Recipe: Nutty apple cider doughnut bread

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A new poll reveals that Oregonians drink more cider per capita than any other state, which makes a lot of sense when you consider how long we’ve been growing apples here. In the 1840s, nurseryman Henderson Luelling brought 18 different apple varieties with him on a wagon on the Oregon Trail to plant the first orchard in Milwaukie, but it turns out there was a healthy apple tree already growing nearby.

In the 1820s, a man from London arrived at Fort Vancouver with a vest pocket bearing apple seeds (relatable!) and gave them to his host John McLoughlin. The fort’s gardener used them, along with seeds sent by English botanist David Douglas (namesake of the Douglas fir), to start the region’s first Euro-style vegetable garden and orchard.

The only problem is, most of those early apple trees at the fort produced pretty crummy fruit. Apples don’t “come true” from seed — each seed is a genetic crapshoot. That means if you plant a dozen seeds from your favorite apple’s core, you will end up with a dozen different types of apples — and most of them will only be hard and sour, fit only for cider or baking. The apples grown at the Fort were said to be better than no apples at all (the highest praise came from a pioneer who said they were of “fair quality”).

Fast forward to today, and my ensuing quest for the perfect autumn apple dessert. After turning a bushel of fruit to cider, I figured I could use the russet-gold pulp in a quick bread, but found the apple flavor all but disappeared without the juice. I saw an apple cider donut recipe that uses cider reduced down to a viscous syrup (another fruit molasses!), but the end result was still not exactly what I wanted, which is a one-bowl bake that doesn’t require a bunch of extra steps and uses up the apple puree. So why not just use a blended-up apple for baking, like those whole-orange cakes I love so much?

And while I’m at it, why not cram it with ground walnuts to be kind of an apple-y version of the Korean walnut pastry hodu-gwaja — with the powdery cinnamon-sugar coating of a donut? Celebrate fall’s abundance! More is more! Makes 1 loaf

Note: I use kinako (toasted soybean flour) in the topping because its nutty flavor is lovely with cinnamon and sugar and adds the powdery donut coating to the bread without more sweetness. If you don’t have it, just use cinnamon sugar for the topping. If you’d prefer a less-sweet version, cut the bread’s sugar in half — the topping contributes enough contrasting sweetness.

Ingredients

2 medium apples, stemmed, cored and chopped (skins are fine)

½ cup oil

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

¼ cup brown sugar, packed

¾ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon apple pie spice (you can sub pumpkin pie spice)

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Topping

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons kinako (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350o. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan and line it with a strip of parchment.
2. Add the diced apples, oil, eggs and vanilla to a blender or food processor and puree on high speed until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices until thoroughly combined. Form a well in the bottom of the bowl and pour in the apple puree mixture, stirring until thoroughly combined. Fold in the chopped walnuts and scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the topping ingredients, then sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes.
5. Transfer the finished loaf to a cooling rack and let it sit for 15 minutes before serving.

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