Kiss the Cook: Berries, bread in a blended bliss

Who says a single guy needs to starve or order take-out all the time?

Cooking is fun and simple. I have long enjoyed the soul-healing benefits of cooking, experimenting and testing new recipes. That has served me well as I’ve embarked on a new path in life.

Driving around our beautiful local area, I can’t help but notice all the signs for local, fresh strawberries. The season is short, but delicious. The following is a recipe that combines strawberries and chocolate.

Add some Port or Rose wine from one of our local wineries and you have a great dessert for your date night. You can easily substitute chopped pecans in place of the chocolate.

Strawberry Chocolate Bread
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Servings: 24

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh strawberries (diced or sliced)
3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or Pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
2. Butter and flour two 9” x 5” loaf pans. I use unsalted sweet cream butter.
3. You may slice or dice your strawberries (I prefer diced) and place in a bowl, sprinkle with sugar and keep to the side while preparing the batter.
4. For the batter: combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in a bowl, mix well. Blend the oil and eggs into the strawberries. Add the strawberry mix into the flour mixture until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Now add the chocolate chips (or pecans) and stir well until all the dry ingredients are worked into a wet batter. Divide this batter in half into the 2 loaf pans.
5. Bake in the preheated oven on the center rack about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Test both loaves. Now cool your loaves in the pans on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Turn the pans over and remove the loaves. Let cool well before slicing.
This bread is very moist. My parents enjoy it with cream cheese spread.