Apricot Bread

This apricot bread is really delicious.

If you love apricots, you’ll love this quick bread recipe that is studded with pieces of dried apricot.

The dried apricots add a nice sweet bite in every mouthful.

The orange juice and zest add a wonderful dimension to this simple, but fabulous sweet loaf.

This is one of my favorite quick bread recipes. It’s nice and sweet without being as sweet as some cakes.

The orange flavor really amps up the taste of this cake and takes it from a so-so quick bread to really delicious.

So What Is A Quick Bread Anyway?

Quick breads are called quick breads because they are quick to make.

I am not sure why they are called a bread, because we usually associate the word “bread” with a savory flavor, and quick breads are usually sweet. I guess because they are baked in a loaf pan like a bread, they get that name.

In reality, quick breads are really quick cakes.

I love quick bread recipes. They tend not to be as sweet or delicate as a cake. But they still have that wonderful sweetness that we all crave once in a while (okay for me, I admit that I crave this a lot more than once in a while!)

Quick breads tend to be a bit denser than a cake (think banana bread), but still nice and sweet.

This apricot cake is a great example of a wonderful quick bread cake.

It freezes well, so you can always have it on hand, but it tastes so good you might not have much to freeze.

Apricot cake is perfect with a cup of coffee or tea, great in lunches and a wonderful cake to serve drop-in company.

For all of these reasons, it good to make an extra loaf to be able to eat one and freeze the other for unexpected company or a real treat when you don’t have time to bake.

How to Make Apricot Bread

This apricot bread recipe is one I think you will really like.

Like most quick breads, it is a very quick and easy recipe to put together.

The recipe calls for oil. Use a light vegetable oil for this cake. Something heavily flavored like oil is too much.

I use avocado oil but a good vegetable oil works well.

I use the two bowl method. Put all of the dry ingredients into one bowl and mix them together well, then put the wet ingredients into another bowl. Mix those ingredients together well.

Then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix it all together.

I use an electric mixer which works really well, but if you don’t have one, don’t worry. Just beat it together well with a spoon.

Quick breads are like muffins in this sense – you don’t want to over mix the batter. Just beat it until all of the ingredients are well mixed.

Once you have it all mixed together just pop it in the pan and bake for about an hour or so.

I always use a toothpick to check to see if the cake is done. I know it seems old fashioned, but it works.

A cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center area of the cake comes out clean, with no batter attached to it.

I always test my cakes before taking them out of the oven to make sure they are properly baked.

Note that this recipe makes one large loaf or two smaller ones. I love the versatility of that.

If you want more delicate slices make the two smaller loaves. Pop one in the freezer for another time.

Here is your finished apricot bread:

Zesting Oranges for Apricot Bread

The recipe calls for orange juice and orange zest.

You will need more than one orange to get enough zest and juice for the recipe.

I always recommend zesting the orange (or lemon) before juicing it. It’s quite easy to zest the orange while it’s still whole, but not easy to take the zest off an orange peel once it is juiced.

So always get the zest first, then juice the orange.

If you are a baker, you know that the zest is just the colored part of the orange rind. You don’t want to grate the white “pith” because it’s bitter and doesn’t add anything delicious to your cake.

So grate just the colored part of the orange rind. It will look like this:

If you love this apricot bread, have a look at our apricot bars. They are delicious too.

Have apricots for dinner with this easy apricot chicken recipe. It’s one of my favorites.

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