PEAR-ROSEMARY BREAD

PEAR-ROSEMARY BREAD image

Yield 1 loaf

Number Of Ingredients 12

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound Bartlett, Comice, or Anjou pears (about 2 medium pears), cored, peeled, and chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 large eggs
1 fresh rosemary sprig

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with vegetable-oil cooking apray. Dust the pan lightly with flour. Set aside. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a food processor bowl fitted with the steel blade. Pulse 10 times to aerate the flour, then transfer the mixture to a sheet of waxed paper. Or, mix in a bowl with a wired whisk. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade or in a blender, process the pears to a smooth puree. Stir the rosemary, lemon zest, and lemon juice into the pears. Beat the butter and the 1/3 cupt sugar in a medium bowl until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. (Don'tworry if the mixture looks curdled now.) Alternately, stir in the pear puree and the flour mixture, mixing only until all the flour is blended in. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes. Dip the rosemary sprig in water, then in the 1 tablespoon sugar, and place the sprig on top of the loaf. Continue baking another 35 to 40 minutes, or until the loaf is brown and springs back at the touch. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then unmold and let cool to room temperature on the rack. Wrap the loaf in plastic and store overnight before slicing.