Date and Orange Loaf

This week’s blog posting is a little late as I was distracted by watching the tennis at Roland Garros and taking a trip to Luxembourg to accept a new job. I will be writing about Luxembourg in future blogs.

Date and Orange Loaf is an easy to make and transport quick bread . It was inspired when a friend brought me a box of dates from Algeria. I don’t eat a lot of dates and didn’t want them to go bad. It is a perfect breakfast treat to prepare in advance when you have guests too.

Date and Orange Loaf

Makes 1 - 23 x 13 cm (9x5-inch ) loaf

250 mL (1 cup) chopped pitted dates
185 mL (3/4 cup) boiling water
5 mL (1 tsp) baking soda
1 small orange, cut in 6 pieces, seeded
375 mL (1-1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
250 mL (1 cup) nuts (optional)
185 mL (3/4 cup) sugar
2 eggs
30 mL (2 tbsp) butter, cut in 4 pieces
5 mL (1 tsp) salt

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F)

Combine dates, water and baking soda in small bowl; set aside. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
Place orange pieces in a food processor fitted with a metal blade; process about 15 seconds. Add flour, nuts, sugar, eggs, butter, salt and half the date mixture; process 5 seconds to mix. Add remaining date mixture; process about 15-20 seconds until well mixed. Pour into loaf pan. Bake for 55 -65 minutes until loaf springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool for 10 minutes. Loosen sides with knife and remove from pan.