never found sweet bread really attractive anyway, and so my main concern is that they are moist. I don't care how pretty you can make one look, if it is dry and crumbly I will have to fake cough while I discretely hide it in my napkin. I apologize in advance.

But there will be no need for that with this cake. And no need for that little pat of butter when you heat it back up with you morning coffee. It will still be delicious for days. Isn't that great? Some of the best things can come in homely packages.

But once you put it in your mouth you'll forget all about looks. If you like gingerbread, think of this as her awkward cousin. Is it cold where you are? Give this a try. Your house will smell great, you can stand in front of a warm oven, and then you can sample the first piece while it is really too hot to cut yet. Call it quality control. I won't rat you out!

 

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p.s. you know how I love a bit of word nerdery. I often use weird or antiquated sayings and not everyone is familiar with them. When I wrote "short shrift" above, I wondered if anyone else used it. Here's where the saying came from--

 noun. a brief time for confession or absolution given to a condemned prisoner before his or her execution. little attention or consideration in dealing with a person or matter: to give short shrift to an opponent's arguments.

 And here is what it means today.

 To be or feel ignored, disregarded, or excluded; to get very little time or attention.

Have any of you ever used the saying before?