Cheese Loaf Quick Bread

Look at the almond flakes in there! :)

This is another easy recipe and my first time trying out a recipe from the "Quick Bread" portion of the recipe book that came with my bread maker. Lately, looking at recipes had become my hobby and I don't know how long this will last, but it is therapeutic to me now. This grabbed my attention because of the key word "Quick" and looking through the recipe, it didn't use any yeast. I had always wanted to try out bread recipes sans yeast, so I wasted no time. 

I had all the ingredients (OK, fine... I adapted the recipe and it still turned out great) from other baking projects, and since some are going to be expire soon, I whipped this up in a few minutes. One great thing about my bread maker recipe book is that you hardly need to weigh anything. All the measurements were in Cups, and spoons (Big Thumbs up!). 

This recipe uses the Program for "Cake" and it takes 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete. Out of which, 10 minutes are mixing and the rest is baking time. I wasn't sure what to expect as I didn't think it will turn out like regular bread since it uses All Purpose Flour and no yeast. I was thinking it might turn out more cakey. But one thing is for sure... the house was filled with such a warm aroma of cheese that I can't wait to see the final results!

Hmmm... so, how did it eventually turned out? Looked like a cake totally. 

When sliced it had a "bready" texture. It's like part bread and part cake. 

The taste? It was savoury and sweetish at the same time. The warm aroma of Parmesan cheese filled the whole house during baking and I could still catch a whiff of cheese long after that. I think because the recipe uses shortening (I used Crisco), the cheese's flavour was the "Star". I don't usually use any shortening for my bakes, but I think if butter was used, the cheese aroma will probably be less prominent. The almond flakes gave the quick bread a lovely and more balanced (Too much of Food Network :P) texture as well. I love this recipe! (Although I don't love the shortening...)

It reminded me a lot of a pound cake and I once saw Alton Brown toasted his sliced pound cake before eating it, I did the same thing and toasted the Cheese Loaf Quick Bread. Oh my... the cheese aroma was intoxicating... yuummmm.... and soooo comforting. You can slap on some butter or cream cheese or whipping cream with fresh fruits and it will be even better. Wow! Toasting elevates the quick bread to another level. Simply my new comfort food. :)

This is definitely a keeper and I just had a few slices of toasted cheese bread. It will go very well with coffee. Soft in the middle and crispy on the sides, just delightful! I actually changed the recipe quite a bit and I'd like to think it's very ME... :)

Ingredients:

3 eggs (Room Temperature)

80 ml of milk (The original recipe uses 1 Cup at 80 F, but in a hurry, I read that as 80 ml. So, if 1 Cup was used, the quick bread would have been even more cake-like and softer in texture)

1/2 Cup Shortening

1 Cup of Parmesan cheese powder (Original recipe calls for grated Cheddar)

2 Cups All purpose flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1/2 Cups Caster sugar

3/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Cups Almond flakes (Original recipe calls for Pecans)

Instructions:

1. Put all the ingredients into the bread maker pan in the sequence as above.

2. Choose Program 9 (Cake).

3. After 4 minutes of mixing, scrape down the sides of the pan to incorporate the flour well.

4. Remove quick bread from the pan to cool completely before cutting.

Notes: 

If you do not have a bread maker, you can certainly do this easily:

• Lightly mix the milk and eggs in a measuring cup or bowl and add the shortening. 
• Put all the dry ingredients in another bowl and combine well with a whisk.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine until no big lumps. 
• Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree C for 40-45 minutes.
• Check for "doneness" by using a fork, a cocktail stick, a skewer or a toothpick. Use one of these items to poke through the quick bread slightly in the middle. If it comes up with some wet batter, crumbs or stickiness on it, it needs to bake some more. If it is dry, then it is done.