I was intrigued with this recipe from the moment I saw it in the Rose Bakery cookbook. Probably because it is a savory bread, but mostly because it just looked cool.
Broccoli Bread. Sounds healthy, right?
Guess again.
I figured there was no better time to make bread that involves FIVE sticks of butter and SEVEN eggs than the week that I started back at the gym.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Grease the sides of a 10 inch bread pan. Line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
Cut 1 pound 12 ounces of broccoli into florets and blanch for three minutes in boiling water. Drain well and set aside.
Beat 2 and 1/4 cups of unsalted butter until very light and creamy and then add 1/2 cup of superfine sugar.
Add the SEVEN eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Mix together 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 rounded teaspoon of ground turmeric, a pinch of cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of curry powder, and a half a teaspoon of salt.
Fold into the creamy mixture along with 3 and 2/3 C of all-purpose flour, sifted.
Mix well and spoon into the prepared tin.
Push the broccoli into the mixture. Be generous so that every slice has a good number of florets.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. This was just the time it took me to clean up my kitchen with a very “helpful” one year old!
Remove from the oven and cool in the pan before taking it out.
A few notes:
Use a 10 inch loaf pan. I used an 8.5 inch pan because that’s what I had and although it came out fine it did make a difference in baking time and how the outside of the bread cooked.
Don’t over cook your broccoli.
Really stick those florets down into the bread! As far down as you can. (I covered up my florets with the dough after I took that photo. I wish I had pushed them in even further.)
PUT A BAKING SHEET UNDER YOUR BREAD PAN while it is in the oven. I felt my arteries clogging and my pants getting tighter just watching the butter ooze out of the bread while it baked and dripped onto the cookie sheet. Yes, this could’ve been in part to the fact that I used a smaller pan than advised but I would rather be safe than sorry, burnt butter in the oven is not a pleasant smell.
How did it taste? Really interesting and good. Obviously moist. Kind of like bread you would eat for dinner.
Five sticks of butter and seven eggs. Now that’s a meal.
The real kicker is that the recipe states it doesn’t keep well and advises that you eat it all in one day!
