Orange Date Nut Bread

December again. The lights are going up on the houses. The live oaks are getting wrapped in white lights that make them look like ghosts dressed for a party. First African is decorating — the nativity, the wreaths, the candles in every window. And I am beginning the Christmas baking, because that is what I do in December, and I will not skip it, and I will not downsize it, and I will bake every single thing I bake every year because Christmas does not get smaller just because the family did.

Pound cake. First. Always first. Hattie Pearl's recipe, butter and sugar and eggs and flour. The mixer runs and the batter gets thick and the kitchen fills with that warm, sweet smell that means December is real and present and here. I poured the batter into the Bundt pan and put it in the oven and sat at the table and waited, and the waiting was the loneliest part because Earl used to wait with me. We'd sit at the table and drink coffee and listen to the cake bake, and he'd say, "Smells done," and I'd say, "It's not done," and he'd say, "How do you know?" and I'd say, "Because it hasn't told me yet." The cake tells you. The crack on top, the pull from the edges, the smell shifting from wet to golden. The cake tells you.

Hot sauce jars: twelve, same as always. Red ribbon. Hand-labeled. This year's label says "2019 — Still Here." Because I am. Still here. Still bottling hot sauce. Still tying ribbons. Still standing in this kitchen doing the things I've always done with one fewer person to do them for.

Fruitcake next. The bourbon-soaked fruit has been sitting in a jar for a week, getting drunk and delicious. I'll bake it tomorrow and wrap it in cheesecloth and more bourbon and let it age in the pantry until Christmas. Earl hated fruitcake. He ate it anyway, every year, because I made it and he ate everything I made. That's the kind of man he was. The kind who eats fruitcake out of love.

Now go on and feed somebody.

The fruitcake gets the bourbon and the cheesecloth and the time, but this bread — this one gets made the same week, tucked in right alongside everything else, because a kitchen doing its December work doesn’t stop at just one thing. Orange Date Nut Bread is old-fashioned in the best way: fruit, nuts, a little citrus brightness cutting through all that deep winter sweetness, the kind of thing you wrap and give and also keep a slice of for yourself with your morning coffee. Earl never had opinions about this one. That means it’s mine now, all the way mine, and I’m making two loaves this year just because I can.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 60 min | Total Time: 1 hr 20 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 cup chopped pitted dates
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
Soften the dates. Combine chopped dates, orange zest, and orange juice in a small bowl. Let stand 10 minutes so the dates soften and absorb the citrus.
Cream butter and egg. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter until smooth. Add the egg and mix until combined.
Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine wet and dry. Add the date-orange mixture to the butter and egg, stirring to combine. Fold in the dry ingredients until just moistened — do not overmix.
Add the nuts. Gently fold in the chopped walnuts or pecans until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Bake. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 55—65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown.
Cool completely. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool fully before slicing — at least 1 hour. The bread slices cleaner and tastes better the next day.

Nutrition (per serving)

Orange Date Nut Bread — The Kitchen That Still Knows December