Pear & Raspberry Bread

Anybody who knows Miss Rhonda, knows that I do NOT like bananas .. infact I detest them with a passion and feel nauseated at the thought of them. I don't know how this innocent grudge started but to put things into perspective I don't remember the last time I went anywhere near anything to do with bananas... banana smoothie .. nope, pancakes & bananas .. nope, banana bread.. nope!

Yet, everytime we go to a café I always see people ordering banana bread... and if I have to be honest with you.. it does look really comforting and I just want to take a bite but I cant bring myself to do it because it contains banana. So instead I have found myself what I believe would be the closest substitute, Pear & Raspberry bread :)

Pear & Raspberry Bread

Adapted from Wabi Wabi

3 pears, grated (for 2 cups pear pulp - I used Bosc pears)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 cups plain flour
1 cup castor or raw sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder (I forgot to add this for some reason, but it still turned out ok so meh)
3/4 cup melted butter
3 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup frozen raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a large loaf pan with baking paper.

Peel the pears and grate over a medium bowl, collecting all the juice and pulp you can. Douse the pear mush with lemon juice and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. Stir in the sugar.

Whisk together the butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla in a glass jug. Pour into the dry ingredients.

Tip in the grated pears and stir together until just evenly combined (It was a little hard to stir so I just got my fingers into the batter and mushed it all around until it was mixed evenly). Stir through the raspberries.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth over the top but don’t be too fussy. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until the surface of the loaf is golden and the centre firm to the touch.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan. (This is important - don't be impatient like me otherwise not only will you burn yourself, when you cut into it, it will be soft and you won't get nice perfect slices).

Bon Appétit ♥

Tip: If there is left over batter because your bread tin is too small, then pour into individual muffin tins - I actually prefer it this way because that way you don't even need to bother to slice it up and its easier to take to work for morning tea the next day! ;)

This is a great recipe, its not too sweet and every now and again you get bursts of raspberry on a subtle backdrop of pear bread, which is great because I thought the pear would be very overpowering but its not. Also for all those who don't like cooked fruit (which I attribute to the mushy texture it can sometimes have) this will be perfect for you because its not mushy at all and the combo just works so well, as... it IS the bread rather than being bits of mushy pear in bread. Enjoy! xx