Cardamon Pear Bread

I never buy fruit for the express purpose of baking with the exception of apples for pie at Thanksgiving. I bought four large Barlett pears last weekend for a dinner gathering but used only two. Pears eaten like an apple or peach is not my preference. I’ll slice them into a salad, like I did for the dinner party with shaved hard, pungent cheeses like Asiago, Romano and provolone picante and then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and cracked black pepper. So, the two orphaned pears sat on the counter all weak, their previous attained bruises darkening. So, I peeled them and pureed them and made this bread. I used home milled flour, 2 cups soft white wheat and 1/2 c hard white wheat. As always I increased the amount of nuts from 1/2 c to 1 cup.

Cardamon Pear Bread

1 large or 3 small loaf pans

1 c freshly pureed ripe pears (about 2 medium, peeled and cored)

½ c extra virgin coconut oil

1 egg

2 tsp grated lemon peel

¼ c milk

2 ½ cups flour

½ c granulated sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp cardamom

½ c walnuts

Mix the pear puree, oil, egg, lemon peel and milk in the mixer on low using paddle attachment. Add the flour, sugar, and other dry ingredients. Add nuts. Pour into greased pan(s) and bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes (for single large pan) or 35-45 minutes for smaller pans.

Glaze:

1 c powdered sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

½ tsp ground cardamom

1-2 Tbsp milk or cream

Mix and them spoon over the still warm loaf/loaves.