Cherry Walnut Yeast Bread

Andre opened for Kevin Hart on Saturday night at State Farm Arena. The whole family went. ALL of us. Marcus and Keisha drove from Tuscaloosa. Jasmine flew from DC. Isaiah drove from Charlotte. Darnell and Denise drove from Clarksville. Zoe wore a shirt that said "MY UNCLE IS FUNNIER THAN YOUR UNCLE," which she made herself. Curtis was there — in the wheelchair, in the arena, pushed by Derek through crowds of thousands, and the expression on his face was the expression of a man who cannot believe his youngest child is performing in front of twenty thousand people when that child used to get in trouble for making Brenda laugh during church.

Andre was GOOD. Not just opening-act good — GOOD. He did twenty minutes. He did the bit about Mama's cooking that he's been doing for years — the one about how Brenda Jackson could make a pot of greens that would solve world peace if the UN had the sense to serve collards at their meetings. The arena laughed. Twenty thousand strangers laughed at a joke about my mother's collard greens. Mama would have said, "Boy, sit down." And she would have been laughing while she said it.

The moment: Kevin Hart came onstage and said, "Andre Jackson, everybody!" and the arena applauded and Miss Ernestine — one hundred years old, in the front row because Andre arranged it, tiny in her wheelchair — shouted, "THAT'S MY GRANDBABY!" Loud enough that Kevin Hart heard it and said, "Who said that?" and Andre said, "My grandmother. She's a hundred." And Kevin Hart said, "Ma'am, at a hundred, you can say whatever you want." And Miss Ernestine said, "I ALWAYS DO." The arena lost it. Kevin Hart referenced it in his set. Andre may never recover. The family will tell this story for fifty years.

Went home and made sandwiches at midnight — the post-event meal, the feeding-of-a-family-that-just-experienced-something-together meal. Turkey, cheese, mustard, bread. Nothing fancy. Everything necessary. Curtis ate his sandwich and said, "The boy did good." The boy did good. Sixty-three years old and still "the boy." Still Curtis's boy. The boy did good.

We didn’t plan the midnight sandwiches — they just happened the way the best family meals always do, everybody gravitating to the kitchen because nobody was ready for the night to be over. Turkey and mustard on whatever bread was in the house got the job done that night, but if I’d had the time, I would have had a loaf of this Cherry Walnut Yeast Bread waiting on the counter. Something a little special, a little celebratory, something that says “the boy did good” in every slice — because that bread is what you deserve when your family just watched something they will talk about for the rest of their lives.

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 2 hr 30 min (includes rise time) | Servings: 1 loaf (14 slices)

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
3/4 cup warm whole milk (110°F)
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg, room temperature
3/4 cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted (for brushing)

Instructions

Activate the yeast. Combine warm water, warm milk, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and let sit for 5–8 minutes until foamy and fragrant. If the yeast doesn’t foam, your liquid may be too hot or your yeast is expired — start again.
Mix the dough. Add the egg and softened butter to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the salt and 2 cups of the flour, stirring until a shaggy dough forms. Add the remaining flour 1/4 cup at a time, stirring between additions, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Knead. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth, soft, and slightly tacky but not sticky. During the last 2 minutes of kneading, press the dried cherries and toasted walnuts into the dough a handful at a time, folding and kneading to distribute evenly throughout.
First rise. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
Shape the loaf. Punch the dough down gently. On a lightly floured surface, shape it into a tight log roughly the length of your 9x5-inch loaf pan. Pinch the seam closed and place seam-side down in a greased loaf pan.
Second rise. Cover loosely and let rise for 30–40 minutes until the dough crowns about 1 inch above the rim of the pan. While it rises, preheat your oven to 375°F.
Bake. Bake for 32–36 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 190°F.
Finish and cool. Remove from oven and immediately brush the top with melted butter. Let the loaf rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing — the crumb needs time to set, and midnight sandwiches are worth the wait.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cherry Walnut Yeast Bread — The Bread That Was There When the Boy Did Good