By Mid-March and the city is genuinely opening. Restaurants at higher capacity. People outside without the specific hunched anxiety of last spring. It is not normal yet — there are still masks, still distancing, still the awareness that the pandemic is not over, just changed — but something has shifted. Ryan says the calls at the firehouse are different. Less COVID-dominated. Not gone. Different.
I made Irish soda bread this week for St. Patrick Day, which I do every year, which is one of those calendar-anchor recipes that I do not question. Buttermilk, flour, baking soda, salt, a handful of raisins because I am in the raisin camp and I know this is contested. Baked in a round on a sheet pan with a cross scored on top, twenty-five minutes at 425. The cross is tradition and also function: it lets the heat get into the center. I made two loaves and brought one to Patty and Steve because it is the kind of thing that travels well and Steve eats most of a loaf in one sitting without acknowledging he is doing it.
Spring break next week, which I am approaching with the energy of someone who has been running at full capacity since August and is being given permission to stop briefly. I have a short list of things I want to do during the break: sleep past 7:15 (Patty will still call at 7:15), reorganize my IEP files, make the poppy seed cake from my birthday dinner attempt, take a long walk every day. This is my kind of vacation. Low stakes. High food.
Two and a half months to the wedding. Ryan got the final fitting for his suit. He texted me a photo from the tailor and I stared at it for a while and thought about June 19th at St. Linus Church with Babcia Rose in her good earrings and Steve trying not to cry and Ryan at the end of the aisle. Three more months. I can hold three more months in my hands without dropping them.
The Irish soda bread is already gone—Steve saw to that—but the urge to keep baking didn’t leave with it. Spring break is exactly the kind of slow, permission-granted stretch where I want something in the oven that fills the apartment and doesn’t ask too much of me. This spiced apple muffin bread is that recipe: the kind of thing you mix in one bowl while you’re still in your pajamas at 8am on a Tuesday in late March, with nowhere to be and a long walk planned for later. It’s not a tradition yet, but it’s auditioning.
Spiced Apple Muffin Bread
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 10 slices
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups peeled and finely diced apple (about 2 medium apples, such as Honeycrisp or Granny Smith)
- 2 tablespoons coarse sugar or turbinado sugar, for topping
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a standard 9x5-inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides for easy lifting.
- Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt until evenly combined.
- Mix wet ingredients. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined—a few streaks of flour remaining is fine. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the diced apple.
- Fill and top. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Stir together the coarse sugar and remaining cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the batter.
- Bake. Bake for 50–58 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil after 35 minutes.
- Cool. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then use the parchment overhang to lift the loaf onto a wire rack. Cool at least 20 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 245 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 39g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 230mg