ORANGE PECAN BREAD

 Day 3 of my "Gifts from the Kitchen" posts that I have been making to give to neighbors and friends. This one got chosen because I ate too many of the Lemon Date Pecan Muffins that I had made and needed something else to put in the bag. It just might be one of my favorites of everything I made though. I definitely will be making it again after the first of the year and I buy more pecans.

The recipe is a favorite at the Seafair Inn in Ogunquit, Maine. And yes it came from The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook. They said, "We like to serve Orange Pecan Bread in the winter months, mainly because the Florida oranges are at their best, but also because the flavors in the bread help to warm your insides when it's cold outside." It wasn't too cold outside when I ate a muffin I made from it so all I can say is, "I loved the orange taste and all of the pecans in it!" 

The recipe was supposed to make 1 larger loaf or three mini loaves. Well, if I had made three mini loaves, they would have been too small. I decided to make two mini loaves and then one Bundt muffin. This little Bundt pan is one of two that my CO grandkids gave me a number of Christmases ago. They also gave me two little individual pie plates at the same time. It makes such a cute little Bundt cake. I also decided to make a powdered sugar/orange juice glaze and drizzled that over the two loaves and the Bundt muffin that Wayne and I enjoyed.

When I make them the next time, I will think hard about just making muffins from all of the batter. 

BTW. Were you able to see the conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn Monday night? We actually watched for it Friday and Saturday nights as they got closer in line. Sunday night it was hazy so we couldn't see the stars. Monday night though it was clear so we drove over to the vacant lot by Menards, which is about the highest place near us to watch with quite a few other people parked along the road. We didn't think about taking our binoculars which was too bad. Several friends posted on Facebook that they did and how much they could see. It was fascinating to see the movement of Saturn though as the first two nights we watched, it looked like a faint star on the left of the bright star (Jupiter). Monday night it was on the right side of Jupiter. We also went again last night, but there were some dark clouds in the west and it kept going in and out of our eye sight. It is an amazing almost end to this crazy 2020 that we would be able to view this awesome planetary event that last occurred in 1226. It is one spectacular blessing for this year. 

ORANGE PECAN BREAD

1/2      cup butter (1 stick)

3/4      cup sugar

2         eggs, separated

Grated rind of 1 large orange (I used 1 tablespoon dried orange peel)

1/2      cup fresh orange juice

1-1/2   cups flour

1-1/2   teaspoons baking powder

1/4      teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1         cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 - inch loaf pan or 2 mini loaf pans. Set aside. (I thought I was going to get three mini loaves but there wasn't enough batter.)

Cream the butter and sugar til

smooth.

Beat the egg yolks and orange rind

together.

Add the orange juice to the mixture.

Add to creamed mixture and

whisk together. 

Combine the dry ingredients with a whisk and stir into the mixture.

(I did a little bit at a time.)

Mix in the pecans.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.

Fold into the batter. Remember you are "folding" not stirring. Stirring will break down the egg whites.

Fill the pan(s).

Bake for 50 minutes for the large loaf, about 35 minutes for the mini loaves.

(I cooked the Bundt muffin 20 minutes.)

Cool about 10 minutes in pans on wire rack before removing to finish cooling on rack.

I made a glaze with sifted powdered sugar and a little orange juice and drizzled it over the loaves and our Bundt muffin.