Pear Bread With Vanilla and Ginger
Excerpted from The Best Quick Breads, by Beth Hensperger. (c) 2000

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized candied ginger
1/4 cup cultured buttermilk
1 1/2 cups peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped fresh, firm pears (about 2 to 3 whole pears), such as Bartletts, Winter Nelis, d’Anjou, Bosc, Seckel, or Comice

Preheat the oven to 350º. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer or by hand ( I use my Danish dough whisk). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat just until combined.

Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, lemon zest, and crystallized ginger in a small bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture in three equal portions, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat just until smooth. Fold in the pears just until evenly distributed.

Scrape the batter into a greased 9-inch loaf pan and bake in the center of the preheated oven until golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 55 to 65 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan onto a rack to cool completely before slicing.

Yield: One 9-by-5-inch loaf

Recipe and text copyright Beth Hensperger 2014