Super Quick Peach Bread

Super Quick Peach Bread Recipe

Hooray, I am back from a fortnight with the sun on my face. Ok, hooray is pushing it. After my first day back in the office I am feeling more harumph than hooray, but I am pleased to be back in my own bed if nothing else.

I have pretty much kept out of the kitchen for two whole weeks, aside from the odd fried egg or kids pasta, so I have rather dragged my heels back into the world of food blogging. I did think I should welcome you back with a Lucy Loves elaborate dinner party classic, but instead with my lethargy in mind, I am introducing you to the amazing Super Quick Peach Bread. I discovered this innovative recipe via the Not Quite Nigella website -with thanks – and felt I should share it with you because it’s a) speedy and store cupboardy and b) strange. It involves one of George’s favourite puddings, a tin of peaches. Or indeed, according to Not Quite Nigella, a tin of pineapple, mango or even fruit cocktail if you are in school dinner mode.

Minus the vanilla extract, this three ingredient quick bread is just what you need when something sweet and delicious is called for but have sod all in the fridge. This sweet treat, I would say, has a Soreen malt loaf type of texture, certainly more bready than cakey, and is wonderful buttered or indeed jammed. A peachy crumpet sprang to my mind when first eating it. I have no idea how the science of the ingredients work, but in a non-technical fashion, I can confirm it just does work, don’t bother analysing it. This Peach Bread also has longevity, providing it’s not all inhaled, still warm, slathered in half a pound of Lurpak.

Even I couldn’t forget one of the ingredients when there are only 3.5 of them in the first place. And here they are. I chose tinned peaches, or gold fish as we used to call them at school, as they have a nostalgic quality and I do tend to have a tin in the cupboard as a last minute pud option.

The original recipe says to blitz your chosen fruit and juice, before mixing, unless say, you are using crushed pineapple, for example. It calls for 440g of fruit and juice, so as my tin was 410g, I added an additional 30ml or so of water to make up the numbers. Blitz away in your food processor or blender until just pureed.

Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the fruit and juice then follow in with the self raising flour and sugar.

Mix these few ingredients together then pour into your lined loaf tin. And that’s all there is to it. Shamefully simple.

Pop this loaf in the oven for around 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Leave this golden, fruity bread to cool slightly before cutting into peachy slabs and covering in butter or jam, or both.

This is so quick, so easy and has so few ingredients it is just the ticket for a quick trip into the kitchen when you would rather be somewhere else. With my tan fading fast, I will be back on full throttle next week. In the meantime, keep it brief and butter up your own Super Quick Peach Bread soon.

Lucy x

Super Quick Peach Bread Recipe

You will need a lined 1kg loaf tin

1 x 440g tin of fruit – peaches, pineapple, mango, fruit cocktail – try whichever you have to hand – add an additional 30ml of water if your tin of fruit is 410 grams.

300g self raising flour

150g caster sugar, or a combination of caster and soft brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pre-heat your oven to around 160 degrees fan assisted and line your loaf tin with greaseproof paper or a loaf tin liner.

Blitz your tinned fruit, with it’s juice and an additional 30ml of water if needed, in a food processor or blender. Then add the vanilla extract, flour and sugar and mix well. Pour into the lined loaf tin and pop in the oven for around 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Leave to cool for a while before cutting into generous slices and serving with butter and/or jam. Store well wrapped in a tin for around 5 days if it makes it that far.