What's Cooking? A Ginger Plum Fairy...

Another month come and gone. Another Daring Bakers Challenge come and gone. And while quick breads are not quite a challenge in and of themselves, it always fun to think up new and exciting combinations. The couple days of light snow, and scattered days of cold temperatures, have been the extent of our winter here in DC. However, that does not mean I am avoiding wintery treats.

Enter the gingerbread! With a good dose of spice (ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and some hearty black-strap molasses, this bread is the perfect comfort for a February day. To enhance it a bit, I added a few of the frozen plums stashed away during the fall. And even though it was actually in the 70's and sunny, more like a perfect spring day, my co-workers still ate it right up (so no photo)!

The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Ginger Plum Quick Bread
1 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup black strap molasses
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbs cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup diced plum (I used frozen)

1. Whisk together sugar, molasses, oil, milk, and vanilla.
2. Gently fold in the flours, spices, and leavening agents until just combined.
3. Splash in the vinegar and toss in the plums, mixing with a spoon.
4. Baking in a loaf pan in a 350F oven for 35-45 minutes, until a knife comes out clean.