Cherry-Almond-Chocolate Bread

Cherry-Almond-Chocolate Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1/3 cup orange juice

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• 1 large egg, beaten

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 3/4 cup pitted, tart cherries

• 1/3 cup chopped almonds

• 1.5 ounce 95% dark chocolate, chopped

• 2 to 3 tbsp rolled oats

• 1 tsp Turbinado sugar

• 1/4 tsp black sesame seeds

• 1 tbsp cold butter, diced or chopped into small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F (Convection325˚F). Grease a 9 X 5 loaf pan.

2. Allow the cherries to drain in a colander and then set on paper towels to soak up any excess water/juice.

3. In a large bowl, add milk, juice, oil and egg and whisk to combine.

4. In a separate bowl, combine, dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

5. Add the flour mixture into the milk mixture in increments. Stir until just combined. Do not over mix. Batter should be the consistency of a thick, wet batter.

6. Fold in the cherries, nuts and chocolate.

7. Pour the batter into the pan and with a spatula, gently smooth the batter evenly.

8. Evenly scatter the oats to cover the top of the bread. Sprinkle the sugar and black sesame seeds over the oats. Dot the topping with the diced butter pieces.

9. Place bread in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean.

10. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan to a wire rack and cool completely before cutting.

Yields: 8 to 10 slices

Notes&Tips:

• Every year when July comes around, I'm wracking my brain for new recipes for my tart cherries harvested from my back yard. And this Cherry-Chocolate-Almond Bread is a keeper!

• I must admit that I don't like to add any more sweet than is necessary to my breads and never do I do chocolate in a bread recipe. However, I needed to use up this bar of Lindt 95% dark chocolate and because I was using tart cherries I thought it would be a great combination. I was not wrong; and I added almonds for some crunch and because I wanted something "healthy" in this bread. It was a win-win-win all around.

• I also felt that this bread needed a topping and since I love oats and rolled oats make such a nice presentation in its whole form, I topped it with rolled oats, a bit of turbinado and black sesame to contrast the white/cream oats and the butter to help keep it all in place. This bread was a work of art that I did not want to cut into. It looked so beautiful that the pictures did not do justice to its beauty!

• We ate this bread for a Saturday morning breakfast just like that. It needed nothing else. However, you can put a pat of butter if you'd like.