Winter Baking!

Now that my daughter's birthday party is a thing of the past, I'm back to my "normal" routine; working in the kitchen! I practically live in the kitchen/dining area; it's a good location to survey most of the house from, and the kitchen island is a great spot to sit with my laptop in the mornings, soaking up sunlight and drinking coffee! Anyway, last night I baked 8 little loaves of date bread. Some will be sent to my Mom, whose birthday is February 1st, and some will  be going into my belly!

My Mom "winters" in Arizona, and every year she sends me a box of fresh dates (see photo below) from a date farm she visits in California.  I usually use them all up when making Date Pinwheel Cookies (see the December post with recipe), but had some left over. So, date bread it was!

This recipe is "borrowed" from Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com), and adapted from Ina Garten (The Barefoot Contessa).

Date Spice Loaf  

2 cups coarsely chopped dates (10 ounces pitted)
1/3 cup orange liqueur such as Cointreau or Triple Sec (I used Grand Marnier)
4 Tbl. (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 large egg
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Tbl. grated orange zest (I skipped the zest)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. Kosher salt
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3 oranges)
3/4 cup (3 ounces) coarsely chopped pecans (I used glazed pecans - yum!)

Preheat the oven to 350.  Butter and flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch pan.  Combine the dates and orange liqueur in a small bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.  Stir occasionally.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together on medium speed for one minute.  Scrape down the bowl.  With the mixer on low, add the egg, vanilla and orange zest.  Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.  With the mixer still on low, add the flour mixture alternately with the orange juice to the creamed mixture, beating only until combined.  By hand, stir in the dates with their liquid, and the pecans.  Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

*I opted to make 8 small loaves, so I could ship some to Arizona. I baked them at the same temperature (350), but only for 30 minutes.  Four loaves, in cute cellophane bags,  fit perfectly in a small box.

I hope my Mom likes them!