Yukon Orange Bread

This quick tea bread has a fascinating history. Only the most fortunate of late 19th C. prospectors carried some of this delicious bread in their packs as they joined the stampede to the Yukon gold fields. Of the 100,000 who set out for the promise of riches, just 30,000 to 40,000 made it to their destination and only 4,000 struck gold. The early settlers baked this bread in wood-burning stoves as unreliable as a politician’s word. Bake it in your trusty oven and you’ll know you’ve struck gold!

Yukon Orange Bread:

Zest from 2 medium oranges, finely grated

⅓ c. (80 mL) water

1-¾ c. (330 mL) granulated sugar, divided

1 egg

2 c. (500) all-purpose flour

2 tsp. (10 mL) baking powder

1 tsp. (5 mL) salt

¾ c. (80 mL) milk

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. In small covered saucepan, simmer zest in water 5 or 6 min., or until softened. Stir in 1 c. (250 mL) sugar. Simmer, covered, 15 min. or until slightly thickened. Remove cover, stirring occasionally, during last 5 min. of simmering. Transfer from pot to small bowl. Cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, beat egg, gradually adding remaining ¾ c. (180 mL) sugar. 

In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to egg mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mixture will be stiff. Add cooled orange-zest mixture, a little at a time, stirring well after each addition. Pour into greased, standard-sized loaf pan. Bake 50-to-55 min., or until top is golden. Test doneness with bamboo skewer poked at the center. Before transferring to rack, cool in pan 1 hr.

Zest of two oranges. Simmer. Add sugar later.

Beat egg, slowly adding remainder of sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

Alternate adding dry ingredients with

milk, beginning and ending with dry.

Smooth top of batter before placing loaf in oven.

Test with skewer. Baked to perfection!