Blueberry Orange Bread

I drove to Grinnell Saturday. Roger was in the garden — the garden that is his whole world now, the 83-year-old man who tends six tomato plants and twelve sunflowers with the same care he once gave four hundred acres. He's slower but he's still Roger. He still watches the crop reports. He still calls Jack on Wednesdays.

I made apple crisp this week — the fall version, the one that fills the kitchen with the smell that means this time of year, this stage of life, this specific Tuesday when the stove is warm and the family is fed and the feeding is the point. Kevin ate seconds. The man always eats seconds. The eating is the approval and the approval is the marriage.

The garden winding down. Corn stalks brown and leaning. Last peppers picked before frost. Jack's garlic going in — the patience crop, planted now for next July. Nine months underground. The faith that the future needs what the present plants.

I’d already made the apple crisp, and the kitchen still smelled like brown sugar and cinnamon when I thought about what else I wanted to bake before the season turned for good. Roger tending his tomatoes, Jack’s garlic going into the ground — there’s something in this time of year that makes you want to keep your hands busy and the oven warm. This blueberry orange bread is what I reached for: bright from the orange, sweet from the berries, the kind of loaf you slice while it’s still barely cool because waiting feels wrong when the house smells this good.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 60 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Servings: 12 slices

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 large oranges)
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, do not thaw)

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and lightly dust with flour, tapping out any excess.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly combined.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the orange juice, orange zest, melted butter, and beaten egg until smooth.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined — a few streaks of flour are fine. Do not overmix or the bread will be tough.
Fold in the blueberries. Add the blueberries and fold in with a rubber spatula using just 3 or 4 strokes. Overmixing will streak the batter purple.
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown.
Cool before slicing. Let the bread rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool at least 30 minutes before slicing — the crumb needs time to set.

Nutrition (per serving)

Blueberry Orange Bread — Warm from the Oven, Warm at the Table