Bread - Applesauce Nut Bread

Well, I've made it through each section (or almost each section since I skipped the canning, and diabetic sections) in the cook book.  That means it is time to go back to the very beginning.  It's a very good place to start, I understand.  Since the Appetizers section is so short, I'm skipping ahead to the Bread section.  Last time we were here I made some rather dense and dry wheat bread.

I've been intending to make this applesauce bread for a few weeks now as I made some applesauce shortly before Thanksgiving.  We were swimming in apples this fall that we picked up from the farmers' market here in St. Paul.  It's difficult to not buy lots and lots of apples in the fall in part because they're so good, but also because soon enough, we are going to be without fresh local fruit for many dark and cold months.  In my exuberance, it isn't uncommon for me to buy more apples than we need though so applesauce is in order.

Here's my recipe for applesauce:
Peel and cut up apples
Cinnamon and maybe ground cloves to taste
A little water
Put it all in a pot and cook until stuff is soft
Squish the biggest pieces.

Easy, simple, delicious

Here's what Mussleman's uses to make applesauce

You know, 'cause apples aren't sweet

What the heck, Mussleman's?  Why add corn syrup?  Wait, I think I know.  Based on your picture, you used sad Red Delicious apples.  Red Delicious apples are a lie.  They are probably the worst apples around.  Why use such crappy apples when there are so many fantastic varieties around, many of which were developed by my alma mater.

There's a reason why kids don't eat their fruits and veggies at school.  It's cause they're served terrible things like Red Delicious apples

Preparation

But I digress.  I didn't come here to bash terrible apples (though I'm happy to do so).  I am writing about applesauce bread.  Here we are:

Quick breads are perfect for when you want something warm and sweet without much fuss.

Like most quick breads, this shouldn't be tough at all.  Mix, bake, eat.  Here is our mise en place.

I have to clean off the high kitchen counter each time I do this 'cause it is a repository for mail, books, things little boys shouldn't have or can no longer have, and it looks like a disaster.  See how clean our house is here?  Pretend it's like that all the time.  I like long captions.

First the dry stuff.

Then it was time to add the walnuts.  Chopping walnuts always seems like a pain.  Nut pieces go flying everywhere.  Using the food processor chops things too unevenly. I wish I had one of these antique nut grinders.  My mom has or had one, and it worked great as far as I remember.

Not super efficient, perhaps, but good.

Instead, I used my manly, muscular hands to destroy the nuts.  RAWR!

Hulk smash!

Time to add the wet ingredients.

Time to mix.

I see trouble ahead

Mixing the batter was troubling.  It was really dry.  The directions say to pour the batter into the bread pan.  There wasn't remotely going to be any pouring here.  In fact, it was so dry, I could nearly have packed into a dough ball.  I did scoop the batter into the pan, pressed it down and put it in the oven though, and here is our final product.

Dense dense dense

Tasting and Reaction

As always, Sarah was happy to have some bread fresh out of the oven.  Surprisingly, James passed.  He must have been too busy with his snowflake.  

We make square snowflakes in this family.  I think hexagonal snow flakes are a myth.

Sarah - I kind of like the crispiness around the crust.

Me - It is so dry.

Sarah - It does seem a little dry.

Me - I could see this being a little tough to eat once it cools down

Sarah - So did apple sauce have more liquid in the 50s? [If you know the answer to this, let me know]

Me - I don't know.  Maybe this could be good turned into a French toast kind of thing.  I don't really taste any apple.

Sarah - I don't think you're supposed to taste it.  In recipes with an applesauce substitute, it takes the place of the oil.

Hmmm... that's news to me.  I'll take her word for it.  I will say that I was a little disappointed that there wasn't much of an apple flavor to it.  It almost seemed like a waste of delicious (not Red Delicious) applesauce.  The next day, I did try to turn the applesauce bread into French toast.

Better?

Sadly, the bread was so dense, it didn't soak up very much of the custard.  It was hot, sweet, and a bit more tender, but not what I had hoped it would be.  Maybe if it were soaked for a LONG time in custard it could be turned into a bread pudding or something, but there wasn't much to do with the bread.  However, as it was sweet, and I have a sweet tooth that won't quit, it didn't last long.  It is unlikely that I'll be making this recipe again though, I'm sorry to say.

Oh well.

Next time:  Sour Milk Orange Cake