Strawberry Marscapone Bread

Of the various obsessions I have pending at any given time, a constant (at least for the past year or so) has been Penzey's. I've mentioned it in the past, and if you haven't had the chance to check one out, or go online, you really must--it's a fantastic store, offering up almost every spice, out there, along with some nice boxed spice sets. (They make great gifts!)

My most frequently used spice is their Vietnamese Cassia Cinnamon. Sweetholyjesus it's awesome--rich, heady, maybe even decadent in it's aroma and taste. I find myself putting it in all sorts of dishes, just to see how it will perform. Usually, it performs fantastically.

The other wonderful thing about Penzey's is their mail-order catalogue. It's great because if you sign up for it, you almost always get a coupon for a free spice or seasoning with each issue (this time around, it's Cajun spice mix). It's also great because they have really homey, all-American interviews with families that use Penzey's spices in their various dishes. You know, something like "Aunt Mabel's All-American Meatloaf" or "Uncle Henry's Famous Chili." It's kind of wholesome-hokey, but also kind of sweet. Frequently, they include recipes for their dishes, with suggestions on how to use various Penzey's spices. While perusing my most recent issue, I came across a recipe for Strawberry Bread, sent in by a Chicago couple that's been married 52 years. As I finally had a relatively free evening last night (and some strawberries from this past summer that I'd frozen), I decided to give their recipe a go--with some tweaks (of course, because god knows I can't just follow the directions as written).

Reviews from co-workers were highly favorable, so I thought I'd pass it along:

Strawberry Marscapone Bread

3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. Vietnamese Cassia cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup melted and cooled unsalted butter
1 3/4 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
6 oz. marscapone cheese (room temperature cream cheese would work as well)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 tbls. heavy cream, buttermilk, or half & half
20 oz. strawberries, or any berry for that matter, thawed with juices
turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw), or other large-crystal sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour (or, line with parchment paper) two standard loaf pans. Mix together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in small bowl.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and butter until well incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in vanilla and marscapone cheese.

3. Fold in the dry ingredients until just incorporated. If at this point the batter seems a little dry, add gradual tablespoons of cream/buttermilk/half&half until it is moistened, but not soaking wet...the batter is going to be pretty thick. Fold in the strawberries and their accumulated juices.

4. Divide batter into the two pans and sprinkle the tops of the loaves liberally with the the turbinado sugar and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. (I started testing for doneness around 1:05). When a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, pull them out of the oven, place on wire racks and allow to cool.

Voila! A little bit of early summer in the middle of winter!