Cranberry Pecan Bread at the Bakehouse
A special holiday bake at the height of summer (July 17-18)!
Over the years, our Cranberry Pecan Bread has become one of the most well loved of Zingerman’s classics for the holiday season. And this weekend, we’ll all have a chance to come by and grab some as part of a very exciting midsummer Special Bake.
Brad Hedeman, longtime marketing manager at Mail Order and a wonderful writer, once called the Cranberry Pecan Bread from the Bakehouse “the kissing cousin to our extremely popular Pecan Raisin Bread.” I still smile every time I think about that image. Each handmade loaf is packed with almost half a pound of dried cranberries and pecans. The naturally leavened dough is made with organic flour, filtered water, and sea salt, plus the pecans and cranberries—no added sugar, shortening, or oil—and it has a long rise time of 18 hours! The result is chewy, not super sweet, and supremely tasty.
The loaf is as dense and intense as our Pecan Raisin, and you can enjoy it in all the same ways. Try the bread toasted, with Vermont Creamery Cultured Butter or our handmade, no-vegetable-gum Zingerman’s Cream Cheese. Alternatively, use it as a base for chicken or tuna salad sandwiches. It’s great with Zingerman’s semisoft Manchester cheese—I tried some the other day, and it was tasting terrific—and is a perfect pairing with the French Fourme d’Ambert or any of our other excellent blue cheeses. It makes really fine French toast as well—just give the slices of bread time to soak up the batter, then pan-fry and top with butter and syrup! Whole loaves of the Cranberry Pecan are a wonderful way to add a bit of beauty to your dining table, too. And if you do have any left over, cut it into cubes; toss with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper; and bake into croutons for salad or snacking!
