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It’s always a good sign when you pick up a cookbook in a shop and immediately want to make the first recipe in the book. And then the second. Third. Fourth… Skip to the back of the book—still yummy? Yup. It went straight into my basket and I tossed away my shopping list and shopped from the book instead as I strolled round the supermarket.
The book in question is Every Day by Bill Granger. Bill is the sort of bloke that you’d love to have as a mate. Endlessly inventive in the kitchen and really reliable. He loves to make breakfasts—judging from the huge number of breakfast recipes in the book—and serve it to friends, so weekends must surely be a little bit brighter in Sydney when you’ve got the chance to go and eat brunch at his eponymous restaurants, Bills. (Or if you’re really lucky, and in wit the ‘in-crowd’, maybe Bill will invite you over!)
This Dried Pear and Cranberry loaf started off life as Bill’s Dried Apple, Cherry and Almond loaf, the very first recipe in Every Day. I don’t normally fiddle with recipes the first time I make them, but I had some dried pear in the larder so going out and buying some dried apple felt needlessly frivolous. And then I couldn’t find any dried cherries—plus, Dave doesn’t like cherries—so I went for some gorgeous ruby-red dried cranberries. I don’t think Bill would mind too much.
Interestingly enough for a fat-free quick bread, this loaf is beautifully moist and the flavour develops over time. Like fruit cake it also gets sweeter as it keeps, which suited Lucas very well. He wasn’t overly impressed with the first gently sweetened slice from the newly baked loaf, but a few days later it was much more to his taste. I loved the cranberries and the occasional crunch from the almonds. I’d even be tempted to toss in some sunflower or pumpkin seeds next time. Really, this could be adapted to your own favourite dried fruits and nuts.
This loaf makes a welcome change from all the porridge and muesli I’ve been eating at breakfast-time lately, yet is still astonishingly satisfying and filling. (And speaking of muesli, there’s still time to enter the Kellogg’s Nature’s Pleasure giveaway.) Bill serves his original (apple & cherry) loaf with creamy fresh ricotta and a drizzle of honey, but I found that the salty tang of cream cheese was even better!
Pear & cranberry loaf
Adapted from Every Day by Bill Granger (Murdoch Books)
Makes 12 slices
- 50g rolled oats
- 300ml milk (I used skimmed)
- 240g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 100g dried cranberries
- 75g dried pears, diced
- 75g soft brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 6 tablespoons flaked almonds (4 tablespoons in loaf, 2 for topping)
Put oats in a bowl and pour milk over them. If your dried pears are a bit on the tough and leathery side, then add them to the bowl to soak and plump up a little before baking.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 1kg loaf tin with baking parchment, or if you have some ready-made greaseproof liners then those are fantastic.
Stir remaining ingredients, reserving 2 tablespoons of flaked almonds, into the soaked oat mixture. Mix together well and spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Sprinkle the top with the reserved flaked almonds.
Bake for 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and it is cooked through (ie a skewer comes out clean.) Cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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Hi!
I know that feeling, had exactly the same one yesterday!
It’s fantastic when you look at a recipe and want to try it immediately! I look forward to testing this one out…
I hope you enjoy it, Sigrid! I’ll certainly be making it a lot in the future!
I love this cookbook! While I was working in Australia, a friend gave it to me for Christmas and everything I’ve tried has been delicious. The ricotta cake with poached figs is fabulous (though a little funny looking).
Everything I’ve tried has been fantastic, too! It really is a fantastic book, and perfect for this time of year when you want light and flavoursome food. I’m a big fan of Bill
This loaf sounds and looks delish and definitely one I would love to bake!
Maria
x
Hope you enjoy it, Maria!
This would be reduced to crumbs on the cutting board within minutes. I like your pear and cranberry substitutions, I think I may go that route myself.
Try to hold off cutting, at least overnight. So worth it!
Mmmm, it looks seriously good. It’s nice to know that it’s still moist even when using skimmed milk!
I’ve got a couple of Bill Granger’s book and absolutely love the photography – so clean and simple. It makes me want to move to Australia just to experience it! I’ve resisted his recent books, but this post may have made me re-think. I’m going to look at this book again…..
I have been cooking almost exclusively from this book for the last two weeks. I’ve made the Spicy Chicken Thighs with Cucumber and Cashew Salad five times, but admittedly that is also partly due to me being slightly obsessive. (If you do make it, I’d actually suggest vermicelli pasta rather than rice vermicelli noodles. The rice noodles seem to neutralise even the very hot Bird’s eye chillis that I painstakingly minced up for the dressing. It was eye-wateringly hot before I mixed in the noodles!! Whereas, when I made it first time round with the wrong sort of vermicelli, it was really punchy and hot, which something Thai-inspired should be. I may just have to give in on the authenticity front and go back to the pasta
)
If you like Bill, then give Donna Hay a try, too. I’m developing a bit of an Antipodean thing, I suspect.
You beat me to it – I have been baking the dried apple and cherry loaf for the past year. I was going to blog my version this weekend! The most recent time I made it I used apple and rasins (as dried cherrys suddenly seem way too expensive). The apple and rasin one was good but no where as good as the orginal or your version looks! The apple and cherry loaf is great toasted (with or without butter) for breakfast – the cherries go deliciously gooey! I will be trying cranberry and apple next time thanks to this post.
I love Bill Granger too – I bought his lastest book – feed me now! the other day. I also heard he has a new tv series this year – Holiday – can’t wait! I just discover Donna Hay last month and really like her style already.
I really want a copy of Feed Me Now, which is on for £9 at Amazon, but I am trying SO hard not to buy another book this month. It’s a hard life!
I love loaf breads. HAve tried some with cranberries but never with pear. Sounds like a great idea!
Dried pear was a recent discovery of mine and it is just amazing. I don’t like the graininess of fresh pear very much, but it seems to make sense in the dried fruit. I’d really recommend it.
HELLLOOO thar moist and delicious pear and cranberry loaf! Angela, it not only looks stunning with the bits of fruit, but I can almostt taste it just by looking at it! Beautiful cooking/baking/photos as usual
Oh, thank-you, Lisa! I always say the same about your entries, too. It’s a mutual love-in!
That loaf sounds superb….thanks for sharing it…it looks great.
Using cranberries in place of cherries is a great alternative, I tend to prefer the former over the latter anyhow
. I love the addition of pear too!
Oh yum it looks fantastic. I keep meaning to try some of Bills recipes, maybe this is the place to start.
I think his later books are more accessible than the earlier ones, purely in terms of getting hold of some of the ingredients. He has a new book out, so the older ones seem to be going cheap in supermarkets at the moment!
It’s a great cookbook isn’t it! I’ve already bookmarked a load of things to make. That looks great Angela!
I am really keen to get his latest, Feed Me Now. And I am beyond thrilled to hear that he’s looking for a site to open a Bills in London
Have you ever eaten at Bills?
that loaf looks so good! i love your pictures. the fruit in it sounds delish!
Hi,
I just tumbled to your site and immediately love it. I want to try this recipe but get confuse with the self raising flour. Here in US, we use regular all purpose flour. How should I convert 1 C all purpose flour to self raising flour? Do you I need to omit the 1 teasp baking powder? What other changes do I need to make? Thanks
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