Nectarine Bread

If you're looking for nectarine recipes, look no further! This sweet breakfast bread, using nectarines, blueberries and orange will be the perfect way to use up some leftover summertime fruits.

Nectarine Recipes

In the summer, I frequently find myself with spare nectarines. Unlike peaches, these seem to be a bit neglected amongst baking repertoires.

Using Nectarines in Baking

Nectarines can be a suitable substitute for peach in most bakes, although they tend to have a slightly stronger flavour.

There are, however, remarkably few recipes written explicitly for the nectarine. So, I wanted to dedicate a recipe specifically to them!

Tips for Nectarine Bread

Flavours in my Recipe

My nectarine bread recipe makes use of fruits, nuts and some spice, for a nicely textured sweet bread with some zest and warmth. I use:

• Orange juice and zest
• Blueberries
• Almonds
• Allspice

These flavours pair well together without taking away from the nectarine as the star of the show.

Making this Nectarine Loaf Recipe in One Bowl

With the exception of the almond, sugar topping (which requires a small bowl to the side), this recipe is easily whipped up in one bowl.

To make for a nice light and crisp top, the order of mixing the ingredients is important to follow:

• You will want to start with your dry ingredients mixed together in a large bowl. Don't forget to reserve ½ cup of flour for adding in later.
• Next, add the butter, orange juice and zest.
• Beat this mixture for a couple of minutes to incorporate. This will add some air to the mixture, so it should look a little light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs and remaining flour - at this stage you only want to beat until just combined. Beating too much will overwork the batter making it loose it likely to turn out dense.
• Fold the fruit and nuts in at the end. Don't beat these in! You don't want to knock out all of the air and crush the fruit.

Sugar Almond Topping

The sugar almond topping is quite literally two ingredients:

• Sugar - 1 tablespoon.
• Flaked Almonds - ¼ cup reserved from the overall ⅔ cup called for in this recipe (so just under half).

Simply stir these together and sprinkle over the top, once you've poured your batter into the prepared tray.

Baking and Removing from the Loaf Pan

1. Testing the Loaf: Due to the fruits, this is a moist bake. You will still be able to tell that it is done by using a toothpick. When the bread is finished baking, a skewer or a toothpick, inserted into the middle, should come out without crumbs.
2. Removing from the Tin: Once removed from the oven, allow to cool in the pan for several minutes before tipping out to cool completely. This may be a bit difficult due to the sugar and almond topping. Some of this may be loose. Tip the loaf out carefully over a countertop, spread with parchment to avoid messy cleanup. This will help catch any loose bits.
3. Slicing the Loaf: Handle the loaf gently. This may feel softer than you expect when it is still warm. This is due to the amount of fruit pieces in the bread. Allow this to cool for at least half an hour before slicing to make it easier to handle.

Nectarine Bread Alternatives

There are many alternative options for this bread to fit your tastes and needs.

1. Change the fruits

If you don't have nectarines or blueberries to hand, you could try:

• Substitutes for the nectarine
  • Peach: use peach instead to make this a peach bread. The peach may have a more subtle flavour, but will still work well with the orange, almond, spices and blueberries.
• Substitutes for the blueberries
  • Raspberries: try raspberries instead of blueberries. These will pair nicely with the other flavours in this recipe.
  • No blueberries: simply leave this component out of the recipe.

2. Change the spice

This nectarine bread recipe calls for allspice, which has a warm flavour reminiscent of cinnamon and cloves. If you don't have allspice, in this recipe you could use:

• Equal amount of cinnamon.
• Equal amount of mixed spice.
• A mixture of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg (¼ tsp of cinnamon, ¼ tsp clove and a pinch of nutmeg).

3. Options for the almonds

If you are not a fan of almonds (or are allergic), these can simply be left out.

Alternatively, if you do want the almonds, but can't find them flaked, you can use chopped almonds for similar flavour and texture effect.

Be sure that whatever nuts you are baking with are unsalted.

FAQs for Nectarine Bread Recipe

If you like this recipe, you might also like

• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
• Zucchini Bread
• Pumpkin Pecan Bread
• Easy Large Batch Banana Bread