Strawberry Bread - Secret Recipe Club

This last month I joined the "Secret Recipe Club". It's a group of us bloggers that have established a fun little thing and each month you are assigned someones blog and then you get to pick a recipe from that blog to try out and post about on a given day. Neat-o huh? None of us know who has your blog until the "reveal date". I love trying recipes and am always looking for a new one on someones blog so this was right up my ally.

This month I was assigned Mele Cotte's blog. It's got tons of recipes to look at and try. Now I'm going to tell you she's a bit more "daring" with her recipes than I am. Mine tend to reflect my Midwestern heritage and use the simple ingredients but her recipes definitely have a bit more flare involved so if you are looking for some flare definitely go to her blog and check it out after all who can't use flare in their lives?!

I picked out the Strawberry Bread to try out for my post because the hubby loves love loves strawberries. The bread was moist and wonderful. The only thing I would change next time is to leave out the cardamom spice and try cinnamon and/or nutmeg. I'm not a big fan of cardamom and was a little hesitant on it when I saw it but figured I would try it exactly as the recipe calls for it. I think it leaves a weird aftertaste but that's just my opinion! Enjoy!

Strawberry Bread
Printer Friendly Recipe

1 cup (2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ½ cup sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cardamom
1 cup sour cream
3 cups chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup sliced almonds (I omitted these for the hubby BUT I would love them in the bread)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line two 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper hanging over the long sides for easy removal.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cardamom; set aside. With the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries and half the almonds.

3. Divide the batter between the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining almonds. Bake about hour, or until the bread is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.
Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. This bread can be frozen. Yields two 9 x 5 inch loaf.