"Jewish Bread" (Anyu's Date Nut Bread)
Author Notes: Going through my grandmother's recipes, I came across this cryptically-named recipe with sparse instructions. The ingredients were even more puzzling; would a recipe with 3 eggs but only 5 Tablespoons of flour even work?
What emerged from my oven was a golden loaf, rich with dates and nuts, a cousin to fruitcake and perfect with an afternoon cup of tea. Anyu knew what she was doing! —Windischgirl
Makes 1loaf
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons All-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Walnuts, chopped
- 1 pound Dates, chopped
- 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
- Cooking spray
- Heat the oven to 350F. Prepare a 9x5 loaf pan by spraying with cooking spray and dusting it with flour.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer using the beater blade, beat the 3 eggs, the sugar, and the vanilla extract at high speed until pale colored and fluffy, about 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine the 5 Tbs. flour and the baking powder.
- Place the chopped dates in a bowl and toss with the 2 Tbs flour until evenly coated. Combine with the chopped walnuts.
- When the eggs are well-beaten, remove the bowl from the mixer and scrape off the beater blade. Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture, and using a scraper spatula, gently fold the flour into the eggs until just combined. Gently fold in half the dates and nuts until coated, then fold in the remainder.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center comes out moist but clean. If the loaf is browning too quickly, cover it with foil.
- Let the loaf rest in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then gently loosen the sides with an offset spatula and turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe with Dates
More Great Recipes:
Bread, Rolls & Muffins|Fruit
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3 months ago witloof
I think perhaps it was called Jewish Bread because it's pareve {contains neither meat nor dairy, therefore can be eaten with anything}. I've seen recipes for things like "Jewish Apple Cake" because they contained oil instead of butter and could be eaten for dessert after a holiday meal, which traditionally is meat based.
4 months ago Windischgirl
No idea why my grandmother called this "Jewish Bread" (BTW, we're not Jewish.) Maybe because dates and nuts grow in abundance in Israel? In any case, it's delicious. You should make it, Doris!
4 months ago Doris
The recipe sounds like date walnut bread!
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