This sweet cherry loaf recipe is perfect for tasty breakfasts, brunches and snacks, and is super easy to prepare with everyday vegan pantry ingredients.
Each slice is packed with cherry and vanilla flavours but this recipe is more bread-like and less sweet compared to cake recipes.
Cherry loaf is perfect spread with a pat of vegan butter and a dollop of fruit jam for a quick, tasty, home-baked, vegan treat.
Especially nice enjoyed during the winter and autumn Holiday season, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Sweet cherry loaf bread is the perfect alternative to a slice of cake as it has less sugar than cake, and no additional fat or oil is required.
Quick origin of sweet loaf bread
Simple sweet bread flavoured with honey, syrup, fruits, candied fruits, dried fruits, sweet almond paste [marzipan] and spices have been popular since medieval times. Versions of gingerbread, fruit bread and fruit cake were baked during the medieval times.
Nowadays, there is a wide variety of sweet bread recipes available. Recipes can be more cake-like than bread-like, while others have either yeast, baking powder or bicarbonate of soda as leavening agents.
Many countries have their own speciality traditional sweet bread such as the Irish Barmbrack, the Italian Pandoro or Panettone, the English Lardy Cake, the Hungarian Kolack, the American coffee cake, the Scottish tea bread or fruit loaf cake, and the Welsh bakestone cakes.
Other types of bakes that can be considered under the umbrella term of sweet breads can include scones, teacakes, waffles, banana bread, gingerbreads, muffins, some cornbread's, and hot cross buns.
Quick origins of glace fruit
Glace fruit goes all the way back to the 14th Century where Ancient China and Mesopotamia kept various fruits and nuts from spoiling by preserving in honey or palm syrup.
This idea of glace fruits was adopted by the middle eastern and African countries, before eventually making its way over to Europe and the Britain Isles.
Candied cherries are also claimed to have originated in medieval France and enjoyed as a delicacy by the richer folk. By the 1900s candied cherries were being imported into Britian.
How to prepare sweet cherry loaf bread
This is a really easy quick sweet bread with no complicated steps or fancy ingredients. Sweet cherry loaf freezes beautifully, and is ideal for pulling out a few slices whenever required as it defrosts quickly. Try a slice of cherry loaf toasted for an extra special treat.
First sieve the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl.
Next add the salt, sugar, vanilla, glace [candied] cherries, and brown rice syrup ( or your preferred syrup).
Pour in the milk and give it all a good stir.
Pour the loaf batter into a lined loaf pan.
Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the batter.
Bake for 55-60 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.
Slice and spread with vegan butter or margarine, or your favourite spread.
A dollop of fruit jam or preserve is extra tasty.
Recipe notes
Storage
Sweet cherry bread will be at its freshest for 1-3 days and can be stored wrapped in kitchen foil or parchment paper, or within a bread bag or container. Older slices can be refreshed by toasting or warming for a few minutes within an air-fryer or oven.
Cherry loaf can be frozen either in slices or as a whole loaf, wrapped in food-safe wrap or within a freezer container or bag. Defrost at room temperature, minus any wrappings.
Cherry loaf slices will defrost quickly and if your toaster has a defrost setting then use that to defrost and toast the slices.
Glace cherries are fresh cherry's that have been cooked in a sugar-syrup solution. They are also known as candied cherries.
As the cherries lose their vibrant colour during processing they are usually treated with food-grade red dye, which depending on the cherries purchased may be an artificial dye or a natural one made from fruit [most commonly derived from grapes].
Glace cherries can also be purchased in the colours: burgundy, green, or yellow.
Usually glace cherries are suitable for vegans but with every ingredient where dietary restrictions are an issue, do check the ingredient list just to be 100% sure.
Many glace cherries contain the natural colour Anthocyanins [E163] which is vegan as it is derived from plant pigments.
Glace cherries are a popular British baking ingredient that can usually be sourced within the baking aisles of most supermarkets and small grocery stores.
In the US, glace cherries may also be known as candied cherries and can be found in most stores such as Walmart.
In Australia, glace cherries should be able to be found within the dried fruit or candied fruit section of grocery stores. Or online at the nutmarket.com.au.
For other countries if candied cherries are hard to find then have a look on Amazon, or at your local international store, or health food/wholefood store.
Absolutely. If you can't source candied cherries in store or would prefer to make your own then you can with a jar of maraschino cherries or cocktail cherries.
Have a look at this easy method for candied cherries over at the kingarthurbaking.com website.
The answer would depend on the recipe that the cherries are being used for. Some recipes may require the cherries be washed to remove the stickiness, whereas for some recipes it may not matter.
For this sweet cherry loaf recipe there is no need to wash the cherries.
More recipes that feature glace [candied] cherries
Traditional Irish Fifteens [no-oven refrigerator bake]
Cherry, Cranberry and Chocolate Refrigerator bake
Empire biscuits [also known as Belgium or German biscuits]
Sweet Cherry Loaf
Equipment
- greaseproof/baking paper
- Mixing bowl
- sieve
- wire rack
Ingredients
- 400 grams plain flour [all-purpose flour]
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 85 grams granulated sugar [or caster sugar]
- 170 grams glace cherries [candied cherries] [slice some of the cherries into halves and some into quarters]
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract [or almond extract]
- 375 millilitres soya milk [or oat, etc, or your usual milk]
- 2 tablespoon brown rice syrup [or your choice of syrup such as maple, date, golden syrup, etc]
Topping [optional]
- 40 grams flaked almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180C/356 Fahrenheit/ Gas 4.
- Grease the loaf pan with a little oil or margarine. Line with baking parchment.
- Sieve the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a mixing bowl. Add the salt, sugar, chopped glace cherries, vanilla and rice syrup.400 grams plain flour, ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 pinch salt, 85 grams granulated sugar, 170 grams glace cherries, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoon brown rice syrup
- Pour in the milk and stir everything together until just combined.375 millilitres soya milk
- Scoop the loaf batter into the pan.
- Scatter the flaked almonds evenly over the top.40 grams flaked almonds
- Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 55-60 minutes, until the loaf has risen, is firm to touch, and a skewer popped in the centre comes out clean.Check fan ovens a few minutes earlier as they tend to bake quicker.
- Cool in the loaf pan for 5-10 minutes before removing and cooling on a wire rack.
- Once removed from the loaf pan peel off the parchment paper.
Notes
- Nutritional data is provided for information only and is not an exact calculation as ingredients vary.
- Cherry loaf bread will be at its freshest for 1-3 days. Older slices can be toasted or warmed through in the oven or air-fryer for a few minutes.
- Slices can be frozen for 2-3 months. Wrap up with food-safe wrap or place into an airtight food container/freezer bag.
- There is no need to wash the glace cherries before using in the recipe.
- Glace cherries can be replaced with 1 cup [140 grams] of dried cranberries, dried blueberries, or dried cherries.
- The flaked almonds are optional but do add a nice crispy, toasty texture.
- If nut allergy is an issue replace the almonds with sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or simply omit.
- Line the loaf pan with greaseproof/baking parchment paper and try not to use a ready-made loaf pan paper insert as the loaf may stick to it!
- Sweet loaf bread is ideal enjoyed with a nice cup of tea, coffee, or chilled plant milk, and is a good cake alternative as it contains less sugar and no added fat or oil.
Nutrition
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Thanks so much, Jacq x
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