Bread with jam, baked together

For breakfast in the morning, a piece of toast, an English muffin or a biscuit isn't quite complete without butter or some type of sweet topping. For most of us, it's jelly or jam. In the south, biscuits with butter and syrup is a treat. Apple butter is also popular with many.

Have you considered taking a sweet condiment and baking it in a bread? That's the idea I'm presenting, with a recipe for "Strawberry Nut Bread". This is a bread that's much like a cake, in that it's assembled like a cake batter. It's gets its strawberry flavor from strawberry jam, so you know anyone who enjoys that will enjoy this bread. It's made to be especially good with sour cream blended into the batter. This will be a special breakfast treat when you spread slices of it with whipped cream cheese flavored with strawberry jam. This recipe can be baked in two loaf pans or one tube pan. The bread freezes very well, if well wrapped.

You may be wondering what the difference between jam and jelly are. I was curious to find out, so I spoke by phone to a representative from Smucker's, the famous jelly and jam manufacturer. The representative I spoke to explained that there's a big difference between jam and jelly. For one, jelly uses the juice that's been extracted from the fruit, which is combined with sugar and pectin to thicken it. Jam (or preserves, as many southerners call it) have pieces of fruit, as well as the seeds if they're small enough, in the product. However, in products labeled "jam", the pieces of fruit are usually smaller than in preserves. So, when you're looking for jam, preserves are basically the same thing. Jelly, on the other hand, is an entirely different product.

Sometime ago, I shared a recipe for a bread that's already buttered when you serve it, called "Bread and Butter Sticks". In case you didn't get the recipe earlier, here's the link so you can get it:

http://www.examiner.com/article/bread-that-s-already-buttered

For a special breakfast treat, open a jar of jam or preserves and make this for your breakfast one day this week:

STRAWBERRY NUT BREAD

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup strawberry jam
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon extracts until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Sift together the dry ingredients. Combine jam and sour cream and add alternately with the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir in the pecans. Turn into two greased and floured 9x5 inch loaf pans or one tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until bread tests done. Let cool in pans about ten minutes before removing. Serve with whipped cream cheese flavored with strawberry jam. Yield: 2 loaves or 1 tube pan.