A dark, sweet bread with a haunting fruit flavor and rich color, nannyberry bread is one of the first things any forager should make with nannyberries. An easy recipe to make, this is essentially banana bread, but you're substituting nannyberry puree for the bananas. It's makes a statement for brunch or breakfast, or can be served as a lightly sweet dessert with a spoonful of whipped cream or creme fraiche.

How to use it

The finished bread is fantastic toasted and spread with butter, but I love warming it up and garnishing with creme fraiche, or spreading it with butter, pressing it in maple sugar and caramelizing it in a pan.

Pictured below is how I served the bread this year at Chef Iliana Regan's Milkweed Inn: toasted nannyberry bread with black walnuts, pine cone syrup, spice bush creme fraiche, candied black walnuts. The smaller dish is a mignardise of pollen truffles, candied angelica, and candy cap caramels.

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Nannyberry Bread

A rich quickbread made with nannyberry puree. It's as easy to make as banana bread. Makes one loaf pan.

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Total Time45

Course: Brunch, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 412kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

Equipment

1 Loaf pan
1 Stand mixer or beaters
1 Parchment optional

Ingredients

2 cups 250g all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
½ cup (1 stick or 115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
¾ cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
⅓ cup (80g) yogurt or sour cream, at room temperature full fat
2 cups (460g) thick nannyberry puree *see note
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup roughly chopped black walnuts optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F
Mix the baking powder, cinnamon, salt and flour.
Using the whisk attachment Cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and beat until light in color.
Add the nannyberry puree, yogurt, walnuts, vanilla and mix. Fold in the flour mixture by hand until just combined, then pour into a greased loaf pan lined with parchment.
Bake for 45 min-1 hour or until a thermometer reads 200F in the center and/or a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the bread and cool to room temperature on a baking rack before slicing.
The bread is wonderful warmed up, or spread with butter, dipped in maple sugar and caramelized in a pan.

Notes

If your nannyberry puree seems loose or liquid it should be cooked down until it has the texture of apple sauce. The thicker the puree, the better the finished bread will be.
If you don't have 2 cups of nannyberry puree, you can use 1 cup.

Nutrition