Happy Thanksgiving, Max. May you cook and eat all day.
I should have sent this recipe on to you yesterday so you could have it for breakfast today. So, I’m late, as usual. Make it up tomorrow as your family will be there all the rest of the week.
Ever notice that in all the hoopla over Thanksgiving Dinner, that the magazines ignore Thanksgiving Breakfast? And that is an important part of the holiday.
We usually eat the main meal in the middle of the afternoon, so you don’t want to spoil anyone’s appetite by having a lunch at noon. So breakfast is a must.
Oh, I know that most people just buy some doughnuts or Danish at the store and call it a meal.
I like to make a sweet bread and serve it toasted with butter or cream cheese.
There are several versions of Kentucky Prune Bread from the last century. Many are yeast risen. And no, I don’t know why so many Prune Breads have Kentucky in their names. We certainly never had a prune industry.
I like this one as it is a Quick Bread without yeast, and because with the prune juice you end up with a dark, moist bread that keeps well.
If you don’t have Black Walnuts (or your better half refuses to crack out a cup of nuts), you can use English Walnuts. It will have a slightly different flavor, but faced with the chore of cracking out a cup of Black Walnuts (there are plenty in our driveway right now that we are driving over to remove the hulls). Since driving over Black Walnuts doesn’t crush the shells, you can imagine what effort it takes to crack them open. We used to use an anvil and a sledge hammer. Believe me, there is a reason that you can’t buy nice plastic bags of Black Walnuts in the nut section of the grocery.
As you know, I only use prunes that have soaked for weeks in brandy in my kitchen. That does add an additional degree of richness to the bread. Also, as you know, Max, the baker should ALWAYS test sample the brandied prunes before using. Snack on a prune, or two, or three. Your outlook on life will mellow out appreciably.
Kentucky Prune and Black Walnut Bread:
1 cup prunes
½ cup prune juice
¼ cup orange juice
1 egg
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup black walnut meats
Original recipe: “Soak the prunes for one hour.”
Erma’s Recipe: Skip this step as you have already soaked your package of prunes in brandy for several weeks.
Drain the prunes well and cut into small pieces with kitchen shears.
Beat egg in a stand mixer, and stir in sugar and prunes. Add melted butter.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and add to the mixture. Alternate with the prune and orange juice. Be sure batter is well mixed.and add the chopped nuts.
Place in a greased bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.
