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ChrisF
09-13-2002, 12:30 PM
With a slight blush, I am passing along to you all the recipe for Apricot-Pecan Quick Bread that I submitted to the local county fair which won a blue ribbon! I just cracked up because I've never entered any baking contest anywhere, and I submitted two entries - this one and a banana bread - and both were awarded ribbons!
This particular recipe is from an unknown magazine, circa late 1960's or so, and my dad just *loved* it. I made it for him for decades....once I even Fed-Ex'd a loaf to him on his birthday! So, I submitted this old standby in his memory. The original title in this yellowed clipping is: "Caroline Dinsmore's Apricot Tea Loaf". We always called it "Dad's Apricot Bread".

1 cup dried apricots
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teasp. baking powder
1/4 teasp. baking soda
1 teasp salt
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1 large egg
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cover apricots with 1 1/2 cups warm water. Let soak 30 minutes. Drain, cut into small pieces. Preheat oven to 350. Butter & flour an 8 1/2 x4 1/2 inch loaf pan. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt into mixing bowl. In another bowl, combine sugar, butter, egg, the 1/4 cup water and the orange juice. When liquids are well combined, add liquids, apricot pieces, and nuts to the dry ingredients. Mix only until the flour is dampened..do not overmix. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 55-60 minutes until lightly browned. Turn out load onto wire rack to cool. Makes 1 loaf.

That's the original recipe...I've made a few small 'tweaks': I soak the apricots 45 minutes and reserve 1/4 cup of the soaking water to use in the recipe. I also only use pecans, and chop them into pretty small pieces.

Hope you enjoy it!
Chris

Angela
09-13-2002, 12:45 PM
Congratulations!! on the blue ribbon! That's great! Thanks for sharing the recipe too.

ebobbitt
09-13-2002, 12:54 PM
How exciting that you won a ribbon! Congratulations!

MKSquared
09-13-2002, 12:54 PM
Hey! This sounds great! I've got all of the stuff in my cupboards - might have to give it a try!

JJ40
09-13-2002, 01:51 PM
Thanks! I'm printing this recipe right now!

Julie

P.S. Congrats on your ribbons!

Luckyfeather
09-13-2002, 02:11 PM
I'm printing, too. Think I'll add this to my Christmas baking recipes. Congrats & Thanks!

maizeyoats
09-13-2002, 02:50 PM
My DH loves apricot bread. This recipe sounds better then mine. Thanks for posting it and
CONGRATULATIONS

JulieAnn
02-26-2003, 10:00 AM
I 've had this marked to try for months and finally got around to it. This is really a great bread. Mine was quite undercooked, but that's what I get for trying to bake with two little boys and a new baby! The changes I made were to cut the number of nuts in halk (just to save calories), used mostly yogurt in place of the water, replaced half the flour with whole wheat flour, and next time I would chop the apricots even finer. I chopped them in the food processor - their size was between coarsely and finely chyoped. Next time I would finely chop.

Congratulations Chris on a winning recipe

SuzyQue
02-26-2003, 10:04 AM
Thanks, Juliann, for posting your review. I missed this the first time around, and it looks like something I would like. I've never tried apricot bread before! Your substitutions sound good to me, too.

And ChrisF, congratulations on the blue ribbon!

Kathy B
06-11-2004, 06:32 PM
I just made this for the second time this month as I have a large bag of apricots I am trying to use up before the expiration date. VERY GOOD! And a nice change from banana bread. DH ate it for breakfast several days in a row.

The first one I made was a little underdone in the middle, so this time I made two smaller loaves and that worked just fine. I also subbed a little bit of whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour.

Not too sweet, and I love the apricot and pecan combination. Thanks for sharing the recipe, and I am only sorry I didn't make it sooner!!!:)

dlaboriel
06-11-2004, 08:21 PM
My congrats to you . Now I'm off to make a loaf of the bread. Thanks for sharing.