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Cheery quick bread tastes like a bite of springtime

Recipe: Cherry-orange bread with pecans and orange glaze

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAY 11, 2025

Bright, juicy cherries enhance every slice of this cherry-orange quick bread. Debbie Arrington

The first cherries of the season have arrived – just in time for Mother’s Day. This cheery cherry-orange bread will brighten anyone’s day.

Batter for bread — Gently mix in the cherries and nuts.

Sweet, juicy fresh cherries float in every slice. Pecans contribute some contrasting crunch. Butter and buttermilk give this quick bread a nice soft crumb. Orange zest and orange glaze add some zing.

To keep the cherries and nuts from collecting at the bottom of the pan, dust them with flour before folding them into the batter.

Cherry-orange quick bread with pecans and orange glaze

Makes 1 loaf (about 12 servings)

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups fresh sweet cherries, stemmed, pitted and halved

1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, separated

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

¼ cup butter (½ stick), room temperature

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 tablespoon orange zest

2/3 cup buttermilk

½ cup pecans, roughly chopped

For glaze:

½ cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons orange juice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Grease or spray bottom and sides, then line with parchment or wax paper. Set aside.

Prepare cherries. Wash, stem, pit and halve cherries. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together 1-1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, combine sugar and butter. Add eggs; beat on medium speed until smooth. Add almond extract and orange zest; mix until combined.

With a wooden spoon or similar, gradually add flour mixture to butter-sugar mixture, stirring well after each addition. Stir in buttermilk.

In a separate bowl, combine cherries and pecans. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of flour; toss until cherries and nuts are lightly dusted.

Uncut loaf — The orange glaze is the last addition before serving.

Fold cherries and pecans into batter; it will be thick. Spoon batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing with the back of the spoon.

Bake in 350-degree oven for 60 minutes or until top is golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Remove bread from oven and let rest 15 minutes in the pan.

Meanwhile, make the glaze. Sift powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Gradually add orange juice, a little at a time, while whisking until smooth and the desired thickness.

Remove bread from pan and peel off the paper. Drizzle or brush glaze over the top of the loaf. Let rest at least 30 minutes before serving.

Slice and serve.

Wrap leftover bread and refrigerate. This bread also freezes well.

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RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

recipe recipes baking cherries oranges quick bread seasonal baking Sacramento gardening spring May farmers markets seasonal produce

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Garden checklist for week of May 17

With an eye on warmer weather to come, continue to work on the summer vegetable garden:

* Remember to irrigate your tender transplants. The wind can quickly dry out young plants. Seedlings need consistent moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants. Water early in the morning for best results.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, calibrachoa, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Don’t forget to weed! Those invaders are growing fast.

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